diff --git a/lms/static/sass/partials/base/_variables.scss b/lms/static/sass/partials/base/_variables.scss
index 4d9d7b8734..097cc44d93 100644
--- a/lms/static/sass/partials/base/_variables.scss
+++ b/lms/static/sass/partials/base/_variables.scss
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ $body-line-height: golden-ratio(.875em, 1) !default;
 $base-font-color: rgb(60,60,60) !default;
 $baseFontColor: $base-font-color;
 
-$lighter-base-font-color: rgb(100,100,100) !default;
+$lighter-base-font-color: rgb(100,100,100) $base-font-color;
 $very-light-text: rgb(255,255,255) !default;
 $text-color: rgb(51, 51, 51) !default;
 
diff --git a/lms/templates/help_modal.html b/lms/templates/help_modal.html
index 9089a367ed..9c4e5dca37 100644
--- a/lms/templates/help_modal.html
+++ b/lms/templates/help_modal.html
@@ -18,9 +18,107 @@ from xmodule.tabs import CourseTabList
   <a href="#help-modal" rel="leanModal" role="button">${_("Support")}</a>
 </div>
 
-<section id="help-modal" class="modal" aria-hidden="true" role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-label="${_("{platform_name} Help").format(platform_name=static.get_platform_name())}">
-  <div class="inner-wrapper">
+<section id="help-modal" class="modal" aria-hidden="true" role="dialog" aria-label="${_("{platform_name} Help").format(platform_name=static.get_platform_name())}">
+  <div class="inner-wrapper" id="help_wrapper">
     ## TODO: find a way to refactor this
+    <button class="close-modal "tabindex="0">
+      <span class="icon fa fa-remove" aria-hidden="true"></span>
+      <span class="sr">
+        ## Translators: this is a control to allow users to exit out of this modal interface (a menu or piece of UI that takes the full focus of the screen)
+        ${_('Close')}
+      </span>
+    </button>
+
+    <header>
+      <h2>
+	${Text(_('{platform_name} Help')).format(
+	    platform_name=HTML(u'<span class="edx">{}</span>').format(static.get_platform_name())
+	)}
+      </h2>
+      <hr>
+    </header>
+
+<%
+  discussion_tab = CourseTabList.get_discussion(course) if course else None
+  discussion_link = discussion_tab.link_func(course, reverse) if (discussion_tab and discussion_tab.is_enabled(course, user=user)) else None
+%>
+
+% if discussion_link:
+    <p>${Text(_('For {strong_start}questions on course lectures, homework, tools, or materials for this course{strong_end}, post in the {link_start}course discussion forum{link_end}.')).format(
+      strong_start=HTML('<strong>'),
+      strong_end=HTML('</strong>'),
+      link_start=HTML('<a href="{url}" target="_blank">').format(
+        url=discussion_link
+      ),
+      link_end=HTML('</a>'),
+      )}
+    </p>
+% endif
+
+    <p>${Text(_('Have {strong_start}general questions about {platform_name}{strong_end}? You can find lots of helpful information in the {platform_name} {link_start}FAQ{link_end}.')).format(
+        strong_start=HTML('<strong>'),
+        strong_end=HTML('</strong>'),
+        link_start=HTML('<a href="{url}" target="_blank">').format(
+          url=marketing_link('FAQ')
+        ),
+        link_end=HTML('</a>'),
+        platform_name=static.get_platform_name())}
+      </p>
+
+    <p>${Text(_('Have a {strong_start}question about something specific{strong_end}? You can contact the {platform_name} general support team directly:')).format(
+        strong_start=HTML('<strong>'),
+        strong_end=HTML('</strong>'),
+        platform_name=static.get_platform_name()
+      )}</p>
+    <hr>
+
+    <div class="help-buttons">
+      <button type="button" class="" id="feedback_link_problem">${_('Report a problem')}</button><br />
+      <button type="button" class="" id="feedback_link_suggestion">${_('Make a suggestion')}</button><br />
+      <button type="button" class="" id="feedback_link_question">${_('Ask a question')}</button>
+    </div>
+
