Is there a way to tab down columns not across rows

Hi, I'm building a matrix table with text responses. I have 3 columns and 11 rows. People need to fill in the 1st column, but may also need to fill in columns 2 & 3 depending on certain cell-specific criteria. Is there a way to change the tab function so instead of going across a row (ie Col 1 Row 1 -> Col 2 Row 1 -> Col 3 Row 1 -> Col 1 Row 2 etc) you can tab down a column (ie Col 1 Row 1 -> Col 1 Row 2 -> Col 1 Row 3 .... Col 2 Row 1 -> Col 2 Row 2 ... etc) I can't transpose the table, although I am aware that that is an option. Thanks for your help. :) CDES