News | University of Essex

Undergraduate prospectus. | University of Essex

Research Showcase and Impact | University of Essex

Facts and figures | University of Essex

Loughton Campus | University of Essex

Centres and Institutes | University of Essex

University of Essex

Course Finder | University of Essex

Contact the University of Essex | University of Essex

Our pledge to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities | University of Essex

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

February 2025

January 2025

Title / URL	Issues
News \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/news?page=2	2
Undergraduate prospectus. \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/undergraduate/prospectus	2
Research Showcase and Impact \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/research/showcase	2
Facts and figures \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/about/facts-and-figures	2
Loughton Campus \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/life/loughton-campus	2
Centres and Institutes \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/centres-and-institutes	2
University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/	2
Course Finder \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/subjects	2
Contact the University of Essex \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/about/contact	2
Our pledge to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/about/gtrsb-pledge	2

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

University of Essex

Where this issue has occurred