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Glossary · accessibility

:focus-visible

A CSS pseudo-class that targets keyboard-driven focus only, hiding the focus ring on mouse clicks.

`:focus-visible` is the modern answer to the focus-ring problem: showing a visible outline on Tab navigation (essential for keyboard accessibility) but suppressing it on mouse clicks (where a ring feels noisy). Linear, Stripe, and Vercel all use `:focus-visible` with an inset ring at an accent color. The convention is mandatory for AAA accessibility and is enforced in every AI2 Design brief's `accessibilityRules`.

External reference

MDN — :focus-visible

Catalogued examples

3 catalogued sites demonstrate :focus-visible in production.

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