Continuing Education | Goodwin University

Foundation | Goodwin University

Alumni Association | Goodwin University

Employers | Goodwin University

Admissions | Goodwin University

Career Focused University in CT | Goodwin University

Degree Programs in CT | Goodwin University

Credit By Exam | Goodwin University

Faculty & Staff | Goodwin University

Welcome Newly Enrolled Students | Goodwin University

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

Goodwin College

Title / URL	Issues
Continuing Education \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/continuing-ed/	6
Foundation \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/foundation/	6
Alumni Association \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/alumni/	5
Employers \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/employers/	5
Admissions \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/admissions/	5
Career Focused University in CT \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/	5
Degree Programs in CT \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/majors/	5
Credit By Exam \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/credit-by-exam/	5
Faculty & Staff \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/faculty-staff/	5
Welcome Newly Enrolled Students \| Goodwin Universitywww.goodwin.edu/new-students/	5

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Goodwin College

Where this issue has occurred