Contact us - Heriot-Watt University Malaysia

Malaysia University - Global Study | Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt Dubai University | A British University Campus

Complaints - Heriot-Watt University

Students - Heriot-Watt University

Schools - Heriot-Watt University

Browser support - Heriot-Watt University

First time visit: View without clicking anything

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

Heriot-Watt University

	Title / URL	Issues
	Contact us - Heriot-Watt University Malaysiawww.hw.ac.uk/malaysia/about/contact-us.htm	22
	Malaysia University - Global Study \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/malaysia/	21
	Heriot-Watt Dubai University \| A British University Campuswww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/	17
	Complaints - Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/uk/about/policies/complaints.htm	6
	Students - Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/uk/students/	6
	Schools - Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/uk/schools/	6
	Browser support - Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/uk/about/policies/website.htm	6
	First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.hw.ac.uk/	2

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Heriot-Watt University

Where this issue has occurred