When it comes to everything in life and in this case website design, accessibility should be a top priority. One of the simplest and most effective ways to make your website more accessible is by ensuring high contrast between your text and background. This small adjustment can make a big difference in how users experience your site, particularly those with visual impairments.
The importance of high contrast text on a website
High contrast between text and background is crucial for readability. It helps all users, including those with visual impairments or color blindness, easily read and comprehend the content on your site. When text blends into the background or lacks sufficient contrast, it can become difficult to read, leading to frustration and a poor user experience - which could then affect your intended reach or goals with having an online presence.
SEO and Accessibility Benefits of a web design with high contrast text
From an SEO perspective, ensuring your website is accessible can also positively impact your search engine rankings. Search engines like Google prioritise websites that offer a good user experience, and accessibility is a key component of that. High-contrast text not only improves readability but also signals to search engines that your website is designed with user needs in mind.
How to test if the text on your website is high contrast and how to improve it.
- Use Contrast Checkers - Tools such as Axe have a free Google Chrome extension you can install to help you determine if your text meets the recommended contrast ratios for accessibility (and test for other accessibility requirements). You could also try out Lighthouse which is an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages. This comes as part of Google Chrome and instructions on how to use it are in the link.
- Choose Accessible Color Schemes - Opt for color combinations that offer a strong contrast. For example, dark text on a light background or vice versa.
- Test Across Devices - Make sure your text is readable on all devices, including mobile screens, which can sometimes present challenges with contrast.
- Add overlays when using background images - In some instances you may want to use a background image instead of a solid background colour. This can be problematic for ensuring the foreground text can stay readable, especially if the background image will rescale on screen resize or could be changed over times or have different background images used in different places. By adding a light or dark overlay over the background image (depending on design preference) you can ensure a contrast between the text and background image.
In summary, why it is necessary have high text contrast on your website.
Ensuring high contrast for text on your website is an easy yet powerful way to improve accessibility and enhance the user experience. Not only does it benefit users with visual impairments, but it also supports your SEO efforts, making your site more visible to search engines.
At Ambedo Web, we’re committed to helping you create accessible, user-friendly websites. Whether you need tips on improving your current site or are looking to start from scratch, we offer Squarespace templates, WordPress themes, and Shopify themes tailored for accessibility. We also provide bespoke build services to meet your unique needs.
For more tips and tricks on optimizing your website, be sure to check out our other blog posts!