Cookie Policy | Howdens

Hardware | Howdens

Kitchens | Howdens

Joinery | Howdens

Hallway | Howdens

Utility Room | Howdens

About Us | Howdens

Living Room | Howdens

Terms & Conditions | Howdens

Bedrooms | Howdens

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

September 2025

August 2025

Howden Joinery

Title / URL	Issues
Cookie Policy \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/cookie-policy	100
Hardware \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/hardware	35
Kitchens \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/kitchens	35
Joinery \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/joinery	27
Hallway \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/rooms/hallway	26
Utility Room \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/rooms/utility-room	26
About Us \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/help-and-advice/about-us	25
Living Room \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/rooms/living-room	25
Terms & Conditions \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/terms-and-conditions	24
Bedrooms \| Howdenswww.howdens.com/bedrooms	24

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Howden Joinery

Where this issue has occurred