Went from eyeballing contrast to actually using a checker tool after a client complained

I used to just pick colors that looked fine to me and call it good. But last Tuesday a client with low vision told me my light gray on white text was basically invisible to them. Now I run everything through a WCAG contrast checker before I send it out... has anyone else had a client call them out like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sage1d agoMost Upvoted

Man I heard this podcast the other day with a color blind designer who was saying how many of us just assume everyone sees colors the same way we do. Turns out like 1 in 12 guys have some form of color blindness and most of them don't even know it. So when you're picking a light gray on white it might look fine to you but to someone with even mild color issues it might as well be invisible. The whole reason WCAG standards exist is because people with different vision levels are trying to use the same websites and apps we're building. I honestly never thought about it until someone laid it out like that for me. Now I check everything too because it feels kinda lazy not to when the tool is free and takes like 10 seconds.

jennifer_fisher19h ago

I get what you're saying and I don't totally disagree, but honestly I think some of this gets overblown. Not every design choice is a WCAG violation just because it's not ideal for 1 in 12 people. I've checked my own stuff with simulators and sometimes the "issues" are barely noticeable even to the filters. Plus there's a cost to chasing perfect accessibility for edge cases - it can make the design ugly or cluttered for the 95% of users who see it fine. I'd rather use a clear label or icon than make every color choice a compromise.