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A long gallery wall of tall brushed-aluminium fins seen at an angle, running from deep shadow at the left to full daylight at the right. Where shadow turns to light, one fin is a blade of violet-blue glass. Beyond the last fin, open sky over a blue sea and distant headlands.

Colour contrast checker and accessibility test worksheet

See which colours people can read.

Try the checker

These words are ink on silver-white: 17.76:1, by the checker below.

The film: the checker in 25 seconds. An illustrative example: it does not scan a website, and nothing is sent.
What the film shows, in words
  1. See which colours people can read.
  2. Black on white: 21 to 1. Body text 18.08. Links 9.22.
  3. Caption text: 3.45 to 1. It needs 4.5.
  4. #777777: 4.48. Still short. #767676: 4.54. It passes.
  5. 3 of 8 manual tests passed. 1 failed. 4 never tested.
  6. Untested is not the same as passing.

ExampleA site’s main colours, including one grey that fails.

Contrast is a distance.

One scale of light runs from black to white, and every colour sits where its lightness puts it. A pair is the span between its two colours. A span shorter than the length its use needs fails.

  1. Body text#111112 on #FBFAF718.08:1needs 4.5:1Passes AA

  2. Links#14418F on #FBFAF79.22:1needs 4.5:1Passes AA

  3. Caption text#8A8A8A on #FFFFFF3.45:1needs 4.5:1Fails AA

  4. Button border#D2D0C7 on #FFFFFF1.55:1needs 3:1Fails AA

Position is lightness as WCAG measures it. Hue does not count. Black to white is the whole scale: 21.00:1.

Step 1 of 5

Four colour pairs. Two are too close.

2/4 colour pairs pass AA. Caption text 3.45:1, needs 4.5:1. Button border 1.55:1, needs 3:1. 3/8 manual tests passed. 3 failures to fix (2 contrast, 1 manual).

Caption text at its line, enlarged

3.45:1 against the 4.5:1 it needs: short by 8.7% of the scale.

The eight manual tests the example’s record

  1. 01Every control can be reached and used with the keyboard alonePass
  2. 02Keyboard focus is always visiblePass
  3. 03Headings, labels and link text make sense to a screen readerPass
  4. 04Informative images have text alternatives; decorative ones are hiddenNot tested
  5. 05Content works at 200% zoom and on a 320-pixel-wide screenFail
  6. 06Motion can be paused and respects the reduced-motion settingNot tested
  7. 07Form errors are described in text, next to the fieldNot tested
  8. 08Video has captions; audio has a transcriptNot tested

Now your own colours, on the same scale.

Add your colour pairs as hex codes, then record the manual tests. Type or paste a hex code, pick a colour, or press Darker and Lighter. It does not scan a website.

2/4colour pairs pass AA3/8manual tests passed3failures to fix

This is not a full accessibility audit. Still the example’s: the colour pairs and 8 manual tests.

Foreground and background

  1. 01

    18.08:1Passes AA

    Needs 4.5:1 for body text. AAA needs 7:1 and is reached.

    7:1
  2. 02

    9.22:1Passes AA

    Needs 4.5:1 for body text. AAA needs 7:1 and is reached.

    7:1
  3. 03

    3.45:1Fails AA

    Needs at least 4.5:1. Darken the text or lighten the background.

    7:1
  4. 04

    1.55:1Fails AA

    Interface parts need at least 3:1 against adjacent colours.

What a scan cannot see

Record what a person actually tested. Eight tests, each a sentence you can try on a real page.

01Every control can be reached and used with the keyboard alone

Example’s answer

02Keyboard focus is always visible

Example’s answer

03Headings, labels and link text make sense to a screen reader

Example’s answer

04Informative images have text alternatives; decorative ones are hidden

Example’s answer

05Content works at 200% zoom and on a 320-pixel-wide screen

Example’s answer

06Motion can be paused and respects the reduced-motion setting

Example’s answer

07Form errors are described in text, next to the field

Example’s answer

08Video has captions; audio has a transcript

Example’s answer

Findings, and the worksheet so far

Live
2/4colour pairs pass AA
3/8manual tests passed
3failures to fix
  • Body text#111112 on #FBFAF718.08:1AA passAAA pass
  • Links#14418F on #FBFAF79.22:1AA passAAA pass
  • Caption text#8A8A8A on #FFFFFF3.45:1AA failAAA fail
  • Button border#D2D0C7 on #FFFFFF1.55:1AA failAAA fail
Manual test worksheet
TestResult
Every control can be reached and used with the keyboard alonePassExample’s answer
Keyboard focus is always visiblePassExample’s answer
Headings, labels and link text make sense to a screen readerPassExample’s answer
Informative images have text alternatives; decorative ones are hiddenNot testedExample’s answer
Content works at 200% zoom and on a 320-pixel-wide screenFailExample’s answer
Motion can be paused and respects the reduced-motion settingNot testedExample’s answer
Form errors are described in text, next to the fieldNot testedExample’s answer
Video has captions; audio has a transcriptNot testedExample’s answer