+    <p class="note">${_('Please note: The {platform_name} support team is English speaking. While we will do our best to address your inquiry in any language, our responses will be in English.').format(
+        platform_name=static.get_platform_name()
+      )}</p>
+
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="inner-wrapper" id="feedback_form_wrapper">
+    <button class="close-modal">
+      <span class="icon fa fa-remove" aria-hidden="true"></span>
+      <span class="sr">
+        ## Translators: this is a control to allow users to exit out of this modal interface (a menu or piece of UI that takes the full focus of the screen)
+        ${_('Close')}
+      </span>
+    </button>
+
+    <header></header>
+
+    <form id="feedback_form" class="feedback_form" method="post" data-remote="true" action="/submit_feedback">
+      <div id="feedback_error" class="modal-form-error" tabindex="-1"></div>
+% if not user.is_authenticated():
+      <label data-field="name" for="feedback_form_name">${_('Name')}*</label>
+      <input name="name" type="text" id="feedback_form_name" aria-required="true">
+      <label data-field="email" for="feedback_form_email">${_('E-mail')}*</label>
+      <input name="email" type="text" id="feedback_form_email" aria-required="true">
+% endif
+      <label data-field="subject" for="feedback_form_subject">${_('Briefly describe your issue')}*</label>
+      <input name="subject" type="text" id="feedback_form_subject" aria-required="true">
+      <label data-field="details" for="feedback_form_details">${_('Tell us the details')}*
+<span class="tip">${_('Include error messages, steps which lead to the issue, etc')}</span></label>
+      <textarea name="details" id="feedback_form_details" aria-required="true"></textarea>
+      <input name="issue_type" type="hidden">
+% if course:
+      <input name="course_id" type="hidden" value="${unicode(course.id)}">
+% endif
+      <div class="submit">
+        <input name="submit" type="submit" value="${_('Submit')}" id="feedback_submit">
+      </div>
+    </form>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="inner-wrapper" id="feedback_success_wrapper" tabindex="0">
     <button class="close-modal" tabindex="0">
       <span class="icon fa fa-remove" aria-hidden="true"></span>
       <span class="sr">
@@ -28,235 +126,99 @@ from xmodule.tabs import CourseTabList
         ${_('Close')}
       </span>
     </button>
-    <div id="help_wrapper">
 
-        <header>
-          <h2>
-        ${Text(_('{platform_name} Help')).format(
-            platform_name=HTML(u'<span class="edx">{}</span>').format(static.get_platform_name())
-        )}
-          </h2>
-          <hr>
-        </header>
+    <header>
+      <h2>${_('Thank You!')}</h2>
+      <hr>
+    </header>
 
     <%
-      discussion_tab = CourseTabList.get_discussion(course) if course else None
-      discussion_link = discussion_tab.link_func(course, reverse) if (discussion_tab and discussion_tab.is_enabled(course, user=user)) else None
+      dst = datetime.now(pytz.utc).astimezone(pytz.timezone("America/New_York")).dst()
+      if dst:
+        open_time = "13:00"
+        close_time = "21:00"
+      else:
+        open_time = "14:00"
+        close_time = "22:00"
     %>
-
-    % if discussion_link:
-        <p>${Text(_('For {strong_start}questions on course lectures, homework, tools, or materials for this course{strong_end}, post in the {link_start}course discussion forum{link_end}.')).format(
-          strong_start=HTML('<strong>'),
-          strong_end=HTML('</strong>'),
-          link_start=HTML('<a href="{url}" target="_blank">').format(
-            url=discussion_link
-          ),
-          link_end=HTML('</a>'),
-          )}
-        </p>
-    % endif
-
-        <p>${Text(_('Have {strong_start}general questions about {platform_name}{strong_end}? You can find lots of helpful information in the {platform_name} {link_start}FAQ{link_end}.')).format(
