Color Accessibility on the Web: Concepts and Testing Tools

Proposal No: 1998

Bios & Handouts

Speaker(s)

• Greg Kraus, Principal Accessibility Specialist, Interactive Accessibility

Disability Area: Cognitive|Learning   Mobility   Vision   Deaf|HOH   Other Disability  

Topic Area: Legal   Best Practices   Web|Media Access   Alternate Format   Campus Policy   Curriculum Access   Assistive Technology   Information Resources  

Summary of Session

Achieving sufficient color contrast on the Web can be difficult. Issues include varying text sizes, images of text, text over top of images or gradients, and branding constraints. Learn the concepts of color accessibility along with tools to assist with planning and testing for color accessibility.

Abstract

Assessing the color accessibility of Web pages can be challenging for a number of reasons. First, you must understand what is actually meant by color accessibility, what are the actual WCAG 2 contrast accessibility conformance levels, and what do those levels apply to. Second, there is no one single tool that will adequately test for all color accessibility situations - a variety of tools is usually required. Some tools do pixel-level analysis well, and some do automated testing of plain text well. Third, some times we have to work with additional constraints of branding guidelines. This presentation will explain the concepts of color accessibility, demonstrate a number of tools that assess color accessibility, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and how to effectively use each tool, and finally demonstrate tools to help plan for, assess the accessibility of, and deal with any inaccessibility of color palettes.

Kepoints

1. Using the right tool for the right job is critical for assessing color accessibility
2. Using a complementary set of tools is necessary to test for the range of color accessibility issues
3. Creating an accessible color palette and appropriate guidelines assists designers in creating accessible sites

Speaker Bio(s)

Greg Kraus

Greg Kraus is the Principal Accessibility Specialist at Interactive Accessibility. He brings a breadth and depth of accessibility experience that is both engaging and transformative for organizations. Greg combines his experience of implementing accessibility at the institutional level with his technical ability to develop innovative software solutions. Greg takes a people-centered approach to accessibility – accessibility is about people who need access to products and services, and it’s about people who will be making changes to their own workflows in order to deliver accessible products and services. He meets people where they are, creates a vision for where they need to be, and then journeys with them to make it a reality. Previously Greg worked at NC State University as the IT Accessibility Coordinator. Where he developed many innovative accessibility solutions. He also led national accessibility efforts as the EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Constituent Group Leader.

Handout(s)