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Re: icons and color contrast

for

From: John Foliot
Date: Dec 16, 2016 10:04AM

Hi Joan,

The answer depends, I think, on which lens you are looking through. There
is no legal or "standards" mandate for color contrast on icons today
(although work on WCAG 2.1 hopes to address that), but I would argue that
just as text (and link text) has a minimum color contrast requirement, so
too should icons that are essentially "calls to action" (a.k.a. "similar
to" link text) and so from a usability/accessibility perspective I would
argue that making your icons meet a color contrast ratio of at least 3:1
(but ideally 4.5:1) *SHOULD* be an internal requirement, but as of today
there is no legal requirement to do so.

HTH

JF

On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 10:46 AM, Joan Preston < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I wanted to get your thought on icons that will be used for apps on
> smartphones. The icon will be used for an associated program for the
> university, but the color contrast does not meet 4.5:1 and at 48px x 48px,
> it is hard to read. The icon is not a logo, but uses branding colors.
> Should this icon meet the color contrast ratio or be exempt?
>
> Per the W3C's, Logotypes: Text that is part of a logo or brand name has no
> minimum contrast requirement. However, corporate visual guidelines beyond
> logo and logotype are not included in the exception.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Joan Preston
> Web Accessibility Coordinator
> ITS - California State University, Long Beach
> 562.985.1490
>
>
> > > > >



--
John Foliot
Principal Accessibility Strategist
Deque Systems Inc.
<EMAIL REMOVED>

Advancing the mission of digital accessibility and inclusion