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Color contrast
What is color contrast?
Color contrast is the difference in luminance between two colours, most often text and the background behind it. It is measured as a ratio, from 1:1 for two identical colours up to 21:1 for pure black on pure white. The higher the ratio, the easier text is to read, especially for people with low vision, colour blindness, or anyone squinting at a screen in bright sunlight.
WCAG sets concrete thresholds. At level AA, normal body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, and large text needs 3:1. Level AAA raises those to 7:1 and 4.5:1. The rules also cover interactive elements and meaningful graphics, so a button border or an icon that carries information has to meet a minimum too. Pale grey text on a white background is the classic failure: it looks elegant in a mockup and becomes unreadable for a real chunk of the audience.
Contrast is not only an accessibility rule. It is one of the main tools for visual hierarchy, guiding the eye to what matters first. Designers check ratios with contrast checkers as they pick palettes, because a colour that fails at the smallest text size can still work for a large heading. Getting it right means the design looks intentional and stays usable for everyone.
Color contrast at Dallonses
We check contrast while we design, not after a tester flags it. Palettes get tested against WCAG ratios before they reach a screen, so the colours a client falls in love with are colours that actually work in the wild. Catching a failing combination in the design phase is cheap. Catching it after launch means reworking a live product.
Contrast is one of the places where our user interface design and accessible web design overlap completely. We treat the WCAG thresholds as a floor, then use contrast deliberately to build hierarchy and focus. The result reads clearly for someone with perfect vision and someone with none of it. Good contrast is just good design that happens to be inclusive too.
Beautiful palette that nobody can read? Let's make it work for everyone.
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