Heriot-Watt Dubai University | A British University Campus

Visit - Heriot-Watt University Dubai

Postgraduate - School of Textiles and Design

Undergraduate programmes - Heriot-Watt University

Study Abroad | Go Global With Heriot-Watt University

Facilities at Orkney Campus | Heriot-Watt

Student Union at Scottish Borders Campus | Heriot-Watt

Giving back - Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt Engage - Heriot-Watt University

Blue Economy - Heriot-Watt 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

March 2025

February 2025

Heriot-Watt University

Title / URL	Issues
Heriot-Watt Dubai University \| A British University Campuswww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/	22
Visit - Heriot-Watt University Dubaiwww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/visit-us.htm	21
Postgraduate - School of Textiles and Designwww.hw.ac.uk/tex/study/postgraduate.htm	10
Undergraduate programmes - Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/study/apply/uk/undergraduate.htm	8
Study Abroad \| Go Global With Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/study/why/go-global.htm	8
Facilities at Orkney Campus \| Heriot-Wattwww.hw.ac.uk/uk/orkney/facilities.htm	6
Student Union at Scottish Borders Campus \| Heriot-Wattwww.hw.ac.uk/uk/borders/student-union.htm	6
Giving back - Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/alumni/giving-back.htm	6
Heriot-Watt Engage - Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/uk/research/engage/about-us.htm	6
Blue Economy - Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/uk/research/blue-economy.htm	6

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Heriot-Watt University

Where this issue has occurred