Explore Careers in Science | Carnegie Science Jobs

Connect With Us | Carnegie Science

2023 Carnegie Science Yearbook

Our Research | Carnegie Science

Cosmology | Carnegie Science

Outreach & Education | Carnegie Science

Planetary Science | Carnegie Science

Initiatives | Carnegie Science

Theory | Carnegie Science

Global Ecology | Carnegie Science

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

Carnegie Institution for Science

	Title / URL	Issues
	Explore Careers in Science \| Carnegie Science Jobscarnegiescience.edu/about/careers-in-science	5
	Connect With Us \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/about/connect-us	5
	2023 Carnegie Science Yearbookcarnegiescience.edu/2023-year-book	5
	Our Research \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/our-research	5
	Cosmology \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/our-research/astronomy/cosmology	5
	Outreach & Education \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/about/outreach-education	5
	Planetary Science \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/our-research/planetary-science	4
	Initiatives \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/initiatives	4
	Theory \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/our-research/astronomy/theory	4
	Global Ecology \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/our-research/ecology	4

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Carnegie Institution for Science

Where this issue has occurred