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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

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

Title / URL	Issues
Privacy \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/privacy	35
Accessibility \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/accessibility	31
Media Enquiries \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/about-us/media-enquiries	31
Contact Us \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/contact	26
Education & Promotion \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/our-work/education-promotion	24
Publications \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/publications	23
News \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/about-us/news	23
What we do \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/about-us/what-we-do	23
Cookie Policy \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/cookie-policy	23
Who we are \| Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionnihrc.org/about-us/who-we-are	23

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

Where this issue has occurred