Visit Us | Bethel University

News Archive | Bethel University

Christian College | Bethel University

Admissions | Bethel University

Parents & Families | Bethel University

Online Programs | Bethel University

Admissions Application | Bethel University

Faith at Bethel | Bethel University

Latest News and Stories | Bethel University

Performing and Visual Arts | Bethel 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

Bethel University

Title / URL	Issues
Visit Us \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/admissions/visit	16
News Archive \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/news/archive	16
Christian College \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/	16
Admissions \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/admissions/	16
Parents & Families \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/parents/	16
Online Programs \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/academics/online/	16
Admissions Application \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/admissions/apply/	16
Faith at Bethel \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/about/faith/	16
Latest News and Stories \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/news/	16
Performing and Visual Arts \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/events/arts/	16

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Bethel University

Where this issue has occurred