Thank you 2023 | Goldsmiths, University of London

Undergraduate programmes | Goldsmiths, University of London

Graduate School | Goldsmiths, University of London

Preparation courses for international students | Goldsmiths, University of London

Why Goldsmiths? | Postgraduate | Goldsmiths, University of London

Undergraduate | Goldsmiths, University of London

Why Goldsmiths? | Undergraduate | Goldsmiths, University of London

Postgraduate | Goldsmiths, University of London

PGCE programmes | Goldsmiths, University of London

Tuition fees and funding options | Goldsmiths, University of London

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

January 2025

December 2024

Goldsmiths University of London

Title / URL	Issues
Thank you 2023 \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/alumni/thank-you/	8
Undergraduate programmes \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/ug/a-z/	5
Graduate School \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/graduate-school/	5
Preparation courses for international students \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/preparation/	5
Why Goldsmiths? \| Postgraduate \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/pg/why-goldsmiths/	5
Undergraduate \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/ug/	5
Why Goldsmiths? \| Undergraduate \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/ug/why-goldsmiths/	5
Postgraduate \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/pg/	5
PGCE programmes \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/pgce/a-z/	5
Tuition fees and funding options \| Goldsmiths, University of Londonwww.gold.ac.uk/fees-funding/	5

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Goldsmiths University of London

Where this issue has occurred