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almost 6 years ago from Daniel Baldwin, Creative Director + Cofounder @goodhandsdotco
^ This guy is totally right.
I myself am not blind, but I‘m far from a near-perfect eyesight.
Whenever I struggle to read something on the web, I pick a Color Contrast tool and measure the ratio of the foreground and background colors.
Every single time they fail the test. I‘m not talking about not being AAA-complaint. I‘m talking about not meeting AA or even AA-Large standards. They usually get between a 1–3 ratio.
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If you consider that there are only two eyesight categories (blind, and near-perfect eyesight), you tend to leave out the majority of visual impairments. It's a common misconception that accessibility means "screenreader-friendly".
Daltonism is one of the situations targeted by contrast standards, and the reader may very well have 20/20 eyesight but fail to see the light red on a screen at common brightness.
Another situation is nerve disorders, which may lead to difficulty focusing the eyes, or shaking eyesight. Hard contrast allows a shape to better "print" in the reader's memory, and afford her or him more ease (or the possibility) of reading.