One commonly overlooked aspect of website accessibility is the contrast ratio between foreground and background colours.

White poor contrast can cause readability issues for well-sighted visitors, it can be even more of a problem for those visitors with a visual impairment.

Because of this, The New Zealand Government Web Standards and Requirements v 1.0 and W3C’s Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v 1.0 both contain standards requiring content have sufficient contrast between foreground and background colours.

For example, The New Zealand Government Standards state:

“Ensure that foreground and background colour combinations provide sufficient contrast for navigation, text and informational elements when viewed by someone having colour deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.”

Continue below for details on how to test for adequate colour contrast in your design or web pages.

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