Signs it is time to revisit colour contrast

The version of this that works is simpler than the version most people imagine. A few signals that colour contrast is due some attention.

The measurable part of design is whether people can find what they came for and act on it without hesitating. If it only works because one person remembers to do something, it does not work yet.

The signals

• Nobody can say when it was last reviewed
• The answer depends on who you ask
• Body text needs a 4.5:1 contrast ratio against its background
• Light grey on white fails more often than designers expect

How we handle it

Contrast checkers take seconds and settle arguments. None of that requires a large budget, only a decision and someone to own it. The version that survives contact with a real deadline is the simple one.

How to tell if yours is fine

Consistency is the quiet half of design work: it rarely gets complimented, and its absence is noticed immediately. Three things worth confirming about colour contrast before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Light grey on white fails more often than designers expect — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

The point is not perfection, it is knowing which of these you have consciously chosen to skip.