1.4.8: Visual Presentation

What it means

For blocks of text, users should be able to customise presentation: foreground and background colours, width, line spacing, and justification. This AAA criterion supports user stylesheets and author controls.

Long reading pages benefit most from these options.

How to fix it

• Avoid locking text colours with !important rules that block user overrides.
• Keep line length around 80 characters or less where you control layout.
• Do not disable text spacing adjustments that users apply via browser settings.
• Offer a high-contrast or readable theme when feasible for long articles.

Quick examples

• Good: Help articles use comfortable line height and a max-width near 70 characters.
• Bad: Legal text spans the full 1920px screen with tiny centred lines.
• Good: A reading mode lets users switch to dark background and wider spacing.
• Bad: Custom CSS blocks all user font and colour preferences on blog posts.