WCAG 2.0 · Level A · Perceivable
1.4.1 Use of Color
Manual verification
How to validate 1.4.1 by hand
Check whether color is the only visual means used to communicate information, identify an action, prompt a response, or distinguish an item.
Start with the extension result
Reopen the reported URL and reproduce the same state (for example, after expanding a menu or submitting a form). Use the result’s Highlight action when available, or its affected-element details and CSS selector, to find the reported content. Apply the checks below to that content and its context. If the element or state has changed, rescan and record that difference before deciding whether the finding still applies.
- Review links in body text, charts, required fields, status messages, selected items, and validation errors.
- View the page in grayscale or simulate a color-vision difference and look for information that disappears.
- Check whether text, shape, patterns, labels, or another visible cue communicates the same distinction.
Evidence to record
Record the color-only distinction and the additional cue, or lack of cue, available in that state.
Scope and exceptions
Color may be used as one cue when another visual means is present. Contrast requirements are evaluated separately under 1.4.3 and 1.4.11.
Record the review outcome
- Confirmed: the recorded evidence shows the requirement is not met in the tested page state, and no applicable exception explains it.
- Not reproduced: the reported issue is absent in the current state. Record the URL, state, and affected element you checked; this does not prove other pages or states conform.
- Needs more review: evidence is incomplete, the content requires human judgment, or an exception is uncertain. Record what remains to be checked instead of treating it as a pass.