Our History | University of Missouri - Kansas City

Research | University of Missouri - Kansas City

Families | University of Missouri - Kansas City

Faculty | University of Missouri - Kansas City

Home | Campus Recreation | University of Missouri - Kansas City

Technology Resources | Information Services | University of Missouri - Kansas City

Staff | University of Missouri - Kansas City

Email | Information Services | University of Missouri - Kansas City

Admissions | Admissions | University of Missouri - Kansas City

UMKC Today | University of Missouri - Kansas City

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 Missouri Kansas City

Title / URL	Issues
Our History \| University of Missouri - Kansas Cityumkc.edu/about/history.html	3
Research \| University of Missouri - Kansas Cityumkc.edu/research/index.html	2
Families \| University of Missouri - Kansas Cityumkc.edu/families/index.html	2
Faculty \| University of Missouri - Kansas Cityumkc.edu/faculty/index.html	2
Home \| Campus Recreation \| University of Missouri - Kansas Citywww.umkc.edu/recreation/index.html	2
Technology Resources \| Information Services \| University of Missouri - Kansas Citywww.umkc.edu/is/resources/index.html	2
Staff \| University of Missouri - Kansas Cityumkc.edu/staff/index.html	2
Email \| Information Services \| University of Missouri - Kansas Cityumkc.edu/is/resources/email/	1
Admissions \| Admissions \| University of Missouri - Kansas Citywww.umkc.edu/admissions/index.html	1
UMKC Today \| University of Missouri - Kansas Citywww.umkc.edu/news/index.html	1

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

University of Missouri Kansas City

Where this issue has occurred