Clearing Courses | University of Bolton

Freedom of Information Act | University of Bolton

Staff Area | University of Bolton

Student Area | University of Bolton

International Students | University of Bolton

Blogs | University of Bolton

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

University of Bolton

Title / URL	Issues
Clearing Courses \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/clearing-courses	59
Freedom of Information Act \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/freedom-of-information	50
Staff Area \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/staff-area	46
Student Area \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/student-area	40
International Students \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/study/international	38
Blogs \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/blogs?s=30	38
Blogs \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/blogs?s=20	37
Blogs \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/blogs?s=40	37
Blogs \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/blogs	35
Blogs \| University of Boltonwww.bolton.ac.uk/blogs?s=10	35

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

University of Bolton

Where this issue has occurred