Level AAWCAG 2.2
1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus
Additional content triggered by hover or focus is dismissible, hoverable, and persistent.
Why it matters
Zoomed-in users
At high zoom, tooltips may extend beyond the viewport. If users cannot hover over them to scroll, the content is unreadable.
Cognitive impairment
Content that appears and disappears abruptly is confusing. It's important that users can read at their own pace.
Keyboard users
If additional content only shows on hover and not on focus, it becomes inaccessible.
Motor impairment
People who have trouble with fine mouse movements cannot hold a small hover target steadily.
Live demo
Content shown on hover or focus
Hover over the tooltip trigger or focus the button to compare the behavior.
Hover or focus the button
pointer-events: none
Escape key does nothing
The tooltip cannot be hovered and Escape does nothingIt disappears as soon as the pointer moves
Understand through a persona
Ito (60) — Low vision (screen magnification)
At 300% zoom, tooltips can end up off-screen. If she cannot move the pointer onto the tooltip itself to scroll, she cannot read it. Also, since an enlarged tooltip covers the content below it, she needs to be able to dismiss it with Esc.