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ABHIPREETI CHAUHAN: Hi, my name is
Abhipreeti Chauhan, an accessibility analyst
for Google Play.
And in this episode, we are going
to discuss fixing color contrast issues in PLR.
So what is color contrast ratio?
Color contrast ratio is the difference
between the lightness of the foreground and the background
colors.
Although having a cool design for an app is good,
it is not particularly useful if your users cannot read
the content.
According to the [INAUDIBLE] recommendations,
contrast ratio should be used when
designing readable interfaces for different vision abilities.
For example, for normal text, the minimum ratio is 4.5 to 1.
For large scale text, the minimum ratio is 3 to 1.
And for user interface components and graphical
objects, such as icons and graphs,
the minimum ratio is 3 to 1.
Although please note, these ratios
do not apply to incidental text, such as inactive controls, logo
types, or purely decorative text.
Let me show you two examples.
In the first following example, we
can see the large text, normal text,
and the non-text element do not pass the check
due to low contrast ratio.
But in the second passing example,
the large text, normal text, and non-text elements
pass the check, as the contrast ratio is high.
The text readability is good and clear.
Here are some of the benefits of using a good color contrast
ratio.
It can help to improve readability and comprehension.
It can reduce eyestrain and fatigue.
It can make it easier to see important information
on a screen.
It can be helpful for people with low vision and color
blindness.
For example, take a look at this image on the left.
You can see how difficult it is to read the numbers
within the circles when the color
ratio is so low, particularly these two, which
are barely visible.
Everyone benefits from contrast.
Good contrast helps everybody read the text
and differentiate visual elements.
What is difficult to read for a sighted user
may be unreadable for a user with contrast sensitivity
due to low vision or colorblindness.
And don't forget, color contrast ratio
needs to be readable in the dark theme also.
If you're not sure where to begin, don't worry.
The pre-launch report can help you identify issues.
You can also go and check the previous video, what is PLR?
And how can it help to create accessible apps?
For identifying low contrast issues,
go to the Accessibility tab in the pre-launch report Details
page.
Here, it displays the number of unique accessibility issues
with screenshots into four categories.
One of them is low contrast.
Clicking on a screenshot cluster shows more details
on each issue with specification of device, part of the element,
recommendation on how to fix the issue, and number of places
the issue is occurring.
These findings and recommendations
can be used to track down the accessibility issues
and fix them.
You can re-trigger a new round of pre-launch report
by uploading a fresh APK after fixing the issues
and confirming that the findings do not reappear.
However, please keep in mind that like all automated
accessibility testing, this is meant to complement and not
replace manual testing with the real users with a variety
of accessibility needs.
Thanks for watching.
And hit Subscribe to get notified
about future accessibility videos.
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