What Counts as 'Large Text' for the 3:1 Contrast Minimum

The correct answer is "18pt+ (24px+) regular weight, or 14pt+ (18.67px+) bold."

This subject's contrast table states the exact large-text threshold: 18pt and above (24px+) at regular weight, or 14pt and above (about 18.67px) at bold weight. Below that threshold, text is held to the stricter 4.5:1 minimum; at or above it, the larger glyph strokes are considered legible at the lower 3:1 minimum, the same ratio applied to UI components and graphical objects.

The distractors misstate the exact numbers: "16px or larger, bold or regular" is close in magnitude but not the cited threshold, and critically drops the bold-vs-regular distinction the real rule depends on; "12pt+ regular, or 10pt+ bold" is well below the actual cited sizes; and the threshold is defined by point/pixel size and weight, not by whether the text happens to be marked up as a heading tag — a large <span> and a small <h3> are judged by the same size rule, not by their HTML element.