Accessible Color Palette Contrast Checker

Accessible Color Palette Contrast Checker | Online Free Tool | Elysia Tools

Tool usage guide

Learn when to use this tool, what it supports, and how real users apply it.

Key facts

Category: Design
Input types: textarea, select, checkbox
Output type: json
Sample coverage: 4
API ready: Yes

Overview

The Accessible Color Palette Contrast Checker is a specialized design utility that audits every color combination within a palette against WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards. By inputting a list of brand or UI colors, designers and developers can instantly identify which foreground and background pairings fail AA or AAA contrast thresholds and receive actionable recommendations for adjustments.

When to use

When establishing a new design system and needing to verify that all foundational colors meet accessibility guidelines.
When auditing an existing brand palette to identify non-compliant text and background color combinations.
When preparing UI themes, such as light and dark modes, to ensure sufficient contrast for visually impaired users.

How it works

1Paste your color palette into the text area using a simple 'name: #hex' format.
2Select your desired WCAG compliance target, such as AA Normal Text (4.5:1) or AAA Large Text (4.5:1).
3Choose whether to evaluate identical color pairs against each other.
4Review the generated JSON report detailing passing pairs, failing combinations, and suggested adjustments.

Use cases

Auditing a corporate brand guideline document to ensure marketing materials are accessible.
Validating a web application's CSS variables before deploying a new user interface theme.
Generating an accessibility compliance report for a client's digital design system.

Examples

1. Auditing a Brand Palette for WCAG AA

UI/UX Designer

Background

A designer is finalizing a new brand identity and needs to ensure the primary colors are legible on standard backgrounds.

Problem

Manually checking every combination of brand colors against white and dark gray backgrounds is tedious and prone to human error.

How to use

Paste the brand colors into the Palette Colors input and set the WCAG Target to 'AA Normal Text (4.5:1)'.

brand-primary: #2563EB
brand-secondary: #F59E0B
surface: #FFFFFF
text: #111827

Outcome

The tool outputs a JSON report showing 12 total combinations, identifying that 'brand-secondary on surface' fails, and suggests darkening the secondary color.

2. Strict AAA Compliance for Government Portal

Frontend Developer

Background

A developer is building a government website that legally requires strict WCAG AAA compliance for all text elements.

Problem

Need to verify that the chosen text colors have a contrast ratio of at least 7:1 against all container backgrounds.

How to use

FAQ

What WCAG standards does this tool support?

It supports WCAG 2.1 AA and AAA contrast thresholds for both normal and large text sizes.

How should I format my color inputs?

Enter one color per line in the format 'name: #hexcode', for example, 'surface: #FFFFFF'.

What does the tool output?

It generates a JSON report summarizing the total combinations, the number of failing pairs, and specific recommendations for improvement.

Can I check AAA compliance for large text?

Yes, you can select 'AAA Large Text (4.5:1)' from the WCAG Target dropdown menu.

Does it suggest how to fix failing colors?

Yes, the output includes recommendations on which colors in a failing pair need to be darkened or lightened to meet the selected threshold.

text-main: #333333
text-muted: #666666
bg-light: #F8F9FA
bg-dark: #212529

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Prepared example runs

Inputs

Result

Learn when to use this tool, what it supports, and how real users apply it.

Key facts

Overview

When to use

How it works

Use cases

Examples

1. Auditing a Brand Palette for WCAG AA

2. Strict AAA Compliance for Government Portal

FAQ

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