Gilbert + Tobin

Employment Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

Capital Markets Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

Tax Lawyers | Tax Legal Advice Australia | Gilbert + Tobin

Real Estate Lawyers | Property Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

Climate Change Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

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

Cyber Security Lawyers | Gilbert + Tobin

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

Metals and Mining | Gilbert + Tobin

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

August 2025

July 2025

Title / URL	Issues
Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/	32
Employment Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/employment	20
Capital Markets Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/capital-markets	20
Tax Lawyers \| Tax Legal Advice Australia \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/tax	19
Real Estate Lawyers \| Property Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/real-estate	18
Climate Change Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/climate-change	18
Pro Bono Lawyers \| Pro Bono Legal Services \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/pro-bono	16
Cyber Security Lawyers \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/cyber-security	15
G+T Innovate \| Legal Innovation and Technology \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/services/gt-innovate	15
Metals and Mining \| Gilbert + Tobinwww.gtlaw.com.au/expertise/sectors/mining-and-metals	14

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Gilbert + Tobin

Where this issue has occurred