WCAG Color Contrast Checker

Check Color Contrast for WCAG Compliance

Ensure your designs meet accessibility standards with our free WCAG color contrast checker. This tool helps you verify that your color combinations meet WCAG 2.1 AA and AAA compliance requirements for both normal and large text.

How to Use Jam's WCAG Color Contrast Checker

Quickly verify color contrast ratios and ensure your designs meet accessibility standards. Perfect for designers, developers, and anyone working on accessible web content.

• Enter your foreground color: Input your text color in hex format (e.g., #000000)
• Enter your background color: Input your background color in hex format (e.g., #FFFFFF)
• Review the results: Instantly see the contrast ratio and WCAG compliance status for both AA and AAA standards

Understanding WCAG Color Contrast Requirements

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 define minimum contrast ratios to ensure text is readable for people with visual impairments. The contrast ratio measures the difference in luminance between text and background colors.

• WCAG AA Normal text: Requires 4.5:1 contrast ratio (text smaller than 18pt or 14pt bold)
• WCAG AA Large text: Requires 3:1 contrast ratio (text 18pt+ or 14pt+ bold)
• WCAG AA Graphical objects and UI components: Requires 3:1 contrast ratio for essential visual information like icons, buttons, form controls, and other interactive elements
• WCAG AAA Normal text: Requires 7:1 contrast ratio (text smaller than 18pt or 14pt bold)
• WCAG AAA Large text: Requires 4.5:1 contrast ratio (text 18pt+ or 14pt+ bold)

Graphical Objects and User Interface Components

WCAG 2.1 also requires a minimum 3:1 contrast ratio for graphical objects and user interface components. This includes icons, buttons, form controls, charts, graphs, and other essential visual elements that convey information or require user interaction. Our tool checks compliance for these elements, helping you ensure that all parts of your interface are accessible to users with visual impairments.

Why Color Contrast Matters for Accessibility

Proper color contrast is essential for accessibility. It ensures that people with visual impairments, color blindness, or those viewing content in bright sunlight can read your text and interact with your interface. Meeting WCAG standards not only improves accessibility but also helps you comply with legal requirements in many jurisdictions. Our tool calculates the contrast ratio using the WCAG 2.1 formula, which considers the relative luminance of colors.