Black on Gold: Contrast Check

Black (#000000) on gold (#FFD700) has a 14.97:1 contrast ratio. It passes AA for normal text.

Your colors

rgb(0, 0, 0)

rgb(255, 215, 0)

Use HEX, RGB, HSL or a CSS color name, without transparency.

Text preview

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Normal text · 16 px

This is how your text will look.

Large text · 32 px

A little contrast matters.

Large text: at least 18 pt regular or 14 pt bold.

14.97:1

Text contrast ratio

Meets AA for normal text.

AA · Normal text

4.5:1 required

Pass

AA · Large text

3:1 required

Pass

AAA · Normal text

7:1 required

Pass

AAA · Large text

4.5:1 required

Pass

Pass or fail uses the unrounded ratio.

WCAG 2.2 · SC 1.4.3 and 1.4.6 · Opaque sRGB text pairs

Large text: at least 18 pt regular or 14 pt bold.

View calculation

Foreground luminance: 0. Background luminance: 0.6986087742815887. Ratio = (lighter + 0.05) / (darker + 0.05) = 14.972175485631775. Thresholds use this unrounded value.

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Supported color inputs and errors →

Using black on gold

Black text keeps a gold notice easy to distinguish from the rest of the page. The written message should explain the notice without depending on the yellow fill.

WCAG text contrast results

Text criterionRequired ratioResult
AA normal text4.5:1Pass
AA large text3:1Pass
AAA normal text7:1Pass
AAA large text4.5:1Pass

This pair passes AA for normal text. It also passes AAA for normal text. The displayed ratio is rounded to two decimal places; every decision uses the full calculation.

Choose the result for your text size

A 16 px regular label uses the normal-text result. A 24 px regular heading qualifies as large text. Match the result to the size and weight used in your design. If a small label fails, try a different color before making the label larger.

.pair-example {
  color: #000000;
  background-color: #FFD700;
  font-size: 16px;
}

Try the reverse pair

Use Swap colors to put gold text on black. The ratio remains 14.97:1, but the page can feel very different when most of it becomes black. Check the new arrangement with real text and the surrounding layout.

Sources and further reading