Health Sciences | Vancouver Island University | Canada

Indigenous | Vancouver Island University | Canada

Connect with us | Vancouver Island University | Canada

Tuition and Aid | Vancouver Island University | Canada

Courses | Vancouver Island University | Canada

Programs and Courses | Vancouver Island University | Canada

Terms | Vancouver Island University | Canada

Join us at Vancouver Island University! | Vancouver Island University | Canada

First time visit: View without clicking anything

Learning services | Vancouver Island University | Canada

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

Vancouver Island University

Title / URL	Issues
Health Sciences \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/programs/health	27
Indigenous \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/programs/indigenous	27
Connect with us \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/contact	27
Tuition and Aid \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/tuition-and-aid	27
Courses \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/programs/courses	27
Programs and Courses \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/programs	27
Terms \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/terms	27
Join us at Vancouver Island University! \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/apply	27
First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.viu.ca/	27
Learning services \| Vancouver Island University \| Canadawww.viu.ca/learning-services	27

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Vancouver Island University

Where this issue has occurred