[BUG][ParityRequest] Scanner Prime contrast FAILS Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
GorillaSapiens
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The screenshot below was taken with 2.33, "Lighting Dynamics" enabled, and set all the way to high.
In the example here, the plain text "Explain why you believe..." FAILS Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. The text is #676CB0 and the background is #000000. This is a contrast ratio of 4.34:1. This FAILS WCAG contrast guidelines for text at all but the largest sizes.
This bug report is not just about this particular screen. Prime has this problem THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE APP. This is why people are telling you everything looks dim or washed out. Please listen to us. It is not just about playing in daylight, although this certainly does not help the problem. It is because there is not enough CONTRAST in your color choices. I've also marked this as a Parity Request because [Redacted] had excellent color choices for contrast and was very readable. The WCAG are good, because if things are hard to read on a web page, they're going to be even harder outside with full daylight.
Supporting links:
Comments
@NianticBrian @RedSoloCup
By the way, that submit button is #1B1F38 on a #000000 background, contrast of 1.29:1, which fails ALL WCAG guidelines, even for user interface elements.
Change the purple back to orangey yellow and you're good to go
I find fields in daylight very hard to see.
The ripple effect of redacted gave it some visibility.
Also red writing is blurry , well with my old eyes.
The 1 second red hack countdown warning is VERY hard to read.
Yes. This thank you, this is my only serious complaint about prime. Everything is so dim and washed out. Especially neutral portals and fields.
Thank you you for bringing this to Niantic’s attention.
Excellent insight, and I'm glad to see others paying attention to online accessibility. This is extremely valuable information that, while designed to help people with visual disabilities, also will help us with good eyesight... because just about everything ok the app is difficult on the eyes to read.
Are these guidelines legally binding?
They are guidelines, so no...
Ever since it was released, agents already kept on mentioning it's hard to SEE.
Niantic uses Ignore.
EVER SINCE
Thank you for your feedback. I'll follow up with our team about this specific screen wrt making the text easier to read, as well as general contrast feedback on Prime.
This is also why we keep asking for the [REDACTED] field texture back. If you are under a large field (one that fills the screen), there is not enough contrast between the field color for ENL and normal unfielded black for you to be able to tell you are actually under a field. That texture used on fields in [REDACTED] was an excellent visual cue. The pulses in Prime are also a cue, but you have to stare at your phone for more than a second to see them (and no, I would not recommend making them happen faster or more often!). I need to be able to glance at my phone in full daylight while walking around avoiding cars and other pedestrians and know instantly what's going on in game.
It’s not the color that is the issue. More color, or more color choices won’t do the trick. It’s the value. Two completely contrasting colors at the same value can be near impossible to see against one another. Changing the color itself will do no good. The letters need to be lighter against the dark background.
I think you agree with me, but we're coming at the explanation from different directions. A dark red on a dark blue has a low CONTRAST RATIO, even though red and blue are very CONTRASTING COLORS. We need a BRIGHT something on a DARK something, or vice versa. [REDACTED] had a BRIGHT cyan on a DARK/BLACK background, which was excellent. a DIM CYAN on a BLACK background would have a LOW contrast ratio. It's the CONTRAST RATIO i'm getting at here, which is, generally, a comparison how how bright a thing is compared to another thing.
this is a really good explanation 👍️
The W3C is the standards body that keeps the web alive. To quote their web site, "The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community that develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web."
While not "legally binding", they are recognized in the industry as an expert source.
Again, to quote their web site, "Our society, our world, and the Web face many challenges, and now more than ever the Web Consortium must continue to fulfill our mission, with our global community, to make the web work, for everyone."
+1
I was briefly part of WCAG community, so I have some insight into their process. You're right that you can come at this from many angles... and that's what WCAG have done already. Imagine this thread, but it's been running for 20 years, and has 1000s of the world's top subject experts contributing.
The best piece of advice I can give here is: If you're not willing to devote 8-10 years gaining a PhD in the subject, just take their word for it.
Thank you for such a clear explanation of the underpinning of an issue that has caused so much frustration and has been cited as a big factor in many agents quitting.
My eyes thank you.
We have been complaining about legibility and visibility since the beginning of the beta. Is there some reason for users to trust that you are finally going to listen and make significant improvements?
While we're here, the red text that appears when you hack a portal during cooldown (or with too many items, or some other problem) is barely legible too.
THIS SO MUCH
If we could maybe SEE anything AT ALL while playing prime, we just might stop calling for redacted to be brought back.
Another example: red text in current progress of medals.
Overlays are also a problem: In inventory, white text on top of the photo has nothing to separate it from the background picture. In some cases it's ok, because the picture is mostly black. In other cases, the text completely disappears because the photo is white.
In animation, it used to be the norm that everything had a black outline, so that objects would stand out against any background. That is one possible solution.
The point is that if you don't control the background, you will always have some background that is the same color as your foreground text, and presto, invisible ink.
But fundamentally, yes. contrast is a severe problem in Prime.
Finally someone made real guidances check to confirm our low contrast feedback. Thank you.
I have another thing for you to take from Redacted which made its visual appearance more appealing. Take everything that's currently under a field (except roads), and place it over a field. This includes: XM, portals, burster effects, player radius (see screenshot).