diff --git a/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohort_editor.js b/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohort_editor.js
index 9d3485e185..630f8dec5f 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohort_editor.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohort_editor.js
@@ -44,9 +44,11 @@ var edx = edx || {};
                 tabName = tabElement.data('tab');
             event.preventDefault();
             this.$('.wrapper-tabs .tab').removeClass('is-selected');
+            this.$('.wrapper-tabs .tab').find('span.sr').remove();
             tabElement.addClass('is-selected');
+            tabElement.find('a').prepend('<span class="sr">' + gettext('Selected tab') + ' </span>');
             this.$('.tab-content').addClass('is-hidden');
-            this.$('.tab-content-' + tabName).removeClass('is-hidden');
+            this.$('.tab-content-' + tabName).removeClass('is-hidden').focus();
         },
 
         saveSettings: function(event) {
diff --git a/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohort_form.js b/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohort_form.js
index 98f3815ae6..01cbf7c85b 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohort_form.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohort_form.js
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@ var edx = edx || {};
 
     edx.groups.CohortFormView = Backbone.View.extend({
         events : {
-            'change .cohort-management-details-association-course input': 'onRadioButtonChange',
-            'click .tab-content-settings .action-save': 'saveSettings',
-            'submit .cohort-management-group-add-form': 'addStudents'
+            'change .cohort-management-details-association-course input': 'onRadioButtonChange'
         },
 
         initialize: function(options) {
@@ -24,8 +22,8 @@ var edx = edx || {};
             this.notification = new NotificationView({
                 model: model
             });
-            this.notification.render();
             beforeElement.before(this.notification.$el);
+            this.notification.render();
         },
 
         removeNotification: function() {
diff --git a/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohorts.js b/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohorts.js
index 4fb202dd28..4815eaa567 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohorts.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/groups/views/cohorts.js
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ var edx = edx || {};
             this.removeNotification();
             if (this.editor) {
                 this.editor.setCohort(cohort);
+                $('.cohort-management-group .group-header-title').focus();
             } else {
                 this.editor = new CohortEditorView({
                     el: this.$('.cohort-management-group'),
@@ -111,6 +112,7 @@ var edx = edx || {};
                     context: this.context
                 });
                 this.editor.render();
+                $('.cohort-management-group .group-header-title').focus();
             }
         },
 
@@ -120,11 +122,13 @@ var edx = edx || {};
             this.notification = new NotificationView({
                 model: model
             });
-            this.notification.render();
+
             if (!beforeElement) {
                 beforeElement = this.$('.cohort-management-group');
             }
             beforeElement.before(this.notification.$el);
+
+            this.notification.render();
         },
 
         removeNotification: function() {
@@ -149,6 +153,7 @@ var edx = edx || {};
             });
             this.cohortFormView.render();
             this.$('.cohort-management-add-form').append(this.cohortFormView.$el);
+            this.cohortFormView.$('.cohort-name').focus();
             this.setCohortEditorVisibility(false);
         },
 
@@ -228,6 +233,7 @@ var edx = edx || {};
                         });
                     }
                 }).render();
+                this.$('#file-upload-form-file').focus();
             }
         },
 
diff --git a/lms/static/js/views/notification.js b/lms/static/js/views/notification.js
index 3b94384029..f0d61b5f6b 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/views/notification.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/views/notification.js
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
                 actionClass: this.model.get("actionClass"),
                 actionIconClass: this.model.get("actionIconClass")
             }));
+            this.$('.message').focus();
             return this;
         },
 
diff --git a/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/cohort-editor.underscore b/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/cohort-editor.underscore
index a441514845..a96327e247 100644
--- a/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/cohort-editor.underscore
+++ b/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/cohort-editor.underscore
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <section class="cohort-management-settings has-tabs">
     <header class="cohort-management-group-header">
-        <h3 class="group-header-title">
+        <h3 class="group-header-title" tabindex="-1">
             <span class="title-value"><%- cohort.get('name') %></span>
             <span class="group-count"><%-
                 interpolate(
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@
     </header>
 
