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Re: color change button?

for

From: Jordan Wilson
Date: Sep 28, 2017 10:13AM

Using a CSS style switcher is an acceptable solution covered as a success criteria in the WCAG spec.
https://www.w3.org/TR/2016/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20161007/G174

To be clear this is not the best solution, having a fully compliant site by default would be ideal, but it would be wrong for our community not to realize the importance of color in identity and brand and the value that color brings to design and differentiation. A11y will only prosper when we take the needs of others seriously and adapt our solutions to help them balance their needs and compliance.

IF you are going to use a color switcher I do have some recommendations:

-Explain to your team that this is an exception and not a rule. If they do a brand refresh in the future they should consider color contrast requirements when they do so to avoid doing this in the future. Any modern branding team should be designing for digital and including color contrast standards.

-Make sure that your chosen colors are as close as possible to compliance. If you're brand colors are 4.3 to 1 (instead of 4.5) this may be a good workaround for you. If you're trying to use light yellow on white, you're missing the point.

-Especially avoid using brand colors in body copy and small text. Stick with high contrast for your main content text.

-Make sure your Color switcher is readily available and fully accessible. It should be a permanent feature at the top of the page, accessible via keyboard. The color switcher itself must provide appropriate color contrast and keyboard accessibility,

-Offer a cookie to save settings across pages and through multiple sessions - once a user chooses color contrast on/off, consider using a cookie so the user get the chosen mode every visit.

-Create a plan to maintain the high contrast CSS sheet over time - every new style will need to be evaluated and the high contrast sheet maintained. If your contrast issues exist on your site when High Contrast is on, you are out of compliance.

Jordan


On 9/28/17, 11:06 AM, "WebAIM-Forum on behalf of Sarah Ferguson" < <EMAIL REMOVED> on behalf of <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

It can be considered discrimination by not providing the same experience,
if something has to change for you to be able to use it. I'm not saying
that would hold up in court, but it's enough for a claim to be made.
Especially in this world of social media, a claim is enough to plummet
stock prices.

Sarah Ferguson
Web Accessibility Specialist
Department of Digital Communications
Brandeis University *|* 781.736.4259
www.brandeis.edu/web-accessibility


On Thu, Sep 28, 2017 at 10:55 AM, Patrick H. Lauke < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> On 28/09/2017 15:01, Tomlins Diane wrote:
> [...]
>
>> I really think our best approach here is the discrimination piece, the
>> possibility of legal action. It needs to be compliant to begin with.
>>
>
> First answer to any discrimination piece: we're not discriminating, there
> IS a switcher. If you need better contrast, use that. There is no
> discrimination here. You can argue that "there shouldn't need to be two
> separate views/ways", but providing an equivalent alternative is perfectly
> fine and not discrimination.
>
> P
> --
> Patrick H. Lauke
>
> www.splintered.co.uk | https://github.com/patrickhlauke
> http://flickr.com/photos/redux/ | http://redux.deviantart.com
> twitter: @patrick_h_lauke | skype: patrick_h_lauke
> > > > >