A Primer on Color Contrast

Curious about accessible marketing? Take a look at a selection of slides from my presentation at Digital Summit here, or keep reading below for the context and background on this topic—one I’m deeply passionate about. Digital Summit is a virtual conference that convenes industry professionals, thought leaders, and experts to explore emerging trends and best practices in digital marketing and technology.

For centuries, color was treated as secondary—an aesthetic flourish rather than a fundamental tool of communication. “A certain distaste for color runs through Western culture like a ladder in a stocking,” observes cultural historian Kassia St. Clair in her book, The Secret Lives of Color. Shades, dyes and hues were “a distraction from the true glories of art: line and form.”

Today, however, the Western world is built on color. Brands rely on it as a visual shorthand for recognition and differentiation. The world’s most successful soft drink is known by its signature red, for example; the most famous fast-food chain is synonymous with its Golden Arches. We have blossomed into a chromophilic culture.

Exhibit A: Marketers have only seconds to capture attention, and color is one of the most influential factors in decision-making. The University of Southern California asserts that “color alone contributes up to 90 percent of the information that forms the [purchasing] decision.” What does this mean, however, for the millions of people who live with some form of color vision deficiency, also known as color blindness? If color has moved to the absolute center of consumer behavior and brand identity, how much is lost to those who perceive color differently from the presumed visual baseline? According to the World Health Organization, billions of people globally live with some form of visual impairment.

This point is at the heart of accessible marketing. If organizations depend deeply of various shades and hues to persuade, guide, and engage, then it makes sense for them to try to ensure their campaigns can reach and resonate with as many people as possible. Clearly, a blend of aesthetics and accessibility is needed to maximize impact.

Lessons from the Physical World

First, though, let’s take a broader view of the landscape. The importance of accessibility, which is sometimes abbreviated “a11y” (for its first letter and last letter, then the 11 letters in between) extends beyond the digital landscape—it is in fact already embedded in the physical world around us.

Consider the tactile paving on subway platforms, which signals proximity to the dangerous edge, or the auditory cues that accompany crosswalk signals. These are deliberate design choices that prioritize inclusivity.

Digital spaces demand this same level of intentionality. As creators, we have the opportunity and responsibility to design experiences that support all users. A well-known example is the enduring presence of default hyperlink blue on the web. This color, which has been a staple of digital interfaces for over 30 years, was never an arbitrary choice; when paired with a white background, it achieves an exceptionally high accessibility rating.

The scope of considerations is truly vast, encompassing everything from the size of call-to-action buttons—designed to accommodate individuals with limited dexterity—to the inclusion of alt text for images, ensuring screen readers can convey essential information. As noted by authors Steven Heller and Véronique Vienne in Citizen Designer (p. 143):

What is the person’s knowledge, education, or skill level: beginner, intermediate, or advanced? Are they young, middle aged, or elderly? Do they have any impairments: dyslexia, visual clarity, cognitive, memory, dexterity, mobility, autism, or color blindness? What is their literacy level: low, medium, or high, and how will that affect their ability to process the content?

Do they use or require assistive aids, technology, or devices: glasses, magnifier, hearing aid, walking stick, wheelchair, screen reader, reinterpretation software, dictation/audio software, or refreshable braille? What technology do they use: paper, desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, or smart watch? How about the environment they are in: lighting (good or bad), weather (sunny, windy, rainy, old, hot), noise?

Color Contrast in Email Marketing

Given the breadth of this topic (as well as time constraints), I chose to focus my talk on color contrast in email marketing. Why? Because email remains one of our most powerful conversion channels—and it sits squarely in my wheelhouse as a certified marketing automation specialist. Plus, in a commercial culture such as ours, where color holds massive communicative weight, failing to consider accessibility can cause starkly negative outcomes. It risks a disconnect—a loss of limbic resonance, one might say!—with millions of users.

During the Digital Summit session, I guided fellow practitioners through a comprehensive framework for elevating accessibility across three dimensions:

1. Visual clarity: Ensuring content remains legible and navigable for all users
   

2. Color contrast: Implementing evidence-based design practices that support diverse visual abilities
   

3. Technological adaptability: Building emails that perform consistently across devices and assistive technologies

Measuring Accessibility: From Guidelines to Practice

Also I outlined the key principles of inclusive design, including the importance of:

• Understanding AA and AAA content ratings as defined by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

  • Review WCAG 2.2 success criteria to identify minimum requirements for your email content

  • Determine which level (AA or AAA) aligns with your brand’s accessibility commitment and target audience needs

  • Integrate WCAG requirements into your creative briefs and design guidelines

• Calculating and interpreting contrast ratios, one of the most critical quantitative measures of accessibility

  • Audit your brand color palette using tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker to validate text legibility

  • Establish minimum contrast ratios of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (AA standard)

  • Create accessible alternative options for brand colors that fall below threshold requirements

• Conducting comprehensive audits of global marketing campaigns to identify and address accessibility gaps

  • Test email templates across multiple screen readers and assistive technologies

  • Implement a pre-flight checklist for all campaigns that includes alt text, semantic HTML, and keyboard navigation

  • Establish quarterly accessibility reviews of your highest-performing email templates to continually improve standards

This approach equipped attendees with actionable strategies to conduct measurable audits of their marketing assets, particularly email campaigns, while articulating the business value of inclusive design to cross-functional stakeholders.

Empathy As Expertise

The business case for accessibility is compelling—ignoring the billions with visual impairments means overlooking a substantial portion of the total addressable market, a clear financial misstep. Yet we must remember our fundamental hierarchy of identity: we are human beings first, marketers second—just as our audience consists of human beings first, potential customers second.

Humans are naturally wired for empathy, and we consistently produce better outcomes when operating from this foundation. As IDEO defines it, empathy is “the capacity to step into other people’s shoes, to understand their lives, and start to solve problems from their perspectives.” Through this lens, empathetic marketing is inherently better marketing.

The equation becomes clear: better marketing is accessible marketing is empathetic marketing. Inclusive design liberates those who experience the world differently from the presumptive ‘norm’ from performing what sociologist Arlie Hochschild termed emotional labor—“the work which centrally involves trying to feel the right feeling” while consuming content. Consider the cognitive burden placed on someone with a visual impairment who must decipher marketing materials not designed with their needs in mind: “What was the creator really trying to communicate? What context am I missing?” But the inverse should be true: marketing professionals fulfill their purpose when they place themselves in the minds of diverse audiences, ensuring everyone can receive and understand the intended message without undue effort.

We must also resist the complacency of tradition—what worked yesterday may not serve tomorrow. As Heller and Vienne remind us in Citizen Designer, “As designers, we must remain attuned to the diverse abilities and evolving needs of our audiences. Demographics often change; people rarely stay the same.”

The Dual Imperative

The intersection of accessibility and business success is undeniable: brands that embrace inclusive design transcend mere compliance to achieve genuine connection. By integrating accessibility principles early in the creative process rather than treating them as afterthoughts, marketers create experiences that are both aesthetically compelling and functionally accessible. This approach serves a dual purpose: fulfilling our ethical responsibility while making sound business sense.

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