diff --git a/config/settings.yml b/config/settings.yml
index 45260800c1..d7f9593f4a 100644
--- a/config/settings.yml
+++ b/config/settings.yml
@@ -259,9 +259,9 @@ mail_suffix_separators:
 work_package_list_default_columns:
   serialized: true
   default:
+  - type
   - id
   - subject
-  - type
   - status
   - assigned_to
   - updated_on
diff --git a/modules/xls_export/spec/lib/work_package_xls_export_spec.rb b/modules/xls_export/spec/lib/work_package_xls_export_spec.rb
index 9dc649ea54..9044922c9e 100644
--- a/modules/xls_export/spec/lib/work_package_xls_export_spec.rb
+++ b/modules/xls_export/spec/lib/work_package_xls_export_spec.rb
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ describe "WorkPackageXlsExport" do
   RELATED_SUBJECT = 12
 
   it 'produces the correct result' do
-    expect(query.columns.map(&:name)).to eq [:id, :subject, :type, :status, :assigned_to]
+    expect(query.columns.map(&:name)).to eq [:type, :id, :subject, :status, :assigned_to]
 
     # the first header row devides the sheet into work packages and relation columns
     expect(sheet.rows.first.take(7)).to eq ['Work packages', nil, nil, nil, nil, nil, 'Relations']
@@ -96,14 +96,14 @@ describe "WorkPackageXlsExport" do
     # the second header row includes the column names for work packages and relations
     expect(sheet.rows[1])
       .to eq [
-        nil, 'ID', 'Subject', 'Type', 'Status', 'Assignee',
+        nil, 'Type', 'ID', 'Subject', 'Status', 'Assignee',
         nil, 'Relation type', 'Delay', 'Description', 'ID', 'Type', 'Subject',
         nil
       ]
 
     # duplicates rows for each relation
     c2id = child_2.id
-    expect(sheet.column(1).drop(2))
+    expect(sheet.column(2).drop(2))
       .to eq [parent.id, parent.id, child_1.id, c2id, c2id, c2id, single.id, followed.id, child_2_child.id]
 
     # marks Parent as parent of Child 1 and 2
@@ -140,20 +140,20 @@ describe "WorkPackageXlsExport" do
     # exports the correct data (examples)
     expect(sheet.row(PARENT))
       .to eq [
-        nil, parent.id, parent.subject, parent.type.name, parent.status.name, parent.assigned_to,
+        nil, parent.type.name, parent.id, parent.subject, parent.status.name, parent.assigned_to,
         nil, 'parent of', nil, nil, child_1.id, child_1.type.name, child_1.subject
       ] # delay nil as this is a parent-child relation not represented by an actual Relation record
 
     expect(sheet.row(SINGLE))
       .to eq [
-        nil, single.id, single.subject, single.type.name, single.status.name, single.assigned_to
+        nil, single.type.name, single.id, single.subject, single.status.name, single.assigned_to
       ]
 
     expect(sheet.row(FOLLOWED))
       .to eq [
-        nil, followed.id, followed.subject, followed.type.name, followed.status.name,
+        nil, followed.type.name, followed.id, followed.subject, followed.status.name,
           followed.assigned_to,
-        nil, 'precedes', 0, relation.description, child_2.id, child_2.type.name, child_2.subject
+        nil, 'precedes', 0, relation.description, child_2.id,  child_2.type.name, child_2.subject
       ]
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/features/accessibility/work_packages/work_package_query_spec.rb b/spec/features/accessibility/work_packages/work_package_query_spec.rb
index ef533bf8d3..e622929546 100644
--- a/spec/features/accessibility/work_packages/work_package_query_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/accessibility/work_packages/work_package_query_spec.rb
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ describe 'Work package index accessibility', type: :feature, selenium: true do
 
     describe 'id column' do
       let(:link_caption) { 'ID' }
-      let(:column_header_selector) { '.work-package-table--container th:nth-of-type(1)' }
+      let(:column_header_selector) { '.work-package-table--container th:nth-of-type(2)' }
       let(:column_header_link_selector) { column_header_selector + ' a' }
 
       it_behaves_like 'sortable column'
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ describe 'Work package index accessibility', type: :feature, selenium: true do
 
     describe 'subject column' do
       let(:link_caption) { 'Subject' }
-      let(:column_header_selector) { '.work-package-table--container th:nth-of-type(2)' }
+      let(:column_header_selector) { '.work-package-table--container th:nth-of-type(3)' }
       let(:column_header_link_selector) { column_header_selector + ' #subject' }
 
       it_behaves_like 'sortable column'
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ describe 'Work package index accessibility', type: :feature, selenium: true do
 
     describe 'type column' do
       let(:link_caption) { 'Type' }
-      let(:column_header_selector) { '.work-package-table--container th:nth-of-type(3)' }
+      let(:column_header_selector) { '.work-package-table--container th:nth-of-type(1)' }
       let(:column_header_link_selector) { column_header_selector + ' a' }
 
       it_behaves_like 'sortable column'
@@ -165,10 +165,10 @@ describe 'Work package index accessibility', type: :feature, selenium: true do
 
     context 'focus' do
       let(:first_link_selector) do
-        ".wp-row-#{work_package.id} td.id a"
+        ".wp-row-#{work_package.id} .wp-table--cell-span.type"
       end
       let(:second_link_selector) do
-        ".wp-row-#{another_work_package.id} td.id a"
+        ".wp-row-#{another_work_package.id} .wp-table--cell-span.type"
       end
 
       it 'navigates with J and K' do