Web Accessibility for Charities: Designing Colour Contrast Right
2 March 2026
A Digital Dispatch by Paul Galinsky, Director
Colour is one of the most exciting parts of a website project. It’s the brand, its personality, and the mood. But before it’s any of those things, it has to be readable.
When we talk about web accessibility for charities, we’re not talking about a checklist at the end of a build. We’re talking about designing with inclusion from day one. Because if your website exists to support, inform or help people, it has to work for everyone – not just those with perfect vision on a perfect screen.
What Web Accessibility Means for Charities in the UK
In the UK, accessibility is not just a design preference. It sits within legal and ethical responsibility.
Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations that provide services to the public must make “reasonable adjustments” so disabled people are not disadvantaged.
That includes your website.
Public sector bodies have additional obligations under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018. These regulations explicitly require compliance with recognised standards, currently Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 AA.
For public sector organisations, this is a clear legal requirement.
For charities and membership organisations? The duty still exists under the Equality Act. While most charities are not legally required to publish a formal accessibility statement, they are still expected to ensure their digital services are accessible and non-discriminatory.
In practice, WCAG 2.2 AA has become the recognised benchmark used to assess whether a website is accessible.
For colour contrast, that means:
- Normal body text must have a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1
- Large text (18pt+ or 14pt bold) must meet 3:1
- Buttons, links and interface elements must also have sufficient contrast.
If your website exists to support, inform or help people, it has to work for everyone, not just those with perfect vision on a perfect screen.
How We Actually Design for Contrast
Here’s how we approach it in practice.
1️⃣ We Start in Figma
When we’re developing a colour palette with a client, it begins in Figma.
We don’t just pick colours that look good together. We ask:
- Which colours will sit on which backgrounds?
- Which will be used for body text?
- Which for buttons?
- What happens when text overlays a coloured block?
As the palette develops, accessibility testing happens alongside visual refinement.
Design and compliance move together.
2️⃣ We Test the Hex Codes
Once we’ve narrowed in on combinations we like, for example, a dark blue paired with a soft “paper” background, we test the actual hex codes using the WebAIM Contrast Checker:
👉https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
We:
- Copy the hex code for the text colour
- Copy the hex code for the background colour
- Drop them into the checker
- Aim for at least WCAG AA compliance
If it doesn’t pass? We adjust.
No attachment to “but it looked nicer before.” Accessibility comes first.
Why Colour Contrast Matters in Real Life
Colour contrast isn’t a niche issue. It affects:
- People with visual impairments
- People with colour vision deficiency
- Older users with reduced contrast sensitivity
- Neurodivergent users
- People using older screens
- People reading in bright daylight.
If your donate button fades into the background, if your helpline number is pale grey on cream, if your form labels are hard to see, your content becomes a barrier instead of a bridge.
For organisations working in the third and public sectors, that has real consequences. Accessibility is not about perfection. It’s about removing unnecessary friction.
Web Accessibility Goes Beyond Colour Contrast
Colour contrast is only one part of accessible design. You also need to give consideration to;
- Alt text
- Alternatives for time-based media i.e. audio-only or video-only
- Navigation beyond mouse and keyboard
- Logical page, menu and heading hierarchy
- Accessible forms.
But colour contrast is one of the easiest foundations to get right, and one of the most visible when it’s wrong.
A 5-Minute Web Accessibility Check You Can Do Today
If you’re responsible for a website and you’re not sure where you stand, try this:
- Open your homepage.
- Identify your primary button or a key text block.
- Find the hex code for the text and background (your designer or brand guide should have this or you can use a colour checker website).
- Drop both into the WebAIM contrast checker.
- Check whether it passes AA.
If it fails, don’t panic.
Often it’s a small adjustment:
- Slightly darken the text
- Slightly lighten the background
- Swap one shade in your palette
Small changes. Big difference.
Accessibility Isn’t A Constraint. It’s Design Integrity.
At Pooka, we believe accessible design is simply good design. You can have:
- A bold brand
- A distinctive colour palette
- Personality and warmth.
You just have to build it responsibly.
Accessibility isn’t about stripping the character out of a website. It’s about making sure that character reaches as many people as possible.
That’s not a compliance mindset. That’s a values mindset.
What Web Accessibility Means for All UK Businesses and Service Providers
Web accessibility is not just a “charity sector issue”. If you are a UK-based business or service provider offering:
- Online bookings
- E-commerce
- Membership access
- Information services
- Donations
- Forms or applications
you fall within the scope of the Equality Act 2010.
The Act does not name WCAG directly. It requires “reasonable adjustments”. However, if accessibility were challenged legally, compliance would almost certainly be assessed against WCAG AA standards.
In other words: WCAG is not written into the Equality Act, but it is the standard you would be judged against.
From a risk perspective, building to WCAG 2.2 AA is now best practice for any organisation operating online in the UK.
Accessibility is no longer optional. It is part of delivering a lawful, inclusive service.
If you would like more practical guides to web accessibility check out our blog post on writing alt-text.
FAQs: Web Accessibility for Charities
No. WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) are not a law in themselves.
They are international technical standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium.However, public sector organisations in the UK are legally required to meet WCAG AA standards under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
For charities and private businesses, the Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments to prevent discrimination. While WCAG is not named in the Act, it is widely recognised as the benchmark used to assess accessibility compliance.
In practice, WCAG AA is the accepted standard organisations work toward.
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) are international standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). They outline how to make web content more accessible.
For colour contrast, this includes:
* Minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text
* 3:1 for large text
* Clear contrast for buttons and interface elements.
Most UK organisations aim for WCAG AA compliance.
Public sector organisations must publish an accessibility statement. Most charities are not legally required to do so unless they fall under public sector regulations.
However, it is strongly recommended.
An accessibility statement:
Explains how accessible your website currently is
* Acknowledges any known limitations
* Provides a contact route for feedback
* Demonstrates that accessibility is actively considered.
For many charities, publishing an accessibility statement is a proactive step that reflects values, transparency, and inclusion, even where it is not strictly mandated.
