Test your knowledge!
Christine Woolley
To truly understand the considerations that go into accessible graphic design, it’s useful to think about how you access and interact with graphic design materials.
The following questions are designed to get you thinking about accessibility considerations, to reflect on any barriers you may face in accessing information, and to consider the needs of individuals with disabilities who rely on accessible delivery and access to information.
Colour contrast
Image source: Aritzia
The colour contrast in this image does not pass Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. WCAG 2.0 level AA requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. WCAG 2.1 requires a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 for graphics and user interface components. WCAG Level AAA requires a contrast ratio of at least 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text.
Learn more about colour contrast and try it out for yourself.
Communicating through colour
Image source: Wallpaper* City Guide
Colour should be used to highlight or complement what is already visible. Relying on colour alone to communicate information can cause barriers for people with various types of colour vision impairment, including people with colour blindness.
We need to consider what maps, and other forms of graphical information, look like to all users. The image slider below shows what the above map would look like for people with different types of colour blindness, including protanopia and achromatopsia.
Image source: Adapted from Wallpaper* City Guide
Internationally recognized standards for what web content needs to be made accessible with specifications on how to do so. There are several iterations and levels of these guidelines but the most commonly used one is currently 2.0 AA.