What we do with your data | EHRC

Careers | EHRC

Our publication scheme | EHRC

Cysylltwch â ni | EHRC

Contact us | EHRC

Whistleblowing | EHRC

The Human Rights Act | EHRC

Y Ddeddf Hawliau Dynol | EHRC

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

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Title / URL	Issues
What we do with your data \| EHRCequalityhumanrights.com/what-we-do-your-data	82
Careers \| EHRCequalityhumanrights.com/about-us/careers	60
Our publication scheme \| EHRCequalityhumanrights.com/about-us/our-publication-scheme	60
Cysylltwch â ni \| EHRCequalityhumanrights.com/cy/cysylltwch-ni	53
Contact us \| EHRCwww.equalityhumanrights.com/contact-us	48
Contact us \| EHRCequalityhumanrights.com/contact-us	48
Whistleblowing \| EHRCequalityhumanrights.com/guidance/whistleblowing	35
The Human Rights Act \| EHRCwww.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/human-rights-act	34
The Human Rights Act \| EHRCequalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/human-rights-act	34
Y Ddeddf Hawliau Dynol \| EHRCequalityhumanrights.com/cy/human-rights/y-ddeddf-hawliau-dynol	34

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Where this issue has occurred