- Success Criterion 1.4.13
- Conformance level AA
1.4.13 · Content on Hover or Focus
Lesson overview · Content on Hover or Focus
In plain language
Tooltips/menus that appear on hover or focus must stay visible, be dismissible with Esc, and let the mouse move onto them.
Who it affects
Screen-magnifier users, people with motor tremors, and keyboard-only users of tooltips/menus.
How to check
Hover and Tab onto each tooltip/menu: press Esc (it should close), move the pointer onto it (it should stay), and confirm it doesn't vanish on its own.
Common misconception
A tooltip that appears on hover often gets ignored in testing because it looks fine to a mouse user. Try reaching it with the keyboard, or moving your mouse toward it, and many tooltips vanish before you can read them.
Learn more
Scenarios in this lesson
- Hover Tooltip That Vanishes Before the Pointer Can Reach It
- Hover Content That Can’t Be Dismissed Without Moving the Mouse
- Tooltip That Can’t Be Closed With the Escape Key
- Mega-Menu That Collapses When Crossing the Gap to Reach It
- Hover Preview Card That Vanishes on the Slightest Pointer Move
- Focus-Triggered Popover That Steals or Dumps Keyboard Focus
- Tooltip That Covers the Very Field It’s Meant to Explain
- Auto-Hiding Hover Content That Times Out Before It’s Read
- Focus Tooltip With No Way to Dismiss It by Keyboard
- Hover Preview That Blocks the Page Until the Pointer Leaves