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Accessible Color Palette Generator

Enter your brand's primary color and instantly generate a full 10-step accessible color palette — primary shades, brand-tinted neutrals, and semantic colors (success, warning, error, info). Each swatch shows its WCAG contrast ratio and compliance level. Export as CSS custom properties or Tailwind config.

Why This Matters

Color choices directly affect readability and accessibility. Without proper contrast ratios, users with low vision, color blindness, or situational impairments (like bright sunlight) may not be able to read your content. Building with an accessible palette from the start is far easier than retrofitting contrast fixes after design and development are complete.

How to Use This Tool

  1. 1

    Pick your brand color

    Use the color picker or enter a hex value to set your brand's primary color.

  2. 2

    Review the palette

    See 10 shades of your primary color, neutrals, and semantic colors, each with WCAG contrast ratios.

  3. 3

    Check compliance

    See which shades pass AA (4.5:1) or AAA (7:1) for text on white and dark backgrounds.

  4. 4

    Export

    Copy or download as CSS custom properties or Tailwind config for your project.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are the shades generated?

The tool converts your brand color to HSL and generates 10 shades by varying the lightness (from 95% down to 12%) while preserving your brand hue and saturation. Neutral shades use the same hue with minimal saturation (8%) for a cohesive brand-tinted gray palette.

What contrast ratio do I need?

WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (18pt+). WCAG AAA requires 7:1 for normal text. Use darker shades (600+) for text on white backgrounds and lighter shades (100-300) for text on dark backgrounds.

Are the semantic colors fixed?

The tool generates accessible semantic colors (success, warning, error, info) tuned to pass WCAG AA on white. They are slightly adjusted based on your brand hue for visual harmony.

Can I use this with any CSS framework?

Yes. The CSS Variables export works with any framework. The Tailwind export is formatted for tailwind.config.js. You can also copy individual hex values from each swatch.

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