Took me 3 years to realize my button contrast was garbage

Honestly, I was at a coffee shop in Austin last month and watched a guy squint at my app's login button for like 10 seconds before giving up. It hit me that I'd been using a 2.5:1 contrast ratio the whole time thinking it was fine. Has anyone else had a stranger's face tell them they messed up?

2 comments

2 Comments

josephf103d ago

No way, 2.5 to 1? That is wild. I thought the bare minimum was like 4.5 to 1 for normal text, I can't believe you were running that low. Did you just pick colors that looked good on your monitor and never check them for accessibility? I've definitely done that before, picked a light gray on a white background and thought it looked sleek and minimalist, but it was basically invisible to anyone over 40 or in direct sunlight. Makes me wonder how many apps and sites I've made that have the same problem without me even knowing it.

the_viola3d ago

Oh man, "basically invisible to anyone over 40" hit me RIGHT in the feels because I am that person now. I have to zoom in or squint at so many websites and it drives me crazy. But yeah, I thought I was being clever with my color choices and totally bought into the whole "sleek minimal look" thing. I never once checked contrast ratios, just picked colors that looked good on my nice monitor in a dark room. Then I showed my project to my mom on her phone outside and she couldn't read a single word. That was a wake up call for sure @josephf10. I had to redo like half the styles on a site I was proud of, and now I run everything through a contrast checker before I even save it.