Admissions | Roger Williams University

The Co-Lab at RWU | Roger Williams University

Offerings | Roger Williams University

Parents & Families | Roger Williams University

Life @ RWU | Roger Williams University

Who We Are | Roger Williams University

News Archive | Roger Williams University

Admission | Roger Williams University

Libraries | Roger Williams University

Faculty & Staff | Roger Williams University

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

Roger Williams University

Title / URL	Issues
Admissions \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/uc/admissions	15
The Co-Lab at RWU \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/academics/co-lab-rwu	14
Offerings \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/uc/offerings	14
Parents & Families \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/parents-families	14
Life @ RWU \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/life-at-rwu	14
Who We Are \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/who-we-are	14
News Archive \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/news/news-archive	14
Admission \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/admission	14
Libraries \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/academics/libraries	14
Faculty & Staff \| Roger Williams Universitywww.rwu.edu/faculty-staff	14

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Roger Williams University

Where this issue has occurred