- Success Criterion 3.2.1
- Conformance level A
Focus-Triggered Tooltip That Traps or Reroutes Keyboard Focus
3.2.1 — On Focus
Scenario
Setting
A telehealth app's video-visit waiting room
What’s wrong
Tooltip-on-focus that traps or reroutes focus rather than just showing content.
Example
Here's a real case from a telehealth app's video-visit waiting room: tooltip-on-focus that traps or reroutes focus rather than just showing content.
Why it matters
Keyboard and screen-reader users, and people who are easily disoriented by surprise UI changes. In this case (a telehealth app's video-visit waiting room), they waste time hunting for something that moved.
How to test
Tab to a control with a focus-triggered tooltip: if the tooltip traps or reroutes focus instead of just displaying content, it fails.
How to fix
Receiving keyboard focus must cause no change — no activation, selection, navigation, popup, or focus jump.
Outcome
Once corrected, a telehealth app's video-visit waiting room lets them predict where to look without relearning the layout.
Who is affected
Keyboard and screen-reader users, and people who are easily disoriented by surprise UI changes.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
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