Findings

  • Gap: “Caption text” fails: 3.45:1.Needs at least 4.5:1. Darken the text or lighten the background.
  • Gap: “Button border” fails: 1.55:1.Interface parts need at least 3:1 against adjacent colours.
  • Gap: Manual test failed: content works at 200% zoom and on a 320-pixel-wide screen.
  • Check: 4 manual tests have not been done.Untested is not the same as passing.
  • Note: This is not a full accessibility audit.Contrast and a short checklist cover part of WCAG 2.2. A conformance claim needs a full audit of every page and state in scope.
Your full reportContrast results and the manual-test worksheetTry this form

Practice 05: Digital solutionsFree · instant results on this pageTool owner: Michael Gagakuma and Kenneth GagakumaVersion 1.0 ·

GKM Strategic Advisory & AI

Contrast results and the manual-test worksheet

Your organisation

2/4colour pairs pass AA3/8manual tests passed3failures to fix

  1. 01Every control can be reached and used with the keyboard alonePassExample’s answer
  2. 02Keyboard focus is always visiblePassExample’s answer
  3. 03Headings, labels and link text make sense to a screen readerPassExample’s answer
  4. 04Informative images have text alternatives; decorative ones are hiddenNot testedExample’s answer
  5. 05Content works at 200% zoom and on a 320-pixel-wide screenFailExample’s answer
  6. 06Motion can be paused and respects the reduced-motion settingNot testedExample’s answer
  7. 07Form errors are described in text, next to the fieldNot testedExample’s answer
  8. 08Video has captions; audio has a transcriptNot testedExample’s answer

PDF and XLSX · 24 September 2026

Your worksheet as it stands. An answer you have not given yourself is marked as the example’s, here and in the file.

Your full report

Contrast results and the manual-test worksheet, by email once delivery is connected.

Contrast results and the manual-test worksheet (PDF + spreadsheet)

Preview only. No email will be sent. Your results are available above.

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· a free brief, or book Michael · from USD 90
A close view of an entrance floor: a strip of tactile guidance paving in pale stone, raised bars then domes, crossing polished concrete towards a glass door in low side light, with a thin line of violet-blue light inlaid along one edge of the strip.
The part of access a person checks by using it. That is what the worksheet records.

How it measures, and its limits.

  1. 01

    Contrast ratio = (L1 + 0.05) ÷ (L2 + 0.05), where L is the WCAG relative luminance of the lighter and darker colour.

  2. 02

    Body text needs 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA); large text 3:1 or 4.5:1; interface parts 3:1.

  3. 03

    Check values: black on white is 21:1; #777777 on white is about 4.48:1 and fails AA for body text.

  1. Black on white#000000 on #FFFFFF21.00:1needs 4.5:1Passes AA

  2. #777777 on white#777777 on #FFFFFF4.48:1needs 4.5:1Fails AA

The two check values, measured by the tool on this page.

What it cannot tell you

  • Not a full audit: most WCAG criteria need a person to test real pages.
  • Contrast over images and gradients must be checked at the worst point.
  • It does not scan your website.

Quality ruleKnown contrast fixtures; clearly not a full accessibility audit.

This page, through its own checker.

The main colour pairs this page is built from, measured by the same calculation. Colour pairs only: it is not a claim that the page conforms to WCAG.

  • Body text on silver-white#0A1126 on #F7F9FC17.76:1needs 4.5:1
  • Secondary text on silver-white#39425A on #F7F9FC9.48:1needs 4.5:1
  • Iolite, deep tone, on silver-white#5F4FF0 on #F7F9FC5.15:1needs 4.5:1
  • Links: royal blue on silver-white#14418F on #F7F9FC9.12:1needs 4.5:1
  • Main button: white on royal blue#FFFFFF on #1D55C06.75:1needs 4.5:1
  • Fail mark on white#A3241B on #FFFFFF7.43:1needs 4.5:1
  • Pass mark on white#0E5B3C on #FFFFFF8.14:1needs 4.5:1
  • Field and button outlines#7C869A on #F7F9FC3.47:1needs 3:1
  • Text on deep ink#EEF2FA on #0B173615.73:1needs 4.5:1
  • Secondary text on deep ink#B9C5E0 on #0B173610.19:1needs 4.5:1
  • Text on a passed plate#EEF2FA on #16254D13.31:1needs 4.5:1
  • Chosen answer: ink on iolite#0A1126 on #7A6BFF4.79:1needs 4.5:1
  • Outlines on deep ink#8E9AB8 on #0B17366.27:1needs 3:1
Arriving at a glazed entrance where a shallow ramp and a short flight of steps reach the same open door, in concrete with a brushed steel handrail lit violet-blue underneath, and the sea beyond the glass.

From eight tests to a full audit.

The checker measures the pairs you give it, and the worksheet records eight tests. A conformance claim needs a full audit of every page and state in scope. That is a service.

Service · 05 Digital solutionsAccessibility audit & remediation (WCAG 2.2 / Section 508)Service · 05 Digital solutionsInstitutional & premium websites
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