-            strong_start=HTML('<strong>'),
-            strong_end=HTML('</strong>'),
-            link_start=HTML('<a href="{url}" id="feedback-faq-link" target="_blank">').format(
-              url=marketing_link('FAQ')
-            ),
-            link_end=HTML('</a>'),
-            platform_name=static.get_platform_name())}
-          </p>
-
-        <p>${Text(_('Have a {strong_start}question about something specific{strong_end}? You can contact the {platform_name} general support team directly:')).format(
-            strong_start=HTML('<strong>'),
-            strong_end=HTML('</strong>'),
-            platform_name=static.get_platform_name()
-          )}</p>
-        <hr>
-
-        <div class="help-buttons">
-            <button type="button" class="" id="feedback_link_problem">${_('Report a problem')}</button><br />
-            <button type="button" class="" id="feedback_link_suggestion">${_('Make a suggestion')}</button><br />
-            <button type="button" class="" id="feedback_link_question">${_('Ask a question')}</button>
-        </div>
-
-        <p class="note">${_('Please note: The {platform_name} support team is English speaking. While we will do our best to address your inquiry in any language, our responses will be in English.').format(
-            platform_name=static.get_platform_name()
-        )}</p>
-
-    </div>
-
-    <div id="feedback_form_wrapper">
-
-        <header></header>
-
-        <form id="feedback_form" class="feedback_form" method="post" data-remote="true" action="/submit_feedback">
-          <div class="feedback-form-error" aria-live="polite">
-              <div id="feedback_error" class="modal-form-error" tabindex="-1"></div>
-          </div>
-    % if not user.is_authenticated():
-          <label data-field="name" for="feedback_form_name">${_('Name')}*</label>
-          <input name="name" type="text" id="feedback_form_name" required>
-          <label data-field="email" for="feedback_form_email">${_('E-mail')}*</label>
-          <input name="email" type="text" id="feedback_form_email" required>
-    % endif
-          <label data-field="subject" for="feedback_form_subject">${_('Briefly describe your issue')}*</label>
-          <input name="subject" type="text" id="feedback_form_subject" required>
-          <label data-field="details" for="feedback_form_details">${_('Tell us the details')}*</label>
-          <span class="tip" id="feedback_form_details_tip">${_('Describe what you were doing when you encountered the issue. Include any details that will help us to troubleshoot, including error messages that you saw.')}</span>
-          <textarea name="details" id="feedback_form_details" required aria-describedby="feedback_form_details_tip"></textarea>
-          <input name="issue_type" type="hidden">
-    % if course:
-          <input name="course_id" type="hidden" value="${unicode(course.id)}">
-    % endif
-          <div class="submit">
-            <input name="submit" type="submit" value="${_('Submit')}" id="feedback_submit">
-          </div>
-        </form>
-    </div>
-
-    <div id="feedback_success_wrapper">
-
-        <header>
-          <h2>${_('Thank You!')}</h2>
-          <hr>
-        </header>
-
-        <%
-          dst = datetime.now(pytz.utc).astimezone(pytz.timezone("America/New_York")).dst()
-          if dst:
-            open_time = "13:00"
-            close_time = "21:00"
-          else:
-            open_time = "14:00"
-            close_time = "22:00"
-        %>
-        <p>
-        ${Text(_(
-            'Thank you for your inquiry or feedback.  We typically respond to a request '
-            'within one business day (Monday to Friday, {open_time} UTC to {close_time} UTC.) In the meantime, please '
-            'review our {link_start}detailed FAQs{link_end} where most questions have '
-            'already been answered.'
