Author: Dennis

Color Contrast Tools

Here are some tools that specifically check for color contrast accessibility issues on websites. And a few related links below. Know any others?

Updated October 2026. Please feel free to comment with additions and corrections.

WebAIM contrast checker and Link Contrast Checker by WebAIM (for stubborn designers who won’t underline text links)
The Contrast Triangle by Chip Cullen
Colour Contrast Analyser app by TPG, now Vispero
Stark – for Figma, Sketch and Adobe XD
Colour Contrast Check by Snook
Colorable – interactive web tool
Tanaguru Contrast-Finder – web tool that offers solutions
WCAG Contrast checker – Firefox add-on by Rumoroso
A11y Color Palette by Matt Long
Text on background image a11y check – great for text over images
Color Contrast Tester by Joe Dolson, supports alpha
Accessible color palette builder by “toolness”
Hex Naw by The Scenery
Contrast calculation – Javascript in CodePen by Heydon Pickering
Color Contrast iOS app (free with ads) by UserLight Ltd.
Contrast Finder by Asqatasun (GitHub)
WCAG Contrast Checker by Acart Communications
HTML Color Codes by Dan’s Tools, supports alpha
Color.Review by Anton Robsarve
Pa11y – Create Accessible Color Palettes
Button Contrast Checker by ADITUS
Who can use this color combination? by Corey Ginnivan
Deque Color Contrast Analyzer by Deque Systems
Odd Contrast by OddBird (Warning: doesn’t apply alpha channel at time of posting)
Are my Colours Accessible? by Simon Taggart
Accessible Brand Colors by Use All Five
ColorZilla color picker for Firefox and Chrome
Eye Dropper Chrome extension
Contrasts – iOS app, free plus upgrades
APCA + WCAG 2 Contrast Checker – by Mike Gifford
WCAG Contrast Checker – Chrome extension

color wheel

law

Recent Web Accessibility Lawsuits

Post author By Dennis
Post date November 15, 2015
5 Comments on Recent Web Accessibility Lawsuits

Listed below are three recent lawsuits regarding web accessibility, and then some great related links. Legal action against inaccessible websites is a growing trend especially in the U.S. and unfortunately a needed one. It’s always been my opinion that although it’s obviously smart for companies to provide accessible websites, it’s the law that will make it happen on a wide-scale. Sad but true.

gavel - black and white illustration

Blind Woman Sues Red Roof Inns, Alleging Inaccessible Website

The plaintiff requests the court require Red Roof to retain a mutually approved consultant to perform periodic automated accessibility audits to oversee the defendant’s compliance with the ADA, create an official accessibility policy and post the information directly on its website.

Legal action against the NBA over website accessibility

The suit specifies that screen readers should be able to navigate through the NBA website as ‘screen reader software provides the primary method by which a blind person may independently use the Internet. Unless websites are designed to be read by screen reader software or other assistive technologies, blind individuals are unable to fully access websites and the information, products and services available through the sites.’

Blind Woman Sues Toys “R” Us, Alleging Violation of Federal Disabilities Act

The suit says the toy company’s website contains digital barriers which limit the ability of blind and visually impaired consumers to access the sites.

[The plaintiff] seeks a permanent injunction, directing Toys “R” Us to bring its websites into full compliance with ADA requirements.

Added Dec 9: Advocates for disabled sue [Ohio Secretary of State] over voting, website problems

Kristen Henry, a staff attorney for Disability Rights Ohio, said Husted’s website is inaccessible to people who are blind because it does not allow use of special screen-reading software that translates written words into speech. She said government agencies are required to provide access for the disabled through the ADA.

Ed-Tech Accessibility Lawsuit Settled By Seattle District, Advocates for Blind
Digital Accessibility Legal Update (CSUN 2015) by @LFLegal
What happens when you get sued for your inaccessible website by @KarlGroves
Added: U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Settles Suit Alleging Inaccessibility of Its Website for Contractors
Added Dec 10: Web Accessibility Suits and Settlements in 2015 and 2014 by Rakesh Paladugula

jobs

Accessibility Jobs, November 2015

Post author By Dennis
Post date November 5, 2015
No Comments on Accessibility Jobs, November 2015

More great opportunities!

