Focus on a non-input/anchor element?

Question

I'm working on some JavaScript that requires a tag that can get focus. I'd like to be able to use a <div /> tag, however <div /> tags can't get focus.

It looks like the only elements that can gain focus are <input /> tags and <a /> tags. Is there any other way to allow an element to gain focus that isn't an <input /> or <a /> tag?

I can't use <a /> or <input /> tags because I need to be able to place content inside of the tag so neither of those tags will work, unless there's a way to allow nested <a /> tags, although I doubt it since that goes against the standard. I'm trying to figure out a way to allow a <div /> tag (or any other container element) to get focus.

Answer 1

Somewhat of a workaround and not semantically correct, but...

a#foo { display: block; }
a#foo:hover { cursor: default; }

Then use JavaScript to intercept the onClick event on a#foo and return false.

Answer 2

What do you mean by "can get focus"? Any DOM element can be setup to receive a multitude of javascript events including click events.

Or do you mean "can be tabbed to with the keyboard"? If so, and if you cannot use an a tag as your container, then try the tabindex property on your elements. I'm not sure how cross-browser it is, but at least try it before writing a tabbed ui in javascript yourself.