Text has low contrast on the live page

Why it matters

Most color comes from the theme, the Site Editor's Styles, the Customizer or page-builder global colors — not from a single post. Measuring the finished page catches low-contrast text in menus, buttons, footers and product grids, which a check of the post content alone cannot see.

Who it affects: Keyboard, screen reader and low-vision users — every visitor meets the page title, language, landmarks, keyboard focus, target sizes and zoom settings on every page.

83.9% of the top million home pages had low-contrast text in 2026. WebAIM Million 2026

What Lumtera flags

Checked in review mode's Whole page tab, in your browser from the computed styles, so theme and page-builder CSS are included. Visible text below 4.5:1, or 3:1 for large text (24px, or 18.66px bold), is an error, with the measured ratio and both colors; similar elements are grouped. Text on a background image, gradient or video cannot be measured, so it is listed as a warning for a person to check. Disabled controls are exempt. On very long pages the check stops after a few hundred text elements, or when its time limit runs out, and says the results are partial.

How to fix it in WordPress

Darken the text or lighten its background (or the reverse) until the ratio reaches 4.5:1, or 3:1 for large text (24px, or 18.66px bold). On theme parts these colors usually come from the Site Editor's Styles, the Customizer or the page builder's global colors. For text over an image, check it against the lightest and darkest parts of the image at every screen width, and add an overlay if needed.

Example

.site-footer a { color: #8a8a8a; } /* on #ffffff = 3.4:1 */

.site-footer a { color: #595959; } /* on #ffffff = 7:1 */

How to check your fix

1. Reload the page in review mode and run the Whole page tab again. The finding disappears once the rendered page passes.
2. Load the page and press Tab: a "Skip to content" link should appear first, and you should always see where focus is, even under a sticky header. Pinch-zoom on a phone, and check the browser tab shows a meaningful title.