Parcel's New Color-Contrast Checker

Things are about to get more strict around here! But in the best way possible.

We're excited to announce a new rule in Parcel’s accessibility checker: a color-contrast checker to help email designers ensure their emails meet WCAG 2 AA compliance.

As email designers, it's important to consider accessibility when creating emails. One aspect of accessibility is color contrast. The WCAG 2 AA guidelines require a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Essentially, the Parcel accessibility checker will review the foreground color (font color) and background color.

Our new color contrast checker makes it easy to check the contrast ratio of your email design. When running QA, Parcel will analyze the colors and provide a pass or fail result based on the WCAG 2 AA guidelines.

This color contrast checker will check against the fallback color for gradients when gradient backgrounds are used and not check contrast against background images. We recommend as always, manually reviewing these.

As always, we’re committed to making email design more accessible, and we believe this new feature will be a valuable tool for creators who want to create inclusive emails. Try it out, and let us know what you think!