Text Color Preview
Preview font and background color combinations with WCAG accessibility scoring.
color: #1A1A1A; background-color: #F6F6F4;
Readable text requires a minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio (WCAG AA). Dark text on light backgrounds is most readable for body copy. Always verify before shipping — poor contrast affects ~8% of your users.
Text Color Preview — See How Your Font Colors Look Before You Code
Typography readability depends on three factors working together: font size, font weight, and color contrast. Choosing text colors without previewing them in context leads to common mistakes — colors that look fine in isolation but feel too harsh, too subtle, or inaccessible against the actual background they'll live on. Colaro's text color preview gives you a live, realistic rendering of your font and background combination before a single line of CSS is written.
Typography Color Best Practices
Pure black (#000000) on pure white (#ffffff) achieves maximum contrast at 21:1, but is often too stark for comfortable extended reading — many design systems use very dark gray (like #111827 or #1a1a1a) instead. For secondary or muted text, a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 remains accessible while conveying reduced visual hierarchy. Avoid low-contrast gray text that fails WCAG AA — this is one of the most pervasive accessibility failures across production websites. Always preview body text, captions, and placeholder text colors in context to catch failures early.
Dark Mode Text Color Considerations
Dark mode design requires a fundamentally different approach to text colors. Pure white text on pure black backgrounds creates excessive contrast and can cause halation — the blooming effect that makes white text appear to glow on very dark screens. The most comfortable dark mode text colors use slightly off-white values like #F1F5F9 or #E2E8F0 on dark backgrounds in the #0F172A to #1E293B range. Use this preview tool to dial in your dark mode text and background pairing before defining the tokens in your design system.
Color Hierarchy in Typography Systems
Effective typographic color systems use three to four text color levels: primary text (highest contrast, for headings and body copy), secondary text (slightly reduced contrast, for supporting information), muted text (lower contrast but still accessible, for captions and metadata), and disabled text (intentionally low contrast to signal unavailability). Preview each level against your backgrounds to ensure the hierarchy is visually clear while all levels remain accessible.
What is the best text color for readability?
For body text on white backgrounds, very dark grays like #111827 or #1F2937 offer excellent readability with slightly softer contrast than pure black. Always aim for at least 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal-sized text.
Should I use black or dark gray for body text?
Dark gray (around #111827 to #374151) is generally preferred over pure black for extended reading — it reduces harsh contrast while remaining fully accessible. Use the contrast checker to confirm your chosen shade exceeds 4.5:1.
How do I choose text colors for colored backgrounds?
Test both dark and light text options against your colored background using this previewer. Colored backgrounds often work better with either very light or very dark text — mid-tones on mid-tone backgrounds typically fail contrast.