     <ul class="wrapper-tabs">
-        <li class="tab tab-manage_students is-selected" data-tab="manage_students"><a href="#"><%- gettext("Manage Students") %></a></li>
+        <li class="tab tab-manage_students is-selected" data-tab="manage_students"><a href="#"><span class="sr"><%- gettext('Selected tab') %> </span><%- gettext("Manage Students") %></a></li>
         <li class="tab tab-settings" data-tab="settings"><a href="#"><%- gettext("Settings") %></a></li>
     </ul>
 
-    <div class="cohort-management-group-add tab-content tab-content-manage_students">
+    <div class="cohort-management-group-add tab-content tab-content-manage_students" tabindex="-1">
         <form action="" method="post" id="cohort-management-group-add-form" class="cohort-management-group-add-form">
 
             <h4 class="form-title"><%- gettext('Add students to this cohort') %></h4>
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@
                 <p><%- gettext('Note: Students can be in only one cohort. Adding students to this group overrides any previous group assignment.') %></p>
             </div>
 
-            <div class="cohort-confirmations"></div>
-            <div class="cohort-errors"></div>
+            <div class="cohort-confirmations" aria-live="polite" tabindex="-1"></div>
+            <div class="cohort-errors" aria-live="polite" tabindex="-1"></div>
 
             <div class="form-fields">
                 <div class="field field-textarea is-required">
@@ -53,9 +53,10 @@
                     </label>
                     <textarea name="cohort-management-group-add-students" id="cohort-management-group-add-students"
                               class="input cohort-management-group-add-students"
-                              placeholder="<%- gettext('e.g. johndoe@example.com, JaneDoe, joeydoe@example.com') %>"></textarea>
+                              placeholder="<%- gettext('e.g. johndoe@example.com, JaneDoe, joeydoe@example.com') %>"
+                              aria-describedby="email-notification-tip"></textarea>
 
-                    <span class="tip"><%- gettext('You will not receive notification for emails that bounce, so double-check your spelling.') %></span>
+                    <span class="tip" id="email-notification-tip"><%- gettext('You will not receive notification for emails that bounce, so double-check your spelling.') %></span>
                 </div>
             </div>
 
@@ -67,6 +68,6 @@
         </form>
     </div>
 
-    <div class="cohort-management-details tab-content tab-content-settings is-hidden">
+    <div class="cohort-management-details tab-content tab-content-settings is-hidden" tabindex="-1">
     </div>
 </section>
diff --git a/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/cohorts.underscore b/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/cohorts.underscore
index e68104b150..c2e3a9ae1f 100644
--- a/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/cohorts.underscore
+++ b/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/cohorts.underscore
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@
     <form action="" method="post" name="" id="cohort-management-nav-form" class="cohort-management-nav-form">
 
         <div class="cohort-management-nav-form-select field field-select">
-            <label for="cohort-select" class="label sr"><%- gettext("Select a cohort to manage") %></label>
-            <select class="input cohort-select" name="cohort-select" id="cohort-select">
-            </select>
+            <label for="cohort-select" class="label sr"><%- gettext("Select a cohort group to manage") %></label>
+            <select class="input cohort-select" name="cohort-select" id="cohort-select"></select>
         </div>
 
         <div class="form-actions">
@@ -19,7 +18,7 @@
     </form>
 
     <a href="" class="action-primary action-create">
-        <i class="icon fa fa-plus"></i>
+        <i class="icon fa fa-plus" aria-hidden="true"></i>
         <%- gettext('Add Cohort') %>
     </a>
 </div>
@@ -40,7 +39,7 @@
 
     <div class="cohort-management-supplemental">
         <p class="">
-            <i class="icon fa fa-info-circle"></i>
+            <i class="icon fa fa-info-circle" aria-hidden="true"></i>
             <%= interpolate(
             gettext('To review student cohort assignments or see the results of uploading a CSV file, download course profile information or cohort results on %(link_start)s the Data Download page. %(link_end)s'),
                 {link_start: '<a href="" class="link-cross-reference" data-section="data_download">', link_end: '</a>'},
diff --git a/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/notification.underscore b/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/notification.underscore
index 1d1db6ac2e..94f791e710 100644
--- a/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/notification.underscore
+++ b/lms/templates/instructor/instructor_dashboard_2/notification.underscore
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<div class="message message-<%= type %>">
+<div class="message message-<%= type %>" tabindex="-1">
     <h3 class="message-title">
         <%- title %>
     </h3>