Gilbert + Tobin

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G+T Innovate | Legal Innovation and Technology | Gilbert + Tobin

Employment Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

Tax Lawyers | Tax Legal Advice Australia | Gilbert + Tobin

Real Estate Lawyers | Property Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

Climate Change Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

Metals and Mining | Gilbert + Tobin

Cyber Security Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

Pro Bono Lawyers | Pro Bono Legal Services | Gilbert + Tobin

When selecting a user interface component with the keyboard, the focus indicator must 
not be partly obscured by anything in front of it. This is the stricter version of this check for 
Level AAA.

## 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 2.4.13](https://w3c.github.io/wcag/understanding/focus-not-obscured-enhanced.html)

ensure-focus-is-not-obscured-enhanced

August 2025

July 2025

Title / URL	Issues
Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/	46
Capital Markets Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/capital-markets	27
G+T Innovate \| Legal Innovation and Technology \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/gt-innovate	27
Employment Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/employment	27
Tax Lawyers \| Tax Legal Advice Australia \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/tax	24
Real Estate Lawyers \| Property Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/real-estate	23
Climate Change Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/climate-change	22
Metals and Mining \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/sectors/mining-and-metals	21
Cyber Security Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/cyber-security	21
Pro Bono Lawyers \| Pro Bono Legal Services \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/pro-bono	20

Ensure focus is not partly obscured

Gilbert + Tobin

Where this issue has occurred