Current students - The University of Sydney

Contact us - The University of Sydney

Error (404) - The University of Sydney

Update your details - The University of Sydney

Alumni benefits - The University of Sydney

Get involved - The University of Sydney

Study

Fees, costs and loans

International students

First time visit: View without clicking anything

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

July 2025

June 2025

University of Sydney

	Title / URL	Issues
	Current students - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/students/	52
	Contact us - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/contact-us.html	39
	Error (404) - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/invented-url-for-404-page	30
	Update your details - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/engage/alumni/update-your-details.html	28
	Alumni benefits - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/engage/alumni/benefits.html	28
	Get involved - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/engage/alumni/get-involved.html	28
	Studywww.sydney.edu.au/study.html	5
	Fees, costs and loanswww.sydney.edu.au/study/fees-and-loans.html	4
	International studentswww.sydney.edu.au/study/international-students.html	4
	First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.sydney.edu.au/	4

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

University of Sydney

Where this issue has occurred