Residence Life & Housing | SUNY Potsdam

Dining | SUNY Potsdam

Admissions | SUNY Potsdam

Apply Now | SUNY Potsdam

Life at Potsdam | SUNY Potsdam

About Potsdam | SUNY Potsdam

Directory | SUNY Potsdam

News | SUNY Potsdam

Events | SUNY Potsdam

Tuition & Fees | SUNY Potsdam

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

State University of New York at Potsdam

	Title / URL	Issues
	Residence Life & Housing \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/studentlife/housing	1
	Dining \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/studentlife/dining	1
	Admissions \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/admissions	1
	Apply Now \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/admissions/apply	1
	Life at Potsdam \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/studentlife	1
	About Potsdam \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/about	1
	Directory \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/about/directory	1
	News \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/news	1
	Events \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/events	1
	Tuition & Fees \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/admissions/tuition	1

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

State University of New York at Potsdam

Where this issue has occurred