Hover Content Stays Visible Until Closed
What this criterion checks
This criterion maps to 1.4.13. Content on hover or focus (AA). A detailed plain-language description is maintained in the WebLens criteria catalogue; the WCAG sub-test breakdown below describes exactly what the agent checks and what it does not.
How it's assessed
WebLens walks each user journey, captures a screenshot at every step, and an agent reasons over that evidence. See the how WebLens works for the full pipeline and the deterministic checks layered in for accessibility.
Sub-test coverage
1.4.13. Content on hover or focus (AA) is broken into 4 sub-tests. Coverage is honest about where the agent is reliable, where it only partially checks the requirement, and where a human reviewer is still needed.
3 full1 partial
- Hover/focus content can be dismissed without moving the pointer away (e.g., by pressing Escape)Full
Our tool triggers hover content on interactive elements and presses Escape to check if the content can be dismissed while the pointer stays in place. For the "does not obscure other content" exception, our tool uses a size and position check — small overlays that do not cover nearby content are not flagged. However, the separate exception for content that communicates an input error is not specifically detected — if an error tooltip triggered on hover cannot be dismissed via Escape, a person should verify whether the input-error exception applies.
- Hover/focus content stays visible until the user moves away or dismisses itFull
Our tool keeps the pointer in position and waits to check if the content disappears on its own (auto-dismiss timer). Content that vanishes after a few seconds while the user is still hovering is flagged. This is important for people who need more time to read pop-up content.
- Pointer can move from the trigger to the hover content without it disappearingFull
Our tool moves the mouse pointer from the trigger element to the additional content that appeared and checks whether it stays visible. This catches the common failure where tooltips or dropdown menus vanish the moment the pointer leaves the trigger, making them unreachable for screen magnifier users who need to pan to the content.
- Focus-triggered content also meets dismissible and persistent requirementsPartial
Our tool also tests content triggered by clicking or programmatic focus, in addition to mouse hover. However, content that appears only through pure keyboard focus (Tab to an element) is not systematically tested in this way. A person should verify that any content appearing on keyboard focus alone also meets these requirements.
How reliable it is
This criterion is currently scoring below its expected accuracy range, so confirm each finding before acting on it. See Accuracy & confidence for how the confidence tags are set.