Color Palette Accessibility Chart
A grid showing accessible text color combinations from the Oregon State University brand color palette. Each cell in the grid represents a foreground/background color pair. Combinations that meet WCAG accessibility standards are marked with a filled colored circle containing the letters "Aa." Empty grey circles indicate combinations that do not meet contrast requirements.
Colors in the palette, with their hex codes, are: Beaver Orange (D73F09), Paddletail Black (000000), Bucktooth White (FFFFFF), Pine Stand (4A773C), High Tide (00859B), Luminance (FFB500), Stratosphere (006A8E), Reindeer Moss (C4D6A4), Seafoam (B8DDE1), Candela (FDD26E), Moondust (C6DAE7), Hop Bine (AA9D2E), Rogue Wave (0D5257), Solar Flare (D3832B), Star Canvas (003B5C), Till (B7A99A), Coastline (A7ACA2), High Desert (7A6855), Crater (8E9089).
Accessible combinations (Aa marked):
Beaver Orange background: Paddletail Black text
Paddletail Black background: Beaver Orange, Bucktooth White, High Tide, Luminance, Reindeer Moss, Seafoam, Candela, Hop Bine, Solar Flare, Till, Coastline, Crater
Bucktooth White background: Beaver Orange, Paddletail Black, Pine Stand, Stratosphere, Rogue Wave, Star Canvas, High Desert
Pine Stand background: Bucktooth White
High Tide background: Paddletail Black
Luminance background: Paddletail Black
Stratosphere background: Bucktooth White
Reindeer Moss background: Paddletail Black, Rogue Wave, Star Canvas
Seafoam background: Paddletail Black, Rogue Wave, Star Canvas
Candela background: Paddletail Black, Rogue Wave, Star Canvas
Moondust background: Paddletail Black, Rogue Wave, Star Canvas
Hop Bine background: Paddletail Black
Rogue Wave background: Bucktooth White, Luminance, Reindeer Moss, Seafoam, Candela, Moondust
Solar Flare background: Paddletail Black
Star Canvas background: Bucktooth White, Luminance, Reindeer Moss, Seafoam, Candela, Moondust, Till, Coastline
Till background: Paddletail Black, Star Canvas
Coastline background: Paddletail Black, Star Canvas
High Desert background: Bucktooth White
Crater background: Paddletail Black
Oregon State University brand guidelines recognize the official colors above. Beaver Orange, Paddletail Black, and Bucktooth White are our primary colors, and the others colors serve as a robust pallet of secondary colors. While the primary colors can be used interchangeably and still be accessible for people with certain disabilities, it is important to design with accessibility in mind. To ensure accessibility when using secondary colors as text (or background for text) please use this chart to determine what colors can be used together and what color combinations to avoid.
Key:
This matrix was developed by the OSU Office of Equal Opportunity and Access and its design was provided by OSU Extension Service Outdoor School program with funding from the Oregon State Lottery.
