Fast Facts | University of San Francisco

University of San Francisco Homepage | University of San Francisco

USF News | University of San Francisco

Current Students | University of San Francisco

Global USF | University of San Francisco

Alumni | University of San Francisco

Orange County | University of San Francisco

Faculty & Staff | University of San Francisco

Giving | University of San Francisco

Sacramento Campus | University of San Francisco

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 San Francisco

Title / URL	Issues
Fast Facts \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/who-we-are/fast-facts	100
University of San Francisco Homepage \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/	100
USF News \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/newsroom	88
Current Students \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/current-students	77
Global USF \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/who-we-are/global-usf	76
Alumni \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/alumni	69
Orange County \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/orange-county	67
Faculty & Staff \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/faculty-staff	67
Giving \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/giving	67
Sacramento Campus \| University of San Franciscowww.usfca.edu/sacramento	67

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

University of San Francisco

Where this issue has occurred