What is Color Contrast Checker?
Color Contrast Checker It is a free online tool designed for web designers, front-end developers and accessibility experts. It can quickly calculate the contrast between two colors and calculate the WCAG 2.1(Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards evaluate compliance with AA and AAA accessibility specifications.
What is WCAG contrast?
WCAG 2.1 defines the calculation method of color contrast, using the relative brightness (Relative Luminance) formula to calculate the contrast ratio between the foreground color and the background color. The higher the contrast, the easier the text is to read, especially for users with weak vision.
- AA standards: Regular text requires ≥ 4.5:1, large text (18pt or 14pt bold) requires ≥ 3:1
- AAA standard: General text requires ≥ 7:1, large text requires ≥ 4.5:1
Why is contrast important?
Good color contrast not only improves the reading experience for all users, it is also a key element of accessible web design. With approximately 217 million people worldwide living with moderate to severe visual impairment, ensuring adequate contrast can make your website more inclusive while also avoiding potential legal risks.
How to use this tool?
The usage is very simple: set them separately on the leftForeground color (text color) withbackground color, you can adjust colors via the color picker or by directly entering HEX, RGB, or HSL values. A live preview, contrast value, and WCAG evaluation results are immediately displayed on the right. If the color matching does not pass the standard, we will also provide specific suggestions for improvement.
How contrast is calculated
Contrast is calculated according to the relative brightness formula of the WCAG 2.1 specification:L = 0.2126 × R + 0.7152 × G + 0.0722 × B, where R, G, and B are Gamma-corrected sRGB values. Contrast Ratio = (L₁ + 0.05) / (L₂ + 0.05), where L₁ is the lighter color and L₂ is the darker color.