Myndex
Myndex
A catalog of Myndex Research content, including APCA articles & documentation, related code repositories, and resources.
Accurate Contrast
Using the APCA
QuickStart:
In an effort to pare down this mountain of material, here’s a link-tree of the key links, with the most basic at the top: linktr.ee/Myndex
If you want the latest information or want to ask questions, follow on Twitter
The Accessible Perceptual Contrast Algorithm
- Basic Tool and Quickstart, for users The basic APCA tool with live font examples and general design guidance for designers.
General Overview
- Why APCA? This brief, plain language introduction into APCA, and how it solves the problems of WCAG_2 contrast, is a good place to start.
- APCA in a Nutshell Simple overview for using APCA, including simple use-case based conformance levels.
- APCA FAQ APCA Frequenty Asked Questions (in development)
APCA DOCUMENTATION
- Main Readme Doc (HTML version) Includes the math and walkthroughs, and additional resources.
- Documetnation Index An index of APCA related documentation.
- APCA W3 Functions/API Using the API of the APCA W3 package.
Sciencey Stuff!
Maths! Theory! Vision Science! Photons on Parade!
- The Realities And Myths Of Contrast And Color A plain language, in-depth primer to vision, color, and contrast for design, with an emphasis on typography and readability needs. Published in Smashing Magazine.
- The base APCA-W3 formula in LaTeX math for your viewing and calculating pleasure.
- Regarding Exponents Some notes and explaination regarding the powercurve exponents.
- Standard Observer Model Draft standardized envirnment.
- Visual Contrast Draft Whitepaper (Work in progress)
For Developers
Related Repositories
- APCA W3 Repository The W3 version for web content
- Bridge PCA Repository Bridge PCA - the WCAG 2 compatible version
- Color Parsley Repository Fast and easy color string parsing — a NodeJS dependency for many of the SAPC libraries.
APCA Discussion Forum Threads
- APCA Use Cases, Conformance, Research, and Glossary Discussion of use cases for text and non-text elements, and references to the relevant research. Conformance considerations and rational basis for guidelines.
- Links To Tools and Toolmakers Some of the tools that have adopted APCA.
- WCAG 2 vs APCA Comparisons Direct head to head comparisons.
- Using APCA with other fonts Draft method for font weight conformance.
APCA Peer Review & Third Party Discussion
Peer reviews of APCA and third party
comparisons of APCA vs WCAG 2
There are several independent researchers evaluating APCA, and additional third party comparitive reviews that include demonstrations of the functional superiority to existing methods. The first two listed below are technical reviews by peers evaluating the APCA math and methods, and in comparison to WCAG 2 contrast methods and guidelines. APCA is open for peer review and discussion—please contact us if interested in performing an evaluation.
- Conference Presentation (video): Vicent Sanchis, PhD in optometry and a #a11y specialist, recently gave this great presentation on contrast at WCEU 2022, covering both WCAG 2 and APCA, with comparisons.
- The general contrast presentation starts @ 1:06:20 - Click Here
- Then @ 1:21:30 are comparisons
- APCA is specifically reviewed @ 1:26:40
- Does the contrast ratio actually predict the legibility of website text? A comparison of WCAG 2 math and APCA, by Sam Waller, a PhD at the Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge, UK.
- APCA: the new algorithm for accessible colour contrast A brief comparative review by Juan Ruitiña, comparing WCAG2 contrast to APCA.
- Don’t rely on WCAG 2’s contrast calculation, try APCA Comparative peer-review of APCA by Gu Wei of the Yunjiang Design and Research Factory in China. This is a Google translate link, you may need to clear a dialog that pops up. Many comparisons and real-world examples.
- Good color contrast: make sure you see everything well Bart Pluijms quick comparitive review. This is a Google translate link, you may need to clear a dialog that pops up. Includes a number of visual world examples.
- Color Contrast Is Not As Black And White As It Seems by Roger Attrill, a technical analysis of some of the problems with WCAG 2 contrast math, and comparing and analysing APCA.
- It’s Time For A More Sophisticated Color Contrast Check A review of APCA and comparison to WCAG 2 contrast, in the use case of dataviz, by Lisa Charlotte Muth.
- Accessible Palette: stop using HSL for color systems by Eugene Fedorenko, this is mostly a discussion of his new color pallette tool, but APCA figures into that, and he discusses the integration into the tool vs WCAG 2 contrast.
- Adv. Perceptual Contrast Algorithm Don Hollick’s review and discussion of APCA vs WCAG 2.
- The Hubris of Contrast Ratio by dlyons — a further discussion of Dan Hollick’s above article.
- Improving accessibility with the new APCA A review of APCA by Nik Bailey.
