Design Accessible Button Colors

Make sure CTAs, action buttons, and links pass WCAG against their backgrounds.

Hakuna kuingia kinachohitajika

Text color

Background color

Large heading text

Medium body text (18px) for reading and content.

Normal body text (16px) for paragraphs.

Small body text (14px) for captions and metadata.

14.63:1

Contrast ratio

✓WCAG AA — Normal text

Requires 4.5:1 · You have 14.63:1

✓WCAG AA — Large text

Requires 3.0:1 · You have 14.63:1

✓WCAG AAA — Normal text

Requires 7.0:1 · You have 14.63:1

✓WCAG AAA — Large text

Requires 4.5:1 · You have 14.63:1

✓UI components / graphical objects

Requires 3.0:1 · You have 14.63:1

Quick presets

Based on WCAG 2.1 contrast guidelines. Large text = 18pt (24px) normal or 14pt (18.66px) bold. Hex codes update in both directions: type a hex or pick a color, both inputs stay in sync.

Buttons tips

🔘

White text on the brand primary color must pass 4.5:1 for AA. Test before committing to a brand color — some popular colors (like bright yellow) fail with white text.

💡

Outline buttons need ≥3:1 contrast for the border AND for the text inside. Use the tool to test both.

🎯

For dual states (default + hover + active), test each state against the surrounding background separately.