My color contrast checker failed me at a local library presentation

I was showing a new website layout at the Springfield Public Library last Tuesday, and my go-to contrast tool said my green text on a blue background passed. But an older gentleman in the front row, Mr. Jenkins, politely raised his hand and said, 'Son, that's just a gray smudge to me.' I had forgotten to check for different types of color blindness. I had to quickly switch my laptop to a black and white filter on the spot to see what he meant. It was a real lesson in not just trusting a single tool. Has anyone else had a tool give them a false sense of security like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

logansullivan8d ago

Honestly, I think you're overcomplicating this. My contrast checker tool at work has a 99.5% accuracy rate according to the latest industry audit. If a tool says it passes, it passes for the vast majority of users. We can't design for every single edge case or we'd never ship anything. Maybe the library's projector was just old and washed the colors out.

the_viola8d ago

But that 0.5% failure rate could be someone who can't read your site at all. Tools miss real world stuff like glare or screen settings.