Patrick H. Lauke
a small heads-up / public service announcement: if you're using Google Chrome (possibly just on Windows?), don't rely on using colour pickers (even Chrome's own built-in picker in Developer Tools) to check colours (for things like contrast ratio), as you won't get correct values (even taking screenshots and using a separate graphics app) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maLubMYfKxM #a11y #accessibility
Don't rely on colour pickers in Chrome/Windows

YouTube
Jul 4, 2024 at 10:09amWeb
Show threadKilian ValkhofJul 4, 2024

@patrick_h_lauke This almost certainly is caused by the (color profile of the) monitor you're using.

I can't replicate it on my (stock) windows machine with Chrome's eyedropper running in Polypane.

Show threadPatrick H. LaukeJul 4, 2024
@Kilian yes, but that's my point. don't rely on colour-picking the output, as it's colour managed
Show threadInclusive Reading TechnologiesJul 8, 2024

@patrick_h_lauke @Kilian

Indeed: If color management is enabled (on any system, Win/Mac/Lix) the dropper may provide unpredictable results. Choosing a default sRGB profile while using the picker may help mitigate issues.

Better to use a stand alone dropper tool that is color management aware.

For MacOS, that's "Classic Color Meter" desktop app.

Discussion and best practices in our draft guidelines:

https://readtech.org/ARC/tests/visual-readability-contrast/?tn=methods#tool-setup

#contrast #color #colour

APCA Readability Criterion • Contrast

The APCA Readability Criterion (ARC) provide a range of recommendations for making visual content on illuminated displays more accessible to all users, especially with visual impairments

Inclusive Reading Technologies
Show threadThainJul 4, 2024
@patrick_h_lauke Wow, I tried on linux and it's worse. The chrome color picker gives me #ff005800
Show threadDarrell Hilliker 👨‍🦯♾️📡Jul 4, 2024
@patrick_h_lauke Wait… Shouldn’t the color be coming from the color codes in the CSS?
Show threadCurtis WilcoxJul 4, 2024

@darrell73
By "color picker" he means a tool that looks like an eyedropper which gets a color value not from the web code but from the system doing visual rendering for the operating system.

I've encountered this problem on my MacBook with both Firefox and Chrome. When the browser window is in the built-in display, the picker gets accurate colors but on my HP monitor, they're sometimes inaccurate.

@patrick_h_lauke

Show threadCurtis WilcoxJul 4, 2024

@darrell73 @patrick_h_lauke

It's a little surprising for the tool within the browser's DevTools to have the problem but the aim is still to capture the perceived color value, even if there are multiple layers of differently colored objects with different levels of opacity.