Search - Cardiff University

International - Study - Cardiff University

Rhyngwladol - Astudio - Prifysgol Caerdydd

Chwilio - Prifysgol Caerdydd

Information for your country - Study - Cardiff University

History of the University - About - Cardiff University

Research equipment - Cardiff University

Cyrsiau ôl-raddedig a addysgir - Astudio - Prifysgol Caerdydd

Why work with us? - Business - Cardiff University

Jobs - Cardiff 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

Cardiff University

Title / URL	Issues
Search - Cardiff Universitywww.cardiff.ac.uk/search	12
International - Study - Cardiff Universitywww.cardiff.ac.uk/study/international	12
Rhyngwladol - Astudio - Prifysgol Caerdyddwww.cardiff.ac.uk/cy/study/international	12
Chwilio - Prifysgol Caerdyddwww.cardiff.ac.uk/cy/search	12
Information for your country - Study - Cardiff Universitywww.cardiff.ac.uk/study/international/your-country	10
History of the University - About - Cardiff Universitywww.cardiff.ac.uk/about/our-profile/history	10
Research equipment - Cardiff Universitywww.cardiff.ac.uk/research-equipment	10
Cyrsiau ôl-raddedig a addysgir - Astudio - Prifysgol Caerdyddwww.cardiff.ac.uk/cy/study/postgraduate/taught	10
Why work with us? - Business - Cardiff Universitywww.cardiff.ac.uk/business/why-work-with-us	10
Jobs - Cardiff Universitywww.cardiff.ac.uk/jobs	10

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Cardiff University

Where this issue has occurred