Events — Birkbeck, University of London

Our Staff — Birkbeck, University of London

Study here — Birkbeck, University of London

International students — Birkbeck, University of London

PhD research — Birkbeck, University of London

News — Birkbeck, University of London

Postgraduate — Birkbeck, University of London

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

Birkbeck University of London

Title / URL	Issues
Events — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/events/?&b_start:int=12	2
Our Staff — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/our-staff	2
Events — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/events	2
Events — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/events/	2
Study here — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/prospective/	1
International students — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/international	1
Study here — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/prospective	1
PhD research — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/prospective/research	1
News — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/news/?&b_start:int=10	1
Postgraduate — Birkbeck, University of Londonwww.bbk.ac.uk/prospective/postgraduate	1

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Birkbeck University of London

Where this issue has occurred