ASU Leadership | Arizona State University

Terms of Use | Arizona State University

Arizona State University | Arizona State University

ASU Giving | Arizona State University

Locations and Maps | Arizona State University

ASU Research | Arizona State University

ASU Office of the President | Arizona State University

ASU News and Events | Arizona State University

Contact us | Arizona State University

ASU Admission | Arizona State University

When selecting a user interface component with the keyboard, the focus indicator must 
not be completely obscured by anything in front of it.

## Why this matters

When using a keyboard, it is important that the user can see where they are on the page.
If the focus indicator is obscured, the user may not know where they are, and may not
be able to interact with the page.

## Examples

Most common examples include:

* Banners at the top or bottom of the page, such as cookie banners
* Fixed navigation bars
* Fixed footers
* Popup modals, such as cookie consent modals

## How to fix

With elements that cover part of the screen, such as cookie banners, ensure
that the user can scroll to see any content behind the banner, without having to close
the banner.

With popup modals, it should usually be impossible to focus anything behind the modal.
Most common modal frameworks will automatically trap focus within the modal, so that
this is impossible. Example: [Bootstrap Modal](https://getbootstrap.com/docs/5.2/components/modal/#live-demo).

## Further reading

This is part of the draft WCAG 2.2 specification and is subject to change.

* [WCAG 2.4.12](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/focus-not-obscured.html)

ensure-focus-is-not-obscured-minimum

June 2025

May 2025

Arizona State University

Title / URL	Issues
ASU Leadership \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/about/leadership	100
Terms of Use \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/about/terms-of-use	25
Arizona State University \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/	23
ASU Giving \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/giving	22
Locations and Maps \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/about/locations-maps	17
ASU Research \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/research	16
ASU Office of the President \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/president	16
ASU News and Events \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/news-events	15
Contact us \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/about/contact	14
ASU Admission \| Arizona State Universitywww.asu.edu/admission	11

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Arizona State University

Where this issue has occurred