color contrast for accessibility

[M. Krebs]

I am porting a document from MS Word 13 into a PDF. I converted it to PDF from Word and am running Acrobat Pro. I need the document to be 508 compliant but when I run "Full Check" on the "Accessibility" panel, it flags the document with a "Color Contrast" error. The document is only one page, using 11 point Arial solid black text (r,g,b = 0,0,0) on a plain white background with no graphics. I tried correcting the issues by playing with the settings under "Edit > Preferences > Document Colors Options". The error still will not clear. Any suggestions?

[a_C_student]

Is the checker telling you "Color contrast - Needs manual check"? If so, this is not an error, just a friendly reminder. Color contrast, along with correct reading order and many other accessibility factors, cannot be reliably machine-checked and requires knowledgeable human inspection. Passing the Acrobat accessibility checker is a great first step, but should never be confused with 508 compliance. 

For human inspection of color contrast, a great tool is the Colour Contrast Analyser from the Paciello Group (https://developer.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastanalyser/)

For reading order and other accessibility factors that required human inspection, a great tool is the Screen Reader Preview built into PAC3 from Access for All (https://www.access-for-all.ch/en/pdf-lab/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac/downloading-pac.html)

Both of these tools are free.

[M. Krebs]

Bevi---

This is very helpful----thanks.

- michael

[default4nlsjdgz0kkn]

The color contrast - check manually does warrant a further check if you are trying for government level (Section 508) compliance. There is an add on that only checks color contrast. I've had to deal with this a few times lately, and even though the PDF was approved by the in-system checker, it failed the 508 compliance for contrast. 

[P James5C81]

What is the add-on and where can it be gotten?

Thanks,

P James Norris

[JR Boulay]

This (free) software should be mandatory on all computers : https://www.colororacle.org/

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

@JR Boulay, do you know who makes the Color Oracle add-on?

There isn't any clue on the website, other than the website's developer is from Australia.

My government and corporate clients need to know the who and where of software before they can download and install on their system computers.

It looks like a fabulous gem!

[JR Boulay]

You can find him at the Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

His email address is at the bottom of this page: http://berniejenny.info/

I can't help you furthermore.