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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
Our Scientists \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/scientists	43
The Latest News \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/news?type%5B278%5D=278	37
The Latest News \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/news?type%5B271%5D=271	36
Search \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/search	36
The Latest News \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/news?type%5B276%5D=276	36
The Latest News \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/news	35
Support Our Research \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/support-our-research	22
Awards & Accolades \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/about/awards-accolades	21
Our Leadership \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/about/leadership	20
Ecology \| Carnegie Sciencecarnegiescience.edu/research-areas/ecology	12

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Carnegie Institution for Science

Where this issue has occurred