Background to the PSR | Payment Systems Regulator

Contact us | Payment Systems Regulator

Market reviews | Payment Systems Regulator

Who we regulate | Payment Systems Regulator

Annual Plans and Budgets | Payment Systems Regulator

The PSR purpose | Payment Systems Regulator

APP scams | Payment Systems Regulator

Enforcement cases | Payment Systems Regulator

Our research with consumers and SMEs | Payment Systems Regulator

The PSR Executive Team | Payment Systems Regulator

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

Payment Systems Regulator

Title / URL	Issues
Background to the PSR \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/about-us/background-to-the-psr/	2
Contact us \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/	2
Market reviews \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/our-work/market-reviews/	2
Who we regulate \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/payment-systems/who-we-regulate/	2
Annual Plans and Budgets \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/about-us/annual-plans-and-budgets/	2
The PSR purpose \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/about-us/the-psr-purpose/	2
APP scams \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/our-work/app-scams/	2
Enforcement cases \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/our-work/enforcement-cases/	2
Our research with consumers and SMEs \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/our-work/our-research/	2
The PSR Executive Team \| Payment Systems Regulatorwww.psr.org.uk/about-us/the-psr-executive-team/	2

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Payment Systems Regulator

Where this issue has occurred