WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Compliance requirements for highlighted text

for

From: Steve Green
Date: Sep 30, 2024 2:01AM


The first part is talking about scenarios where it is necessary to perceive change without needing to identify the actual colour. An example would be a focus indicator. You only need to be able to tell whether it is present or not. It does not matter if you perceive the wrong colour.

The second part is talking about scenarios where you do need to identify the colour. An example would be if a shape changes colour to indicate whether system settings are turned on or off, such as green meaning on and red meaning off. A person with colour perception impairment might be able to tell that some settings are a different colour from the others, but that is not enough to tell which ones are on and which are off. Some other clue is required, ideally text but maybe tick and cross icons.

In your case, it sounds like you are ok as long as you only use one highlight colour, in which case it will be possible to see if it is present or not. If you used two highlight colours to indicate different things, you would need the additional clue.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd