Intermediate
Open
Free
Why Large Text Gets a Lower Contrast Bar Than Body Copy
A hero headline renders at 24px regular weight — above WCAG's "large text" size threshold, unlike the smaller body copy underneath it.
What's the minimum contrast ratio this large text needs to clear under WCAG 2.1 AA, compared to the stricter bar normal text is held to?
Solution
The correct answer is "3:1."
Large text — 18pt+ (24px+) regular, or 14pt+ (18.67px+) bold — only needs to clear 3:1 under WCAG 2.1 AA, a lower bar than the 4.5:1 required for normal text, since larger glyphs remain legible at lower contrast than small ones do.
4.5:1 is the normal-text minimum, not large text's relaxed bar. 7:1 is an AAA-level target. "No minimum" is wrong — large text still has a requirement, it's just lower than normal text's.
Share this question