Success Criterion 1.4.13
Conformance level AA

Tooltip That Covers the Very Field It’s Meant to Explain

1.4.13 — Content on Hover or Focus

Scenario

Setting

A hospital's patient portal appointment scheduler

What’s wrong

Tooltip obscures the very field it describes and can't be dismissed.

Example

<span title="More info about this field"></span>

Why it matters

Screen-magnifier users, people with motor tremors, and keyboard-only users of tooltips/menus.

How to test

Trigger a tooltip near a form field: if it visually covers the very field it's describing and can't be dismissed, it fails.

How to fix

Hover/focus-triggered content must stay visible until dismissed, be dismissible with Esc without moving pointer/focus, and remain when the pointer moves onto it.

<button aria-describedby="tip-1">ⓘ</button>

<div id="tip-1" role="tooltip">More info about this field</div>

A hover-triggered tooltip must be dismissible, stay put while the pointer moves onto it, and stay visible until dismissed.

Outcome

On a hospital's patient portal appointment scheduler, this barrier is gone for screen-magnifier users, people with motor tremors — they no longer have to work around this.

Who is affected