University of Glasgow - Subjects A-Z

University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow - Services A-Z

University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow - MyGlasgow Students - Information for new students

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Postgraduate research opportunities A-Z

University of Glasgow - Undergraduate study

University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow - MyGlasgow Staff

University of Glasgow - Explore

The University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. A world top 100 university

University of Glasgow - Study

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 Glasgow

	Title / URL	Issues
	University of Glasgow - Subjects A-Zwww.gla.ac.uk/subjects/	100
	University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow - Services A-Zwww.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/services/	100
	University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow - MyGlasgow Students - Information for new studentswww.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/students/new/	100
	University of Glasgow - Postgraduate studywww.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/	100
	University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Postgraduate research opportunities A-Zwww.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/	100
	University of Glasgow - Undergraduate studywww.gla.ac.uk/undergraduate/	100
	University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow - MyGlasgow Staffwww.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/	100
	University of Glasgow - Explorewww.gla.ac.uk/explore/	100
	The University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. A world top 100 universitywww.gla.ac.uk/	100
	University of Glasgow - Studywww.gla.ac.uk/study/	100

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

University of Glasgow

Where this issue has occurred