Contrast and accessibility

When choosing colour it is important to consider the best options from the palette that will project the information clearly and effectively, and that will complement any chosen images.

There must always be good contrast between text and the background colour. Dark type on a white or very pale background is the most legible. White type should only be used on a very dark background. Use the WebAIM colour contrast checker to ensure that the contrast achieved between the background and text colour is sufficient. There are different contrast ratio rules for normal text and for large text; details may be found in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Examples

Colours such as Pantone 199, 285, 513 and 7466 are suitable background colours for small quantities of text, such as headings, charts and diagrams or small blocks of text that you wish to highlight. All colours shown in the University's colour palette are shown at values of 100%. To achieve paler tones, it is also possible to use any of the colours at lower percentages as illustrated here in the tints of Pantone 284.