Online Programs | Saint Michael's College

Commencement | Saint Michael's College

Library | Saint Michael's College

Career Education | Saint Michael's College

Study Abroad | Saint Michael's College

Alumni and Families | Saint Michael's College

Burlington and Vermont | Saint Michael's College

Contact Us | Saint Michael's College

Veterans and Military Community Services | Saint Michael's College

Current Students | Saint Michael's College

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

Saint Michael's College

Title / URL	Issues
Online Programs \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/academics/online-programs/	2
Commencement \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/outcomes/commencement/	2
Library \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/academics/library/	2
Career Education \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/outcomes/career-education/	2
Study Abroad \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/academics/study-abroad/	2
Alumni and Families \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/outcomes/alumni/	2
Burlington and Vermont \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/about-smc/burlington/	2
Contact Us \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/about-smc/contact-us/	2
Veterans and Military Community Services \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/student-life/veterans/	2
Current Students \| Saint Michael's Collegewww.smcvt.edu/current-students/	1

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Saint Michael's College

Where this issue has occurred