Re: contrast for images of text

I have to agree Ramon - i think it appropriate to consider at least a
compromise, so that A might just dictate that you need to let the browser
color override take effect (a la failures f24, f83), while keeping the need
to actually code colors at the proper contrast at AA. This way at single A
we would not be requiring too much of developers (just make sure to allow
override), while still giving users the ability to override with browser
tools. So then images of text would fail in A which I believe to be
reasonable.
Furthermore, I still have a hard time accepting images of text which don't
meet contrast ratio as passing 1.4.1. For if we require an alternative to
the use of color to convey information, how much more so should the
information itself as text be available without reliance on color alone.
So, an image of text where the proper contrast ratio is not met is
essentially being conveyed by color alone, and w/o having met the contrast
guidelines. If a link inside a paragraph which has a slightly different hue
than the surrounding text fails 1.4.1, then so should an image of text
where the text has a slightly different hue than the background.


On Tue, Apr 29, 2014 at 1:45 PM, Ramón Corominas
<rcorominas@technosite.es>wrote:

> I hope that in WCAG 2.1 or 3.0 or whatever the contrast issue will be of
> level A. I imagine someone with contrast problems (for example, myself)
> being completely unable to access the information due to images of text
> with a contrast of 1.5:1 or so. Since 1.4.3 and 1.4.5 are both of AA, it
> seems that a problem that can create a complete lack of access would be
> only of Level-AA. Someone with low vision can have a severe contrast
> deficiency and be even unable to know that there is information in the
> images.
>
> Kind regards,
> Ramón.
>
> CAE-Vanderhe wrote:
>
>    Correct -   If the only distinguishing characteristic is color (HUE)
>>  then it would fail.
>>
>> However, please note the LIGHTNESS  is not the  same a hue.      So if
>> the links are in a color that is VISIBLY MUCH LIGHTER or DARKER than the
>> surrounding text then it is possible that the links can be distinguished
>> without color — and it would pass.
>> For example
>>
>> The word link in this sentence is visible whether you can see color or
>> not.
>> The word  link  in this sentence is visible whether you can see color or
>> not.   Of course it is not as visible as with color - but the SC does not
>> prevent it.  In fact I think there might be a technique talking about this
>> — or that discusses this.
>> Ah here it is
>>
>>
>>       G183: Using a contrast ratio of 3:1 with surrounding text and
>>       providing additional visual cues on focus for links or controls
>>       where color alone is used to identify them
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Apr 28, 2014, at 7:56 AM, Adam Solomon <adam.solomon2@gmail.com<mailto:
>> adam.solomon2@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>  Thanks for the response, Andrew.
>>> What if you didn't have the proper contrast and also didn't have any
>>> other cue then this would fail 1.4.1, right?
>>> Example: a paragraph of text where two words in the paragraph are a
>>> link, like:
>>> "This is the time for all good men" (where the words good men are
>>> actually a link, and there is no color contrast with the surrounding text)
>>> And what if the link had the same color as the surrounding text - that
>>> might not fail because all users are at an equal disadvantage (since there
>>> is absolutely no cue that this is a link)?
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 28, 2014 at 3:26 PM, Andrew Kirkpatrick <akirkpat@adobe.com<mailto:
>>> akirkpat@adobe.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>     Adam,
>>>
>>>     Color contrast is a AA issue, so it doesn’t matter if the text is
>>>     in an image or is regular text, the contrast is a AA issue.
>>>
>>>
>>>     1.4.1 speaks to conveying information with color, such as “click
>>>     on the green button” but you can still meet 1.4.1 with poor
>>>     contrast because by not relying on color alone you’d need to
>>>     include other information. For example, “click on the green button
>>>     that says ‘go’!”.  It is possible to have text that is very low
>>>     contrast on that button, and that is ok for 1.4.1, but would fail
>>>     1.4.3.
>>>
>>>
>>>     AWK
>>>
>>>
>>>     *From:* Adam Solomon [mailto:adam.solomon2@gmail.com
>>>     <mailto:adam.solomon2@gmail.com>]
>>>     *Sent:* Monday, April 28, 2014 12:25 AM
>>>     *To:* WCAG
>>>     *Subject:* contrast for images of text
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>     Would images containing text which don't have the proper contrast
>>>     ratio fail at single A? I only see 1.4.3 (which is AA) mentioning
>>>     the issue of contrast. I would have thought that images of text
>>>     should fail at single A since the user agent has no way of
>>>     overriding the css background and foreground color for these
>>>     images?1.4.1 mentions the use of color to convey information and
>>>     would seem a likely candidate to fail such an image, yet no
>>>     mention is made there regarding images of text.
>>>
>>>     Thank you for any feedback
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>