Making Content Accessible with Colour Contrast Analyzer Tools

One of the key elements of accessibility is ensuring proper colour contrast, which allows people with visual impairments to perceive content effectively. Colour contrast analyzer tools have emerged as valuable resources, aiding designers and developers to create accessible interfaces.

Understanding Colour Contrast

Colour contrastInternal refers to the difference in brightness between foreground and background colours. It plays an important role in ensuring that the text, images, and other visual elements are easily distinguishable for all users, including those with visual impairments or colour vision deficiencies.

Insufficient colour contrast can make content difficult to read, leading to the exclusion and frustration of certain users.

Benefits

• Contrast Ratio Calculation: Colour contrast analyzer tools calculate the contrast between foreground and background colours and indicate whether the combination meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards. The minimum accepted colour contrast ratio is a ratio of at least 4.5:1. The higher the value, the better the contrast.
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: Guidelines such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA and the Harmonised European Standard (EN 301 549) help determine whether a certain contrast ratio meets Canadian accessibility standards. By meeting these accessibility standards, you can make information technology useable for all.
• Colour Picker and Palette Generator: Use these tools to experiment with different colour combinations for your webpage while also ensuring a sufficient contrast ratio and a consistent style. The Adobe Color Wheel is another helpful tool that can help you choose visually appealing colour combinations.
• Link Contrast Checker: This tool analyzes the contrast ratio between a hyperlink and its background. It ensures that the link is easily distinguishable and readable for all users.

For accessibility purposes, links should be underlined by default. Both link and body text must have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 with the background in order to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Use the Link Contrast Checker to ensure that you meet the contrast requirements for links.

Need to check the contrast of a certain page? The Contrast Checker Bookmarklet's foreground and background eyedropper tools allow you to easily test the contrast of any content on your screen.

For more information on colour use, please consult the Canada.ca Style Guide on Colours.

To ensure that your webpages and images meet the contrast ratio requirements, consider using the following tools:

• Colour Contrast Analyzer: To have this tool installed, you must submit a service request to the National Service Desk (NSD)Internal.
• Contrast Checker: This is a web-based tool. It allows you to upload an image but does not offer an eyedropper tool to extract colour directly from a webpage. For this, you can instead use ColorZilla.

For any concerns or inquiries, please reach out to the EDSC.TI.SENSIBILISATION-AWARENESS.IT.ESDC@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca.

You can also visit ESDC's IT Accessibility Office to learn more about accessibility and ESDC's Accessibility Plan.