Current students - University of Wollongong – UOW

Campus services & facilities - University of Wollongong – UOW

Contacts - University of Wollongong – UOW

Library - University of Wollongong – UOW

Study at the University of Wollongong – UOW - Find your passion

Welcome to UOW India | Transforming Education & Empowering Futures

University of Wollongong – UOW - A world-class University

Events - University of Wollongong – UOW

Campuses & teaching locations - University of Wollongong – UOW

Media Centre - University of Wollongong – UOW

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 Wollongong

	Title / URL	Issues
	Current students - University of Wollongong – UOWwww.uow.edu.au/student/	82
	Campus services & facilities - University of Wollongong – UOWwww.uow.edu.au/about/services/	64
	Contacts - University of Wollongong – UOWwww.uow.edu.au/about/contacts/	62
	Library - University of Wollongong – UOWwww.uow.edu.au/library/	51
	Study at the University of Wollongong – UOW - Find your passionwww.uow.edu.au/study/	50
	Welcome to UOW India \| Transforming Education & Empowering Futureswww.uow.edu.au/india/	44
	University of Wollongong – UOW - A world-class Universitywww.uow.edu.au/	41
	Events - University of Wollongong – UOWwww.uow.edu.au/events/	41
	Campuses & teaching locations - University of Wollongong – UOWwww.uow.edu.au/about/locations/	34
	Media Centre - University of Wollongong – UOWwww.uow.edu.au/media/	31

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

University of Wollongong

Where this issue has occurred