WCAG Contrast Checker

01 — How it works

Two colors. Instant verdict.

Pick a background color and a foreground color. See a live preview at normal, large, and small text sizes. Get AA and AAA scores for both normal and large text.

Pass or fail. No ambiguity. Green badge means you ship. Red badge means you fix.

Enter hex codes, use the color picker, or paste values from your design tool. Results update as you type.

02 — WCAG requirements

The numbers that matter

AA Normal Text

4.5 : 1

Body copy, labels, form fields. The baseline for readable text.

AA Large Text

3 : 1

Headings 18px+ bold or 24px+ regular. Lower bar, bigger type.

AAA Normal Text

7 : 1

Enhanced readability. Required for some government and education contexts.

AAA Large Text

4.5 : 1

Enhanced readability for large text. The gold standard.

These are not suggestions. In many jurisdictions, they are legal requirements. The European Accessibility Act, ADA Section 508, EN 301 549. Failing contrast is a compliance risk.

03 — Built into generation

Accessible by default

Paletter does not just check contrast. It enforces it.

During palette generation, if ink-on-background does not pass AA at 4.5:1, ink is automatically darkened until it does. No manual adjustment. No second pass.

You get accessible palettes without trying. Every palette that leaves Paletter has been contrast-validated before you see it.

04 — Beyond the checker

Every pair. Pre-computed.

Every generated palette ships with contrast ratios for every meaningful color pair. No separate tool needed.