In design · the contrast checker works today
Find what’s wrong with an interface before your users do
Ideal User Interfaces is an AI reviewer in design: show it a screen and it marks the problems a careful designer would, contrast, clarity, errors and dark patterns, each tied to a published standard.
- 1 · Contrast Placeholder text 2.9:1 on white. WCAG asks 4.5:1.
- 2 · Error prevention Password rules appear only after a failed submit.
- 3 · Visibility of status The button gives no sign it is working.
How the review will work
- Show it a screenA screenshot or a link to a page.
- It checks against standardsWCAG 2.2 for accessibility, Nielsen’s ten heuristics for usability, and the dark patterns Australian consumer researchers have named.
- You get pinned findingsEach problem marked on the screen, with the rule it breaks and a fix.
Ideal User Interfaces is in design. The AI review is not available yet; the contrast checker works today. AI can miss things and invent things; a review is a starting point for a designer, not a replacement for testing with real people.
Colour contrast checker
Works todayTwo colours in, the WCAG 2.2 contrast ratio out, with a pass or fail for normal text, large text and interface parts.
Large text, 24 px
Normal text at 16 px reads like this sentence.
Enter a valid three- or six-digit hex colour in each field.
: 1
- Normal textneeds 4.5:1 (AA), 7:1 (AAA)
- Large textneeds 3:1 (AA), 4.5:1 (AAA)
- Icons and bordersneeds 3:1 (AA, 1.4.11)
Formula: W3C WCAG 2.2, relative luminance and contrast ratio, not rounded (4.499:1 fails 4.5:1).
Guides
- AI UI design tools compared: apps, prototypes and websitesChoose the output first: an editable design, a prototype, working application code or a published website. Then compare the plan and handover requirements.
- Colour contrast checker (WCAG 2.2)Check any two colours against WCAG 2.2: the ratio, and whether it passes for body text, large text and interface parts such as icons and input borders.
- Dark patterns: the designs that trick users, and what Australian research foundPre-ticked add-ons, fake countdown timers, cancellations hidden five screens deep. Australian research found most people have been caught by one.