Our grant-making | Independent Age

The hidden two million | Independent Age

Our history | Independent Age

About us | Independent Age

Privacy policy | Independent Age

News and media | Independent Age

Your home and housing | Independent Age

Information and advice | Independent Age

Hi Digital – bridging the digital divide | Independent Age

404 page | Independent Age

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

Independent Age

	Title / URL	Issues
	Our grant-making \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/grant-making	31
	The hidden two million \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/hidden-two-million	31
	Our history \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/about/history	31
	About us \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/about	31
	Privacy policy \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/privacy-policy	31
	News and media \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/news-media	31
	Your home and housing \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/get-advice/housing	31
	Information and advice \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/get-advice	31
	Hi Digital – bridging the digital divide \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/hidigital	31
	404 page \| Independent Agewww.independentage.org/invented-url-for-404-page	31

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Independent Age

Where this issue has occurred