Color Contrast Checker

Color Contrast Checker

A colour can look perfectly readable on your screen and still fail when someone else views it.

Kayefi’s Color Contrast Checker lets you compare a text colour with a background colour and calculate the contrast ratio between them.

It also shows the result for normal and large text against commonly used WCAG thresholds.

Use it when checking a website, interface, presentation, graphic or design system.

Why Color Contrast Matters

Text needs enough visual difference from its background to remain readable.

A dark grey on white may be comfortable.

A light grey on white may be difficult.

The difference is not always obvious when you are designing quickly, especially when several colours are involved.

A contrast calculator gives you a number to work with rather than relying entirely on visual judgement.

Check a Text and Background Pair

Enter the foreground colour and the background colour.

Kayefi calculates the contrast ratio and reports the result for:

Normal text

Large text

The goal is not to make every design black and white. It is to make deliberate colour decisions.

What Is a Contrast Ratio?

Contrast ratio compares the relative luminance of two colours.

The result is written as a ratio such as:

4.50:1

or:

7.00:1

Higher values indicate greater contrast.

The calculator uses the WCAG relative-luminance method for the calculation.

AA and AAA

WCAG uses different contrast thresholds depending on the size and type of text.

Kayefi shows whether the entered colour pair reaches the relevant AA or AAA level for normal and large text.

Treat the result as part of an accessibility check rather than the entire accessibility process.

Contrast is important, but typography, layout, focus states, controls and other design decisions matter too.

Use It With Colors From an Image

You can combine this tool with Kayefi’s Image Color Picker.

Pick the colour from a screenshot, logo or design, then bring it into the contrast checker to test it against the background you intend to use.

That makes the workflow practical:

Find the colour → test the colour → use the colour

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a color contrast checker?

It compares two colours and calculates their contrast ratio.

What is a good contrast ratio?

The required ratio depends on the text size and accessibility target. The checker reports the relevant WCAG result rather than treating one ratio as suitable for every situation.

Can I check website text colors?

Yes. Enter the text colour and background colour used in your design.

Can I test HEX colors?

Yes. Enter HEX values for the foreground and background.

Does a passing score make a website fully accessible?

No. Contrast is one part of accessibility, not the whole thing.

Check Before You Publish

A few seconds of contrast testing can prevent a colour choice from becoming a readability problem later.

Test the actual text and background pair, not just the individual colours.