Undergraduate Degrees | Western Sydney University

Postgraduate Degrees | Western Sydney University

Research | Western Sydney University

Microcredentials | Western Sydney University

Application Pathways | Western Sydney University

Students | Western Sydney University

Future Students | Western Sydney University

The Academy | Western Sydney University

Home | Western Sydney University

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

March 2025

February 2025

Western Sydney University

Title / URL	Issues
Undergraduate Degrees \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/future/study/courses/undergraduate	10
Postgraduate Degrees \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/future/study/courses/postgraduate	10
Research \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/future/study/courses/research	10
Microcredentials \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/future/study/courses/altcreds	10
Application Pathways \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/future/study/application-pathways	10
Students \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/students	10
Research \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/research	10
Future Students \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/future	10
The Academy \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/future/study/courses/the-academy	10
Home \| Western Sydney Universitywww.westernsydney.edu.au/	10

Ensure focus is not fully obscured

Western Sydney University

Where this issue has occurred