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WCAG Contrast Guidelines

Learn about WCAG contrast standards

Introduction

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) sets contrast standards to ensure text readability.

Level AA

Minimum contrast of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. This is the minimum standard for most websites.

4.5:1 for normal text

Level AAA

High contrast of 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text. Recommended for important content.

7:1 for normal text

Tools

Use online tools to check contrast, such as WebAIM Contrast Checker or browser developer tools.

WCAG Contrast: Complete Guide to Web Content Accessibility

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is an international standard for web content accessibility that sets color contrast requirements to ensure text readability. Compliance with WCAG standards is critical for creating inclusive websites accessible to people with visual impairments.

In this detailed guide, we'll cover all WCAG contrast levels, calculation methods, practical applications, and verification tools. You'll learn how to use проверка контраста to automatically verify WCAG standards compliance, apply проверка доступности текста to analyze text readability on images, and work with симулятор цветовой слепоты to test color accessibility.

WCAG Contrast Levels: AA and AAA

WCAG defines two contrast levels: AA (minimum) and AAA (enhanced). Level AA requires 4.5:1 contrast for normal text (less than 18pt or 14pt bold) and 3:1 for large text (18pt+ or 14pt+ bold). This is the minimum standard required for most websites.

Level AAA requires 7:1 contrast for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text, ensuring maximum readability. Contrast is calculated using the relative luminance formula between text and background colors.

The проверка контраста tool automatically calculates contrast and verifies WCAG AA and AAA standards compliance, providing improvement recommendations.

Practical Application of WCAG Standards

Compliance with WCAG contrast standards is necessary for legal compliance (ADA, Section 508), SEO improvement (search engines consider accessibility), audience expansion, and improved user experience for all users.

In web design, it's important to check contrast not only for regular text but also for text on images, gradients, and complex backgrounds. The проверка доступности текста tool analyzes text readability on any images, considering local contrast of each pixel and providing detailed recommendations.

When working with color palettes, it's important to check contrast of all color combinations used in the interface.

Tools and Best Practices

Modern tools significantly simplify WCAG standards compliance verification. проверка контраста allows instant verification of any color pair and provides a detailed report with recommendations.

симулятор цветовой слепоты helps understand how your colors are perceived by people with various types of color blindness, which is critical for accessibility. When creating design systems, it's recommended to predefine color pairs that comply with WCAG AA or AAA and use them as tokens.

For dark themes, contrast is often higher, but it's important to check all combinations. When working with branding, анализ брендовых цветов analyzes color palettes for WCAG compliance and provides accessibility improvement recommendations.

Заключение

WCAG contrast standards are not just recommendations but a necessity for creating accessible and inclusive websites.

Compliance with these standards improves user experience for everyone, expands audience, and ensures legal compliance. Use modern tools to verify and improve contrast in your projects.