Level AA · WCAG 2.1
1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus
Content that appears on hover or focus — tooltips, dropdowns, popovers — can be dismissed, hovered over, and stays visible until dismissed.
Partly automated Some failures are detectable, others need judgement.
How it fails in practice
A tooltip that vanishes the moment the pointer moves toward it, so its content can never be read by somebody using magnification.
How to fix it
Keep the popup open while the pointer is over either the trigger or the popup, dismiss it on Esc, and do not put it on a timer.
At a glance
- Level
- Level AA — the level EN 301 549 requires, and therefore the level the BFSG and the EAA are measured against.
- Principle
- Perceivable
- Guideline
- 1.4 Distinguishable
- Added in
- WCAG 2.1
- EN 301 549
- 9.1.4.13
- Automated check
- Partly automated
Partly automated
How far an automated check gets
A tool finds some failures here and cannot see the rest. A clean automated result means the checks that exist found nothing — not that the criterion is met. This is the gap that makes a green scan look like an accessible site, and it is where the keyboard agent, the agents still in development and a human reviewer do the remaining work.
Related criteria
Other criteria under the same guideline.
Find out which criteria your site fails
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