Unclear if focus indicator counts when determining if the focus is obscured about wcag HOT 2 OPEN

the main point of confusion ... is in the name of the SC itself. "focus not obscured" on its face implies that it means the focus indicator, particularly since the spec uses "focus" to mean "focus indicator" in other SCs like "focus visible" and "focus appearance". too late now, of course, but "focused element not obscured" would have avoided any misunderstanding...

from wcag.

I think it is pretty clear that in the SC normative text, "When a user interface component receives keyboard focus...", it is the UIE that must not be fully obscured, not whatever focus indication is used on it.

Whenever the focus is some outline around the UIE, the focus will then also not be fully obscured. The SC misses cases where the focus indicator may be an underline or run inside the perimeter of the UIE. Taking the normative text narrowly, content would then seem to pass if the UIE - say, a link - is partly visible but not its focus (like the underline). I have read through the 2.4.11 Understanding text and see nothing that contradicts this interpretation, and nothing that suggests the focus indicator should be considered part of the UIE.

@rachaelbradley Which bits of understanding text do you think are unclear?

One could certainly strengthen the understanding by advising that neither the UIE not its focus indcation should be fully obscured, but that is not a "must" - that would need a normative change.

from wcag.