StepChange Debt Charity. Free Expert Debt Help & Advice

About StepChange. The UK's Largest Debt Charity.

7 Days 7 Ways To Reboot Your Finances. StepChange

What We Do. How StepChange Debt Charity Can Help You.

Get Debt Help. Our Free Debt Advice. StepChange Debt Charity

Debt Information. Free Help With Your Debts. StepChange

Sorry, This Page Cannot Be Found. StepChange Debt Charity.

County Court Judgment. CCJ. Free Debt Advice. StepChange

Partner With Us. Make A Difference Together. StepChange

Equity Release. How It Works? StepChange

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

August 2025

July 2025

StepChange Debt Charity

Title / URL	Issues
StepChange Debt Charity. Free Expert Debt Help & Advicewww.stepchange.org/	2
About StepChange. The UK's Largest Debt Charity.www.stepchange.org/about-us.aspx	1
7 Days 7 Ways To Reboot Your Finances. StepChangewww.stepchange.org/7-days-7-ways.aspx	1
What We Do. How StepChange Debt Charity Can Help You.www.stepchange.org/about-us/what-we-do.aspx	1
Get Debt Help. Our Free Debt Advice. StepChange Debt Charitywww.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-advice.aspx	1
Debt Information. Free Help With Your Debts. StepChangewww.stepchange.org/debt-info.aspx	1
Sorry, This Page Cannot Be Found. StepChange Debt Charity.www.stepchange.org/invented-url-for-404-page	1
County Court Judgment. CCJ. Free Debt Advice. StepChangewww.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj.aspx	1
Partner With Us. Make A Difference Together. StepChangewww.stepchange.org/about-us/partner-with-us.aspx	1
Equity Release. How It Works? StepChangewww.stepchange.org/how-we-help/equity-release.aspx	1

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

StepChange Debt Charity

Where this issue has occurred