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No matter what, your website must be ADA-accessible. And, if it isn’t, then you are at risk of an ADA web accessibility lawsuit that will greatly and negatively affect your business.

Clarifying the ways in which color affects ADA web accessibility and speaking with an ADA web accessibility lawyer if you have been sued will allow you to obtain the best possible ADA web accessibility outcome.

Color Is Important

Many assume that color is far less important than other related elements of ADA accessibility. But, in the end, this assumption is incorrect: color is of great importance to a website’s ADA accessibility.

A variety of reasons support the facts outlined above. Out of all these reasons, though, the three outlined right below are the most notable:

A poor color contrast can and will make it difficult for people to understand the text on your website.
Color is often a poor indicator for links and other related elements.
Many people are color blind, and, as such, an accessible color scheme must be present.

To ensure that your website is ADA accessible, you must make use of appropriate color schemes and appropriate color contrasts.

Choosing An Effective Color Contrast

Poor color contrast can and will make it difficult for people who are disabled to understand the text being presented on your website.

For example, if your website relies on a white background, then the text must be a dark color. But, if your background is white, and the text is also white, then making sense of the text will be very challenging.

Given the idea outlined above, here is a rule you should remember when selecting a color contrast: if the background is light, then choose a dark text color and, in turn, vice versa.
A similar rule should apply to every other element that comprises your website; this includes interactive elements.

Outside of the above, if the color contrast is especially egregious, then this, too, will make it difficult for people who are not disabled to understand the text on your website.

Color Cannot Be The Only Indicator

Color can be, and often is, an indicator of links and other related, interactive elements. But, as per the web accessibility guidelines that the ADA, by and large, relies upon, it cannot be the only indicator.

Rather, color can be one indicator for, say, a link that leads to another part of your website. But, alongside the link’s color, there should be another element, such as an underline, that clarifies the interactive nature of this element.

Just as an example, if you have a link within a paragraph that leads to something, then this link can be colored blue and have a line right underneath it.

The reason for this is as follows: some people are colorblind, and, as such, they will not be able to understand that a link is a link unless there is some other element that clarifies this fact.