-        )).format(
-            open_time=open_time,
-            close_time=close_time,
-            link_start=HTML('<a href="{}" target="_blank" id="success-feedback-faq-link">').format(marketing_link('FAQ')),
-            link_end=HTML('</a>')
-        )}
-        </p>
-    </div>
+    <p>
+    ${Text(_(
+        'Thank you for your inquiry or feedback.  We typically respond to a request '
+        'within one business day (Monday to Friday, {open_time} UTC to {close_time} UTC.) In the meantime, please '
+        'review our {link_start}detailed FAQs{link_end} where most questions have '
+        'already been answered.'
+    )).format(
+        open_time=open_time,
+        close_time=close_time,
+        link_start=HTML('<a href="{}" target="_blank" id="feedback-faq-link" tabindex="0">').format(marketing_link('FAQ')),
+        link_end=HTML('</a>')
+    )}
+    </p>
   </div>
 </section>
 
 <script type="text/javascript">
 (function() {
-    var $helpModal = $("#help-modal"),
-        $closeButton = $("#help-modal .close-modal"),
-        $leanOverlay = $("#lean_overlay"),
-        $feedbackForm = $("#feedback_form"),
-        focusableChildren,
-        numElements,
-        currentIndex,
-        onModalClose = function() {
-            $closeButton.off("click");
-            $leanOverlay.off("click");
-            $helpModal.attr("aria-hidden", "true");
+    var onModalClose = function() {
+            $("#help-modal .close-modal").off("click");
+            $("#lean_overlay").off("click");
+            $("#help-modal").attr("aria-hidden", "true");
             $('area,input,select,textarea,button').removeAttr('tabindex');
             $(".help-tab a").focus();
-            $leanOverlay.removeAttr('tabindex');
         },
-        initializeTabKeyValues = function(element_name) {
-            focusableChildren = $(element_name).find('a, input[type=text], input[type=submit], select, textarea, button');
-            focusableChildren = focusableChildren.add($closeButton);
-            numElements = focusableChildren.length;
-            currentIndex = 0;
-        },
-        focusElement = function() {
-            var focusableElement = focusableChildren[currentIndex];
-            if (focusableElement) {
-                focusableElement.focus();
-            }
-        },
-        focusPrevious = function () {
-            currentIndex--;
-            if (currentIndex < 0) {
-                currentIndex = numElements - 1;
-            }
-
-            focusElement();
-
-            return false;
-        },
-        focusNext = function () {
-            currentIndex++;
-            if (currentIndex >= numElements) {
-                currentIndex = 0;
-            }
-
-            focusElement();
-
-            return false;
+        cycle_modal_tab = function(from_element_name, to_element_name) {
+            $(from_element_name).on('keydown', function(e) {
+                var keyCode = e.keyCode || e.which;
+                if (keyCode === 9) {
+                    e.preventDefault();
+                    $(to_element_name).focus();
+                }
+            });
         };
 
-        $helpModal.on('keydown', function (e) {
-            var keyCode = e.keyCode || e.which,
-                escapeKeyCode = 27,
-                tabKeyCode = 9;
-            if (keyCode === escapeKeyCode) {
-                e.preventDefault();
-                $closeButton.click();
-            }
-            if (keyCode == tabKeyCode && e.shiftKey) {
-                e.preventDefault();
-                focusPrevious();
-            }
-            else if (keyCode == tabKeyCode) {
-                e.preventDefault();
-                focusNext();
-            }
-        });
-
-    $helpModal.click(function () {
-        $helpModal.focus();
-    });
-
     $(".help-tab").click(function() {
-        initializeTabKeyValues("#help_wrapper");
         $(".field-error").removeClass("field-error");
-        $feedbackForm[0].reset();
+        $("#feedback_form")[0].reset();
         $("#feedback_form input[type='submit']").removeAttr("disabled");
