Color Contrast Checker: Designing for Every Eye
The web is a visual medium, but not everyone sees it the same way. Over 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment. For them, low-contrast text (like light grey text on a white background) is simply invisible.
Our Color Contrast Checker is built on the rigorous math of the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). It calculates the luminance difference between your foreground (text) and background colors to ensure your content is legible for everyone, including those with color blindness or aging eyes.
Understanding the Score (The Ratio)
The magic number is the ratio.
- 21:1 (Max): Black text on White background. This is the highest possible contrast.
- 7:1 (AAA Standard): The gold standard. Required for government sites and critical information.
- 4.5:1 (AA Standard): The minimum requirement for normal text (16px). If you fall below this, you fail the audit.
- 3:1 (Large Text): The minimum for headlines (24px+) or bold text.
- 1:1 (Min): Invisible. White text on White background.
Designing for the Real World
Designers often love "Subtle" aesthetics. Light gray text looks modern on a high-end Retina reference monitor in a dark room.
But your users aren't in a dark room. They are on a cheap smartphone, outside in direct sunlight, with a greasy screen, walking to the bus. In these real-world conditions, "subtle" becomes "unreadable." High contrast is not just about disability; it improves the experience for everyone.
How to fix Low Contrast?
If your brand colors fail the test (e.g., Orange text on White often fails), you have options:
- Darken the Text: Use a darker shade of your brand color for typography.
- Increase Font Size: If you really want that specific color, make the font larger or bold. This moves the requirement from 4.5 down to 3.0.
- Change Background: Sometimes a very light gray background (`#F5F5F5`) instead of pure white provides slightly better contrast for dark colors, or vice versa for light text on dark modes.