Traditions | The George Washington University

Terms of Use | The George Washington University

About | The George Washington University

Online & Virginia Academic Centers | The George Washington University

Schools & Colleges | The George Washington University

Academics | The George Washington University

Leadership | The George Washington University

Internships & Career Services | The George Washington University

Faculty & Staff | The George Washington University

Virginia Science & Technology Campus | The George Washington 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

December 2024

November 2024

The George Washington University

Title / URL	Issues
Traditions \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/traditions	5
Terms of Use \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/terms-use	5
About \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/about	5
Online & Virginia Academic Centers \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/online-virginia-academic-centers	5
Schools & Colleges \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/schools-colleges	5
Academics \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/academics	5
Leadership \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/leadership	5
Internships & Career Services \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/internships-career-services	5
Faculty & Staff \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/faculty-staff	5
Virginia Science & Technology Campus \| The George Washington Universitywww.gwu.edu/virginia-science-technology-campus	5

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

The George Washington University

Where this issue has occurred