Undergraduate Admission - Undergraduate Admission - Carnegie Mellon University

Visit - Visit CMU - Carnegie Mellon University

Global Locations | Carnegie Mellon University

Faculty & Staff Resources | Carnegie Mellon University

Leadership | Carnegie Mellon University

Traditions | Carnegie Mellon University

History | Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University | CMU

Student Resources | Carnegie Mellon University

Campus Life | Carnegie Mellon 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

August 2025

July 2025

Carnegie Mellon University

	Title / URL	Issues
	Undergraduate Admission - Undergraduate Admission - Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/admission/	20
	Visit - Visit CMU - Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/visit/	12
	Global Locations \| Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/global	2
	Faculty & Staff Resources \| Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/faculty-staff	2
	Leadership \| Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/leadership	2
	Traditions \| Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/about/traditions	2
	History \| Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/about/history	2
	Carnegie Mellon University \| CMUwww.cmu.edu/	2
	Student Resources \| Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/current-students	2
	Campus Life \| Carnegie Mellon Universitywww.cmu.edu/campus-life	2

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Carnegie Mellon University

Where this issue has occurred