         $("#feedback_form_wrapper").css("display", "none");
         $("#feedback_error").css("display", "none");
-        $("#feedback_form_details_tip").css("display", "none");
         $("#feedback_success_wrapper").css("display", "none");
         $("#help_wrapper").css("display", "block");
-        $helpModal.attr("aria-hidden", "false");
-        $closeButton.click(onModalClose);
-        $leanOverlay.click(onModalClose);
-        $("button.close-modal").attr('tabindex', 0);
-        $closeButton.focus();
+        $("#help-modal").attr("aria-hidden", "false");
+        $("#help-modal .close-modal").click(onModalClose);
+        $("#lean_overlay").click(onModalClose);
+        $("#help_wrapper .close-modal").focus();
     });
-
     showFeedback = function(event, issue_type, title, subject_label, details_label) {
         $("#help_wrapper").css("display", "none");
-        initializeTabKeyValues("#feedback_form_wrapper");
         $("#feedback_form input[name='issue_type']").val(issue_type);
         $("#feedback_form_wrapper").css("display", "block");
         $("#feedback_form_wrapper header").html("<h2>" + title + "</h2><hr>");
         $("#feedback_form_wrapper label[data-field='subject']").html(subject_label);
         $("#feedback_form_wrapper label[data-field='details']").html(details_label);
-        $closeButton.focus();
+        $("#feedback_form_wrapper .close-modal").focus();
         event.preventDefault();
     };
-
+    cycle_modal_tab("#feedback_link_question", "#help_wrapper .close-modal");
+    cycle_modal_tab("#feedback_submit", "#feedback_form_wrapper .close-modal");
+    cycle_modal_tab("#feedback-faq-link", "#feedback_success_wrapper .close-modal");
+    $("#help-modal").on("keydown", function(e) {
+        var keyCode = e.keyCode || e.which;
+        if (keyCode === 27) {
+            e.preventDefault();
+            $("#help_wrapper .close-modal").click();
+        }
+    });
     $("#feedback_link_problem").click(function(event) {
-        $("#feedback_form_details_tip").css("display", "block");
         showFeedback(
             event,
             "${_('problem') | n, js_escaped_string}",
             "${_('Report a Problem') | n, js_escaped_string}",
             "${_('Brief description of the problem') + '*' | n, js_escaped_string}" ,
-            "${Text(_('Details of the problem you are encountering{asterisk}')).format(
+            "${Text(_('Details of the problem you are encountering{asterisk}{begin_span}Include error messages, steps which lead to the issue, etc.{end_span}')).format(
                 asterisk='*',
+                begin_span=HTML('<span class=tip>'),
+                end_span=HTML('</span>'),
             ) | n, js_escaped_string}"
         );
     });
@@ -278,20 +240,20 @@ from xmodule.tabs import CourseTabList
             "${_('Details') + '*' | n, js_escaped_string}"
         );
     });
-    $feedbackForm.submit(function() {
+    $("#feedback_form").submit(function() {
         $("input[type='submit']", this).attr("disabled", "disabled");
-        $closeButton.focus();
+        $('area,input,select,textarea,button').attr('tabindex', -1);
+        $("#feedback_form_wrapper .close-modal").focus();
     });
-    $feedbackForm.on("ajax:complete", function() {
+    $("#feedback_form").on("ajax:complete", function() {
         $("input[type='submit']", this).removeAttr("disabled");
     });
-    $feedbackForm.on("ajax:success", function(event, data, status, xhr) {
+    $("#feedback_form").on("ajax:success", function(event, data, status, xhr) {
         $("#feedback_form_wrapper").css("display", "none");
         $("#feedback_success_wrapper").css("display", "block");
-        initializeTabKeyValues("#feedback_success_wrapper");
-        $closeButton.focus();
+        $("#feedback_success_wrapper").focus();
     });
-    $feedbackForm.on("ajax:error", function(event, xhr, status, error) {
+    $("#feedback_form").on("ajax:error", function(event, xhr, status, error) {
         $(".field-error").removeClass("field-error").removeAttr("aria-invalid");
         var responseData;
         try {