CMU Chippewas | Mount Pleasant, MI | Central Michigan University

Student Life | Central Michigan University

Emergency and Safety | Universal Communication | Central Michigan University

CMU Admissions and Aid | Central Michigan University

Academic Bulletins | Curriculum and Instructional Support | Central Michigan University

Human Resources | Central Michigan University

404 | Central Michigan University

Find Your Program at CMU | Central Michigan University

Privacy Policy | Central Michigan University

CMU History | Central Michigan 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

Central Michigan University

Title / URL	Issues
CMU Chippewas \| Mount Pleasant, MI \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/	5
Student Life \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/student-life	5
Emergency and Safety \| Universal Communication \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/about/emergency-and-safety	5
CMU Admissions and Aid \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/admissions-aid	5
Academic Bulletins \| Curriculum and Instructional Support \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/offices-departments/curriculum-instructional-support/academic-bulletins	5
Human Resources \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/about/human-resources	5
404 \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/invented-url-for-404-page	5
Find Your Program at CMU \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/program-finder	5
Privacy Policy \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/privacy-policy	5
CMU History \| Central Michigan Universitywww.cmich.edu/about/our-history	5

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Central Michigan University

Where this issue has occurred