About

Version: WCAG 2.1 and up
Number: 1.4.13
Level: AA
Applicability:
  • Links
Requirement:

Where receiving and then removing pointer hover or keyboard focus triggers additional content to become visible and then hidden, the following are true:

Dismissible

A mechanism is available to dismiss the additional content without moving pointer hover or keyboard focus, unless the additional content communicates an input error or does not obscure or replace other content;

Hoverable

If pointer hover can trigger the additional content, then the pointer can be moved over the additional content without the additional content disappearing;

Persistent

The additional content remains visible until the hover or focus trigger is removed, the user dismisses it, or its information is no longer valid.

Exception: The visual presentation of the additional content is controlled by the user agent and is not modified by the author.
Guidance:
Techniques: WCAG currently only includes the following undocumented techniques for this success criterion:
  • ARIA: Using role="tooltip"
  • CSS: Using hover and focus pseudo classes

Purpose

The purpose of this success criterion is to ensure that users can control the display of information that appears on a hover or focus event so that it does not interfere with their ability to read the content beneath.

How to Meet

When authors add content that appears on a hover or focus event, they need to ensure that each of the requirements of the success criterion are satisfied.

As digital publications are rarely designed to be read by users with pointing devices and keyboards, this success criterion is generally not applicable. The closest analogy in publications are pop-up footnotes, but these do not fall under this success criterion both because they are generated by reading systems and because they typically require a click event to appear.

Additional Information

The knowledge base does not currently include information on displaying content in response to hover and focus events due the lack of implementation in publishing formats. Refer to the WCAG guidance documents for additional information.