Color

Major findings were: Colours with greater contrast ratio generally lead to greater readability; colour combination did not significantly affect retention; (c) preferred colours (i.e., blues and chromatic colours) led to higher ratings of aesthetic quality and intention to purchase (Source: Hall, 2004)

People with low vision often have difficulty reading text that does not contrast with its background. This can be exacerbated if the person has a color vision deficiency that lowers the contrast even further. Providing a minimum luminance contrast ratio between the text and its background can make the text more readable even if the person does not see the full range of colors. It also works for the rare individuals who see no color. (Source: WCAG 2.1)

Evidence and further readings

Here you can find a list of references to dive deeper on the subject.

• Richard H Hall & Patrick Hanna (2004) The impact of web page text-background colour combinations on readability, retention, aesthetics and behavioural intention, Behaviour & Information Technology, 23:3, 183-195
• Contrast (Minimum) | WAI | W3C