Office of the Provost | University of Houston-Clear Lake

Alumni Events | University of Houston-Clear Lake

Maps and Directions | University of Houston-Clear Lake

E-Services | University of Houston-Clear Lake

Visit UHCL | University of Houston-Clear Lake

Counseling and Mental Health Center | University of Houston-Clear Lake

Giving Opportunities | University of Houston-Clear Lake

Apply for Admission | University of Houston-Clear Lake

Human Resources | University of Houston-Clear Lake

Alfred R. Neumann Library | University of Houston-Clear Lake

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

August 2025

July 2025

University of Houston Clear Lake

Title / URL	Issues
Office of the Provost \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/provost/	41
Alumni Events \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/alumni/events/	41
Maps and Directions \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/maps/	41
E-Services \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/eservices/	41
Visit UHCL \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/admissions/visit/	41
Counseling and Mental Health Center \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/cmhc/	41
Giving Opportunities \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/giving/	41
Apply for Admission \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/admissions/apply/	41
Human Resources \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/human-resources/	41
Alfred R. Neumann Library \| University of Houston-Clear Lakewww.uhcl.edu/library/	41

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

University of Houston Clear Lake

Where this issue has occurred