When should you use Form fields stand out from the page?
non-text-contrastfunctionalrecommended
A text box whose outline is a faint grey on white is invisible to people with low vision, who cannot find where to type; the border or fill that shows where a field is must reach a 3:1 contrast with what surrounds it.
When should you use this check?
Run this on pages with forms — sign-up, checkout, contact, search. A text box outlined in #e5e5e5 on white is a common design-system default and is close to invisible for people with low vision, who then cannot find where to type.
When should you not?
It examines the boundaries of text fields and selects only. Icons, charts, checkboxes, radio buttons and focus indicators also fall under WCAG 1.4.11 but are not decided here. A page with no form fields has nothing to check.
What does it inspect?
text boxes outlined in a faint grey; fields whose fill is barely different from the page; low-contrast underline-only inputs
What does a failure mean?
A failure names the field and its strongest boundary cue — a border side or its fill — measured against the colour behind the field, with the ratio. Below 3:1 the field's edge is hard to see. Fields over an image, gradient or translucent background, fields drawn only by a shadow, and fields with no visible boundary at all are listed for review rather than failed.
What are the Standard defaults — and why?
3:1 is the WCAG 1.4.11 minimum for the visual information that identifies a component, and it is fixed. The strongest available cue counts, so a faint border on a clearly tinted field passes.
How does an agent call it?
{ "type": "url", "validations": ["non-text-contrast"] }Who governs the Standard?
SchemaFirst.org publishes community-governed standards for digital QA. ArbiterQA is a supporter and commercial licensee of those standards; citation does not mean SchemaFirst operates ArbiterQA.
Author ArbiterQA · Reviewed by ArbiterQA · 2026-10-01
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