First time visit: View without clicking anything

Offices & Departments, Emerson College

Find a Program that Fits Your Needs, Emerson College

Page Not Found, Emerson College

Creative Forces, Emerson College

Alumni, Emerson College

Academic Majors & Programs, Emerson College

Course Catalog, Undergraduate & Graduate Programs, Emerson College

Parent and Family Programs, Emerson College

Events, Emerson College

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

Emerson College

Title / URL	Issues
First time visit: View without clicking anythingemerson.edu/	3
Offices & Departments, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/departments	2
Find a Program that Fits Your Needs, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/programs	2
Page Not Found, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/invented-url-for-404-page	2
Creative Forces, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/creative-forces	2
Alumni, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/alumni	2
Academic Majors & Programs, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/majors-programs	2
Course Catalog, Undergraduate & Graduate Programs, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/courses	2
Parent and Family Programs, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/parents	2
Events, Emerson Collegeemerson.edu/alumni/events	2

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Emerson College

Where this issue has occurred