Honors Program | Bridgewater State University

Course Search | Bridgewater State University

Inquire | Bridgewater State University

Financial Aid Office | Bridgewater State University

Faculty Life & Development | Bridgewater State University

Bridgewater State University

Academics | Bridgewater State University

Student Crisis Information | Bridgewater State University

Campus Map | Bridgewater State University

Page not found | Bridgewater 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

	Title / URL	Issues
	Honors Program \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/academics/honors-program	9
	Course Search \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/course-search	9
	Inquire \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/inquire	9
	Financial Aid Office \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/office/financial-aid	9
	Faculty Life & Development \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/faculty-life-development	9
	Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/	9
	Academics \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/academics	9
	Student Crisis Information \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/student-crisis-information	9
	Campus Map \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/about-us/campus-map	9
	Page not found \| Bridgewater State Universitywww.bridgew.edu/invented-url-for-404-page	9

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Bridgewater State University

Where this issue has occurred