Senior Accessibility Product Manager at Microsoft in Redmond, WA.
Instructor, Web and Digital Media Accessibility Specialist at Foothill-De Anza Community College District in Los Altos Hills, CA.
Web Accessibility Engineer at Expedia in San Francisco, CA.
Product Owner for Agile UX and Accessibility Team at Simply Accessible Inc., [remote].
Accessibility Manager/Consultant at Target in Minneapolis, MN.
Deque Systems has multiple openings in the U.S.
SSB Bart Group has multiple opening in Vienna, VA and San Francisco, CA.

Added Nov. 10:

Software Engineer, Mobile, Android UI – Accessibility at Facebook in Menlo Park, CA.
Senior Software Development Engineer – Accessibility at Amazon in Sunnyvale, CA.
Aquent is sourcing a Web Accessibility Consultant WCAG 2.0 to work in
Wells Fargo’s Customer Experience (CX) group in San Francisco, CA.

event roundup

Upcoming Accessibility Events

Post author By Dennis
Post date September 16, 2015
2 Comments on Upcoming Accessibility Events

Some great accessibility events coming up!

Sep. 19 – Annual Boston Accessibility Conference in Cambridge, MA.
Sep. 26 – A11y Camp NYC in Brooklyn, NY
Sep. 29 Learn About Digital Accessibility At UC Berkeley in Berkeley, CA.
Sep. 30 – Debugging Accessibility with Alice Boxhall at Google in San Francisco, CA.
Sep. 30 – Accessibility DC at Blackboard office in Washington, DC.
Sep. 30 – a11yQC at Université Laval in Quebec, Canada (in French and English).
Sep. 30 – Chicago Digital Accessibility and Inclusive Design at Razorfish in Chicago, IL.
Oct. 6 – A11yYOW Social Evening in Ottawa, Canada.
Oct. 17 – Accessibility Camp Toronto at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada.

Did I miss anything? Please add in comments.

Update Sep 24: added Ottawa and Chicago events

design navigation roundup

Infinite Scrolling and Accessibility (It’s Usually Bad)

Post author By Dennis
Post date August 25, 2015
11 Comments on Infinite Scrolling and Accessibility (It’s Usually Bad)

Experts say don’t do infinite scrolling, or be extremely careful in doing so. I completely agree. Infinite scrolling creates accessibility and usability problems. Below are checkpoints, issues and suggestions from a few resources.

Here’s a great list of checkpoints from the article So You Think You’ve Built a Good Infinite Scroll by Adrian Roselli (@aardrian):

Can the user hit “back” and return to the exact same place?
Is there paging for when the JavaScript breaks?
Does the page have a footer?
Can a keyboard user access all other content on the page?
Can you share a URL to a specific place on the page?
Can a user easily jump ahead a few “pages” to quickly get to content much further down the list?
Does the memory footprint of the page dramatically increase after just a couple new “pages?”
Is there a way to disable automatic infinite scrolling and lean on standard paging?
Have you conducted any user tests?
Are you satisfying a use case that has come from research or user request?
Do you have any analytics/tracking to measure success?

In the article Infinite Scrolling: Let’s Get To The Bottom Of This, Smashing Magazine makes some great points including the following.

Fails: temptation, optimism, exhaustion, pogo-sticking, loss of control, distracting, unreachable

Users want immediate access to exclusive data.
Users want to feel in control.
Users often look for landmarks when scrolling.
Consider conventional pagination or a hybrid solution.
Provide interesting content without an ambiguous interface.
Users often expect a footer.
An infinite list is still a list.
Effects are nice to have but not a must.

In the Simply Accessible article Automatic infinite scrolling & accessibility, Derek Featherstone (@Feather) says:

Just don’t implement infinite scrolling.
Replace automatic infinite scrolling with a “Load more results…” button or link that explicitly invites the user to add more. Once they do a few times, prompt them to ask if they’d like to turn auto-loading of more results on.
No, really, just don’t implement infinite scrolling.

Related: