- Success Criterion 1.4.5
- Conformance level AA
Image-of-Text Used With No Way for Users to Customize It
1.4.5 — Images of Text
Scenario
Setting
A bank's mobile money-transfer screen
What’s wrong
Customization defense misused: no mechanism actually exists for users to adapt the imaged text.
Example
Try this on a bank's mobile money-transfer screen: customization defense misused: no mechanism actually exists for users to adapt the imaged text.
Why it matters
Low-vision users who need scalable text, and people who customize fonts or colors. On a bank's mobile money-transfer screen, that means they miss information conveyed only by color.
How to test
Check whether any customization mechanism actually exists (font/color/spacing controls) for imaged text relying on the 'customizable' exception: if none exists, the exception doesn't apply and it fails.
How to fix
Real text must be used instead of an image of text (except logos or where the exact rendering is essential).
Outcome
With the fix in place on a bank's mobile money-transfer screen, they tell the information apart without relying on color.
Who is affected
Low-vision users who need scalable text, and people who customize fonts or colors.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Text-Heavy Content Rendered as an Image Instead of Real Text
- Page Heading or Banner Exported as an Image File
- Button or Navigation Label Rendered as an Image
- Marketing Text Baked Directly Into a Composite Image
- Restaurant Menu or Price List Uploaded as a Photo
- Screenshot of Text Used as the Page’s Primary Content