Alumni & Friends | University of Mississippi

Research | University of Mississippi

Mission | University of Mississippi

Student Complaints | University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi | Ole Miss

Undergraduate Programs | University of Mississippi

UM Today | University of Mississippi

News & Events | University of Mississippi

Academics | University of Mississippi

Campus Organizations | University of Mississippi

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

The University of Mississippi

Title / URL	Issues
Alumni & Friends \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/audience/alumni.html	1
Research \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/research.html	1
Mission \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/aboutum/mission.html	1
Student Complaints \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/info/complaint.html	1
University of Mississippi \| Ole Missolemiss.edu/	1
Undergraduate Programs \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/academics/programs/	1
UM Today \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/newsevents/umtoday/	1
News & Events \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/newsevents/	1
Academics \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/academics/	1
Campus Organizations \| University of Mississippiolemiss.edu/info/orgs.html	1

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

The University of Mississippi

Where this issue has occurred