Alumni & Giving · Castleton University

The Casella Theater · Castleton University

Contact Us · Castleton University

Research · Castleton University

Offices & Services Directory · Castleton University

Athletic Bands · Castleton University

Resources · Castleton University

About Castleton University · Castleton University

Community · Castleton University

The Castleton Center for Social Justice and Trauma Informed Care · Castleton 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

May 2025

April 2025

Castleton State College of Vermont

Title / URL	Issues
Alumni & Giving · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/alumni-giving/	1
The Casella Theater · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/arts/the-casella-theater/	1
Contact Us · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/arts/contact-us/	1
Research · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/academics/research/	1
Offices & Services Directory · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/directory/offices-services-directory/	1
Athletic Bands · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/athletics/bands/	1
Resources · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/resources/	1
About Castleton University · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/about-castleton/	1
Community · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/community/	1
The Castleton Center for Social Justice and Trauma Informed Care · Castleton Universitywww.castleton.edu/community/the-center/	1

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Castleton State College of Vermont

Where this issue has occurred