Terminal theme reports

a11y.world example theme

Contrast report for the a11y.world example theme terminal theme: dark: 2 of 17 below 4.5:1; light: 12 of 17 below 4.5:1.

Drawn for the Color Lab · CC0 · source

The pair the Color Lab loads by default. The dark variant fails on black and bright black; the light variant fails on its bright colors. Every value is measured with the same math as the Color Lab: the WCAG 2 contrast ratio of each color as text on that variant's background.

Open this theme in the Color Lab

Dark variant on #0f1720

2 of 17 colors fall below 4.5:1 on #0f1720: black, bright black.

Each color as text on this variant's background. Terminal text is small and often dim, so 4.5:1 is the bar.
ColorSampleRatioResult
foreground$ ls -la ~/projects13.2:1Pass
black$ ls -la ~/projects1.2:1Below 4.5:1
red$ ls -la ~/projects5.6:1Pass
green$ ls -la ~/projects7.1:1Pass
yellow$ ls -la ~/projects8.0:1Pass
blue$ ls -la ~/projects6.1:1Pass
magenta$ ls -la ~/projects6.7:1Pass
cyan$ ls -la ~/projects7.3:1Pass
white$ ls -la ~/projects11.3:1Pass
bright black$ ls -la ~/projects2.0:1Below 4.5:1
bright red$ ls -la ~/projects7.6:1Pass
bright green$ ls -la ~/projects10.4:1Pass
bright yellow$ ls -la ~/projects11.2:1Pass
bright blue$ ls -la ~/projects8.3:1Pass
bright magenta$ ls -la ~/projects9.2:1Pass
bright cyan$ ls -la ~/projects10.3:1Pass
bright white$ ls -la ~/projects16.5:1Pass

Light variant on #f7f8fa

12 of 17 colors fall below 4.5:1 on #f7f8fa: green, yellow, cyan, white, bright black, bright red, bright green, bright yellow, bright blue, bright magenta, bright cyan, bright white.

Each color as text on this variant's background. Terminal text is small and often dim, so 4.5:1 is the bar.
ColorSampleRatioResult
foreground$ ls -la ~/projects12.6:1Pass
black$ ls -la ~/projects12.6:1Pass
red$ ls -la ~/projects5.1:1Pass
green$ ls -la ~/projects3.9:1Below 4.5:1
yellow$ ls -la ~/projects3.5:1Below 4.5:1
blue$ ls -la ~/projects4.9:1Pass
magenta$ ls -la ~/projects5.1:1Pass
cyan$ ls -la ~/projects3.6:1Below 4.5:1
white$ ls -la ~/projects2.4:1Below 4.5:1
bright black$ ls -la ~/projects4.3:1Below 4.5:1
bright red$ ls -la ~/projects3.0:1Below 4.5:1
bright green$ ls -la ~/projects2.4:1Below 4.5:1
bright yellow$ ls -la ~/projects2.1:1Below 4.5:1
bright blue$ ls -la ~/projects2.8:1Below 4.5:1
bright magenta$ ls -la ~/projects2.6:1Below 4.5:1
bright cyan$ ls -la ~/projects2.3:1Below 4.5:1
bright white$ ls -la ~/projects1.1:1Below 4.5:1

What the numbers mean

Terminal text is small, often dim, and read for hours, so every color is held to the 4.5:1 body-text bar. A failing color is not unusable; it is a color that some people cannot read without leaning in. Theme authors usually fix a failing dim color by moving it a little toward the foreground, as the gallery entry shows, and the field note explains why light and dark variants fail in different places.

Values were transcribed from the theme's published palette. If one is wrong, send a correction and the report is regenerated.