Making accessibility standards easy to understand, one success criterion at a time.

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guideline: Distinguishable

Create content that’s easy to see and hear.

WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level A

1.4.1 Use of Color

Color must not be the only thing used to convey meaning.

Sensory
Cognitive, Visual
Content, Design
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level A

1.4.2 Audio Control

Auto playing audio that lasts more than 3 seconds can be turned down or stopped.

Sensory
Auditory/Hearing
Code
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level AA

1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

Text has a contrast ratio of 4.5 to 1. Large text can be a 3 to 1 ratio if it’s over 24px, or bold and over 19px.

Sensory, Zoom and Legibility
Visual
Design
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level AA

1.4.4 Resize Text

Text can be resized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality, except for captions and images of text.

Zoom and Legibility
Cognitive, Visual
Design
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level AA
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level AAA

1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced)

Text has a contrast ratio of 7:1 to 1. Large text can be a 4.5 to 1 ratio if it’s over 24px, or bold and over 19px.

Sensory, Zoom and Legibility
Visual
Design
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level AAA

1.4.7 Low or No Background Audio

For spoken audio content, any background noise or music is 20 decibels lower than the foreground speech.

Sensory
Auditory/Hearing
Content
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level AAA

1.4.8 Visual Presentation

For blocks of text, justification must be avoided, line-height must be at least 1.5, width must not exceed 80 characters, and users must be able to set text and background colors.

Sensory, Zoom and Legibility
Cognitive, Visual
Design
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 Level AAA
WCAG 2.1, 2.2 Level AA

1.4.10 Reflow

Content must remain readable and usable without requiring horizontal scrolling when viewed at a width of 320 CSS pixels (typically the width of a mobile viewport). Layouts should adapt responsively, and text should reflow to fit the screen.

Gestures, Zoom and Legibility
Cognitive, Visual
Design