Recognizing issues with WCAG 2 Contrast:
Discussion with links to third party articles
The problems of 4.5:1 as a target for a guideline not only impact those with impairments, but impact standard vision as well. WCAG 2 contrast SCs affect 100% of sighted users. The inherent problems with the WCAG 2 contrast math have been known for some time and widely critisized. Including studies by others showing that color insensitive types are not well served. The WCAG 2 contrast specs often cause enough problems for designers that it is ignored and today, some 86% of websites are failing WCAG_2 contrast per an automated survey—though some of these failures are not due to actual poor accessibility, but due to the perceptual inaccuracies of WCAG_2 contrast.
Myndex Web Apps
- APCA Simple Contrast Tools The APCA contrast technology demonstrator.
- Bridge-PCA Contrast Tools Bridge-PCA or BPCA is a drop-in replacement for WCAG_2 contrast that is backwards compatible with the existing guideline, but is using APCA technology for improved readability.
- SAPC Contrast Research Tools Visual contrast development site for the ongoing study of visual contrast for web content accessibility guidelines and other standards & applications. Includes interactive experiments that demonstrate the concepts and technology.
- Color Vision Deficiency Simulator This simulator demonstrates the way someone with a Color Vision Deficiency (incorrectly labeled “color blind”) sees colors. This simulator uses the clinically accurate Brettel model of CVD simulation.
Myndex Color & Contrast Resources
Featured Articles
On Readability & Contrast
- The Realities And Myths Of Contrast And Color An in-depth primer to vision, color, and contrast for design, with an emphasis on typography and readability needs. Published by Smashing Magazine.
- Better reading on the web Published by UX Collective (uxdesign.cc). This article discusses and demonstrates the problems with automated testing and WCAG 2 contrast math, methods, and guidelines.
- Published at Tangled Web (TangledWeb.xyz):
- Busy Background Breaks Bulletin Examples of how to destroy readability by choosing the wrong image as a background. And also, how to fix it.
- Please Stop Using Grey Text Debunking one of the worst myths regarding design contrast. THis article went viral in early 2022.
- What’s Red & Black & Also Not Read? Do the WCAG 2 Contrast Guidelines help users with color vision issues? While this is a widely held belief, the truth may surprise you.
- A Contrast of Errors A look into the history of the WCAG 2 contrast guidelines and some of the problems created by them, and a discussion of the proposed replacement, the APCA (Accessible Perceptual Contrast Algorithm).
Additional Color & Contrast Related Articles
- Basics of Luminance Contrast A precursor to the Contrast FAQ.
- Creating Color Gradients, Part I Experiments and discussion of color spaces for gradient creation.
- Color Gradients, Part II More experiments and more color spaces.
- PDF on Accessible Fonts A PDF that discusses key factors in fonts for readability.
- Contrasting Theories Article at Tangled Web
- A Contast of Contrasts Article at Tangled Web
General IT & Web
- Modern Password Theory in a Nutshell Would it surprise you to know that fistsmash passwords aren’t really more secure than one you can actually remember? You could say this is 0u+W!+h+h301d-InWithTheNew! — In other words, “Out With The Old - In With The New.” It’s a realistic discussion on password security, with a useful approach to reducing “crackability”. _HINT: we’ve all been doing it wrong, LOL. Article at TangledWeb.xyz
- Improving SEO with Redirects Your server’s case sensitivity and URL redirect strategies can affect your search ranking!
Related Repositories
- SAPC-APCA The main repository for the research and development of the new contrast method and algorithm being developed for the W3/AGWG accessibility guidelines, and for other standards and applications. This is the primary source for all things related to SAPC and APCA.
- SACAM Coming Soon!
- APCA W3 This is the specific version of the APCA licensed to the W3 for the use in web accessibility guidelines such as the WCAG_3 guidelines.
- Bridge PCA BPCA is designed as a drop-in replacement for WCAG_2 contrast that is backwards compatible, but using APCA technology, to “bridge” toward the future of readability contrast.
- Fancy Font Flipping Fancy Font Flipping is a demo I first put up in CodePen to illustrate the issues with flipping the text color from black to white based on a given estimated background luminance.
- Color Parsley lightweight and versatile color parsing functions.
- See Lab This is a library for sRGB colorstring parsing and CIE processing. Includes XYZ, xyY, Lab, Luv, LCh and more!
- Tiny Trim This is a CSS sheet of terse classes, useful for quick adjustments without having to add a
style=""great for site development when you have a client watching and breathing down your back, LOL. - Color Styles colorstyles is a CSS color stylesheet with a terse but easy to use methodology for color classes — in development, some of this is in TinyTrim.
