- Success Criterion 2.1.2
- Conformance level A
Modal Focus Trap With No Escape Key or Close Button
2.1.2 — No Keyboard Trap
Scenario
Setting
A car-rental site's checkout flow
What’s wrong
Modal focus "trap" with no Esc/close reachable by keyboard (intended trap, missing exit).
Example
Try this on a car-rental site's checkout flow: modal focus "trap" with no Esc/close reachable by keyboard (intended trap, missing exit).
Why it matters
All keyboard and screen-reader users who can become stuck inside a component. On a car-rental site's checkout flow specifically, they can't operate the feature without a mouse.
How to test
Tab into the component that's intentionally modal: confirm there IS a working Esc or visible close control — if neither exists, it's an unescapable trap.
How to fix
Focus must always be able to leave the component using Tab/Shift+Tab or Esc (or a standard method the user is told about).
Outcome
Fixed, a visitor to a car-rental site's checkout flow can complete the task using only the keyboard, specifically for the “Modal Focus Trap With No Escape Key or Close Button” issue on a car-rental site's checkout flow.
Who is affected
All keyboard and screen-reader users who can become stuck inside a component.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Keyboard Focus Stuck Inside an Embedded Plugin or Widget
- Widget Where Tab Cycles Internally With No Way Out
- Third-Party Embed That Captures and Never Releases Tab Focus
- Script That Yanks Focus Back Every Time the User Tabs Away
- Rich Text Editor That Captures Tab With No Documented Escape
- Autocomplete List That Keeps Recapturing Focus on Every Blur