Cigarette Butts are Rubbish | Keep Britain Tidy

Improve public places | Keep Britain Tidy

Fundraise for us | Keep Britain Tidy

User account | Keep Britain Tidy

Waste Innovation | Keep Britain Tidy

End waste | Keep Britain Tidy

Join us and take action | Keep Britain Tidy

Join our Network of environmental professionals | Keep Britain Tidy

Work for us | Keep Britain Tidy

Support our campaigns | Keep Britain Tidy

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

Keep Britain Tidy

	Title / URL	Issues
	Cigarette Butts are Rubbish \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/smoking-related-litter	3
	Improve public places \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/our-cause/improve-public-places	3
	Fundraise for us \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/fundraise	3
	User account \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/user	3
	Waste Innovation \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/waste-innovation	3
	End waste \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/our-cause/end-waste	3
	Join us and take action \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/email-subscription	3
	Join our Network of environmental professionals \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/local-authorities/become-a-member	3
	Work for us \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/work-for-us	3
	Support our campaigns \| Keep Britain Tidywww.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns	3

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Keep Britain Tidy

Where this issue has occurred