Myth 1: The WCAG requirements are always optimal.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is used as the standard for determining accessible color contrast. However, these guidelines do not always measure up in practical application. Instead of following them dogmatically, you should use the guidelines to guide your design decisions, not dictate them.
One case where the WCAG standards aren’t applicable is with the brightness contrast of white text. Both buttons below have a blue background, but one has white text, and the other has black. When you survey users on which button is easier to read, the majority will tell you the button with the white text is more readable (source). But the accessibility color contrast ratios tell a different story.
The contrast ratio for the black text is 5.41, which passes the requirement. However, the contrast ratio for the white text is 2.94, which fails it. According to the contrast requirements, the button with white text should be less readable, but it’s more readable.
A similar study comparing white and black button text confirms this finding. Not only did normal visioned users find the white text easier to read, but color blind users did as well
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is used as the standard for determining accessible color contrast. However, these guidelines do not always measure up in practical application. Instead of following them dogmatically, you should use the guidelines to guide your design decisions, not dictate them.
One case where the WCAG standards aren’t applicable is with the brightness contrast of white text. Both buttons below have a blue background, but one has white text, and the other has black. When you survey users on which button is easier to read, the majority will tell you the button with the white text is more readable (source). But the accessibility color contrast ratios tell a different story.
The contrast ratio for the black text is 5.41, which passes the requirement. However, the contrast ratio for the white text is 2.94, which fails it. According to the contrast requirements, the button with white text should be less readable, but it’s more readable.
A similar study comparing white and black button text confirms this finding. Not only did normal visioned users find the white text easier to read, but color blind users did as well
more: https://uxmovement.com/buttons/the-m...accessibility/
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