GitHub Gists
Mini articles on technical topics, with examples.
Contrast & Color Gists
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Why APCA? A brief overview of WCAG_2 contrast issues and how APCA solves them.
-
Let’s Flip for Color! If you want your text to be either black or white if the user selects some random color, just where is that inflection point? Hint: It’s NOT 18% Y. Gist includes links to the CodePen and the related repo here.
- Three Part Series on WCAG 2 contrast problems with comparisons to perceptually uniform models.
- Part I: Orange You Wondering About Contrast? Answering some contrast questions, and demonstrating a real solution to the infamous orange conundrum.
- Part II: The Lighter Side of Dark Backgrounds An article comparing some parts of APCA with the old WCAG 2 contrast methods, demonstrating how WCAG_2 contrast does not help color vision types.
- Part III: WCAG 2 vs APCA Contrast Shootout Answering some recent questions regarding APCA, with comparisons and examples of the old (WCAG 2 1.4.3) and the future WCAG 3 / APCA.
- COLORSPACES-The Primal Frontier A brief Look at the math that helps model how we see.
- How Many Colors in a Bushel? Just “how many” colors are there? Is that even an answerable question?
- Part I: For The Luv of Color An article comparing CIE Lab and Luv colorspaces.
- Part II: Will Work for Color A follow-up article on working spaces and related considerations. Introduces the concept of “Web Working Spacelets”.
Related Threads & Comments
A Listing of Significant Threads
These are some of the larger, in-depth issue threads & posts created on GitHub including the infamous thread #695. These posts contain useful information and research. Some of the information here may be superseded as some of these threads date back to the beginnings of the contrast research project.
Useful APCA Discussion Forum Threads
- APCA Use Cases, Conformance, Research, and Glossary Discussion of use cases for text and non-text elements, and references to the relevant research. Conformance considerations and rational basis for guidelines.
- Links To Tools and Toolmakers Some of the tools that have adopted APCA.
- WCAG 2 vs APCA Comparisons Direct head to head comparisons.
- Using APCA with other fonts Draft method for font weight conformance.
Myndex on Other Sites
Myndex is top 3% on Stack Overflow!
- @ Mozilla: Introduction to Color and Accessibility A white paper and tutorial on color and accessibility, with emphasis on web content.
- @ Twitter: MyndexResearch New developments regarding APCA are usually posted here first.
- @ W3C: Visual Contrast Group Wiki Early work on Visual Contrast which became APCA.
- Visual Contrast Whitepaper (Work in progress)
- Visual Contrast Draft Conformance Model An early draft multi-score model for WCAG 3. This uses a legacy lookup tables, Instead please see the current use cases thread at the APCA repo
- Resources: Glossary, Bibliography, and links to team member materials. Includes additional designer examples and guidance.
- @ Myndex•com: The Perceptex Experiment Some of the very early (2019) studies into screen readability contrast are still here for viewing, for archival purposes. See CE17 which includes a brief white paper.
- Placeholders
- @ AndySomers•com: Design Portfolio (coming soon)
- @ General Titles & Visual Effects: (Links to articles/portfolio coming soon)
- Archives of older published articles & tutorials
- @ Research Gate: (some early work but not particularly active there)
- @ Creative Cow: (Links to articles & tutorials coming soon)
The Lighter Side of Math & Photons…
The Art and Science of Applied Probability
In this career, I was using Applied Probability Methodologies for the Risk Assessment of short term ROI predictions related to high-variance cash-flow opportunities in finite-sized non-cooperative bidding groups where information is obliquely concealed as a function of multivariate strategies facilitating the predominately range-based tactics driven by randomized but nevertheless deterministic outcomes.
(…Sooo… this is more commonly known as Texas Hold ’Em Poker…)
For the record, Myndex is pronounced:
mind - ex
\ ˈmīn-ˌdɛks \
When George Eastman invented the word “Kodak” one of his criteria was that “it won’t be mispronounced”. I guess I missed that day. Ooops. —–
Welcome to the very bottom of the page!
Here at the very bottom of the page, we dare to ask the question, “do two lights make a dark?”
Also, just how many color scientists does it take to rotationally engage the helical conducting threads of an illumination apparatus further composed of a sealed, evacuated glass envelope containing a plurality of filament holders which electrically connect and physically support a coiled electrically conducting but resistive filament preferentially fabricated from a tungsten alloy to the aforementioned helical threads, engaging into a helical conducting receptacle, such that when an electrical power source of sufficient voltage and current is applied, said filament shall be caused to incandesce and emit visible irradiance?
A: The answer is “none” because they fell asleep reading this joke.