Focus

In CSS there are two important pseudo-classes we use: :focus and :focus-visible.

Browser support for :focus-visible unfortunately does not include Safari 15.

Comparison

:focus:

- Not visible on disabled interactive elements.
- Only in this state for a very short time when a mouse click or touch interaction triggers activation, for components such as a button or link.
- In this state for longer for elements that cannot be activated, such as a textbox.
- Remains in this state after activation for some components, such as a checkbox.
- Visual effect can vary per component:
- different background color
- different border width
- different border color
- different text underline style

:focus-visible:

- Visible even on disabled interactive elements.
- Looks very similar across components, because user needs to keep track of focused element.
- Should draw attention.

Design for :focus

- The design for :focus should be distinguishable from the :hover design. When a user did not configure their system to always make focus visible using for example a focus ring, the user should be able to know which component will be activated when pressing the Enter key. When focus and hover state look similar, it might not possible to know which element would be activated.
- When using color, use a consistent color to convey focus. Choose a color that can be combined with other states, such as combining the red color for invalid state with your color for focus state.
- When changing the font-weight of a component as focus state, it might cause unintended layout shifts, so it might not be the ideal option.

Design for :focus-visible

- A focus ring should not obscure the content inside the focused area.
- A focus ring should not obscure surrounding content. This consideration can also affect the minimum space between focusable elements.
- A focus ring should be visible with sufficient contrast on both dark and light backgrounds.
- A focus ring should be visible on backgrounds with unknown and mixed colors, such as background images.
- When using CSS with overflow: hidden in your component, the outline rendering can become partially or completely invisible. Be careful not to break the focus indication when using overflow: hidden.

CSS

- The default browser focus outline must not be removed, but it may be replaced by something better suited for the design.
- The default browser focus outline is not perceivable on certain background colors, so for many designs it is benificial to replace the default styling with a higher contrast focus ring.
- When CSS outline properties are set to a CSS variable, make sure use revert as fallback value: this way the default styling is not removed when the custom property is not set.

Related reading

- Giving users and developers more control over focus - Chromium Blog
- The Focus-Indicated Pseudo-class: :focus-visible - W3C Selectors specification
- Understanding WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.7: Focus visible