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Color and contrast

Is there enough contrast between text and its background color?

Why it’s important: Rohit has low vision and needs content to have enough contrast to read it.

View more

Esther is red-green colorblind and can’t make sense of information conveyed with color alone.

Steps to take

  • Use a color contrast tool and test that the contrast between the text and background is greater than or equal to 4.5:1.
  • Use an automated tool to quickly scan for color contrast problems.
  • Don’t use color alone to convey meaning. Use icons, text, and other visual elements to reinforce the meaning of the content.

Resources

Video tutorial: Meeting contrast requirements
Video tutorial: How I do an accessibility check (contrast)

WCAG 2.0 references

1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

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Contact: Questions or comments? Please file a GitHub issue or email g-accessibility@gsa.gov.