diff --git a/news/changelog-1.8.md b/news/changelog-1.8.md
index 51572044710..ba2b84abce2 100644
--- a/news/changelog-1.8.md
+++ b/news/changelog-1.8.md
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ All changes included in 1.8:
 
 ### `website`
 
+- ([#10284](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/10284)): a11y - Fix keyboard navigation for tabset panels when using an HTML theme. Tabs now properly receive keyboard focus.
 - ([#12551](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/pull/12551)): Improve warning issued when `aliases` would overwrite an existing document.
 - ([#12616](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/12616)): find SVG images in image discovery for listings.
 - ([#12693](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/12693)): Prevent resource exhaustion on large websites by serializing `NotebookContext` information to file instead of the environment.
diff --git a/src/resources/filters/customnodes/panel-tabset.lua b/src/resources/filters/customnodes/panel-tabset.lua
index 03b208fb88a..75972b75050 100644
--- a/src/resources/filters/customnodes/panel-tabset.lua
+++ b/src/resources/filters/customnodes/panel-tabset.lua
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ function bootstrapTabs()
         active = " active"
         selected = "true"
       end
-      return 'class="nav-link' .. active .. '" id="' .. tablinkid .. '" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#' .. tabid .. '" role="tab" aria-controls="' .. tabid .. '" aria-selected="' .. selected .. '"'
+      return 'class="nav-link' .. active .. '" id="' .. tablinkid .. '" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#' .. tabid .. '" role="tab" aria-controls="' .. tabid .. '" aria-selected="' .. selected .. '" href=""'
     end,
     paneAttribs = function(tabid, isActive, headingAttribs)
       local tablinkid = tabid .. "-tab"
diff --git a/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/.gitignore b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..075b2542afb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/.quarto/
diff --git a/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/_quarto.yml b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/_quarto.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..357b006b20b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/_quarto.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+project:
+  type: website
+
+website:
+  title: "issue-13233"
+  navbar:
+    left:
+      - href: index.qmd
+        text: Home
+      - about.qmd
+
+format:
+  html:
+    theme:
+      - cosmo
+      - brand
+    css: styles.css
+    toc: true
+
+
+
diff --git a/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/about.qmd b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/about.qmd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..07c5e7f9d13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/about.qmd
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: "About"
+---
+
+About this site
diff --git a/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/index.qmd b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/index.qmd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4d5fcfda60b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/index.qmd
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+---
+title: "mysite"
+_quarto:
+  tests:
+    html:
+      ensureFileRegexMatches:
+        - ['href=""']
+---
+
+::: {.panel-tabset}
+
+## First tab
+
+1. Press Tab. "First tab" should be focused.
+2. Press Right Arrow. "Second tab" should now be active and focused.
+
+## Second tab
+
+Other text might go here
+
+:::
diff --git a/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/styles.css b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/styles.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2ddf50c7b42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/smoke-all/2025/08/20/issue-13233/styles.css
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/* css styles */