7:1 Color Contrast Ratio on Maps

[#1]

Hello everyone! 

I've been educating myself on the amount of contrast people might need to see and read things clearly, especially people with visual impairment, for my post "Web Accessibility: Good Contrast", and when investigating about the amount contrast on Maps I read some people wishing that Maps had higher contrast.

They were asking how it could be changed, apparently a big update around 2019 made the contrast lower than it used to be and it is not enough for people with some visual characteristics. Some people are even using a Google Chrome extension that does it.

Higher contrast would make it easier for everyone to read so I think I would enjoy a higher one too!

From the information I could gather, Google Maps has a 3:1 Color Contrast Ratio.

In this idea I'm asking for the contrast of colors in the Map to be higher. The best would be that each person could change the amount of contrast in the settings, going as high as a 7:1 Color Contrast Ratio, the recommended for people with 20/80 vision.

Thank you for reading! If you think it would be helpful please upvote so there are more chances of this idea being considered.

[iorikun301]

I know nothing about how to calculate contrast, and how high the contrast is needed for Maps readability. But I've found this article interesting: Exploring Color Google Maps .

[GaziSalauddinbd]

Hi, 

@Jesi 

I like your beautiful idea.

[Jesi]

Hi, @iorikun301 thank you for the comment and article! I just posted an Accessibility Uncovered post with my reseach: Web Accessibility: Good Contrast.

You might find it helpful! It even has the link to a tool to check the contrast between colors 🙂 

If you do think this idea is useful after reading more about this, please vote it!

[iorikun301]

You're welcome, @Jesi 

If you don't mind, could you please provide how Maps with 7:1 contrast would looks like? If any? Because I still couldn't understand it.

And was the Maps' 3:1 contrast is also happened in the dark mode?

According to this article (more detailed colorful map ), "...with a new color-mapping algorithmic technique, we’re (Google) able to take this imagery and translate it into an even more comprehensive, vibrant map of an area at global scale. Exploring a place gives you a look at its natural features—so you can easily distinguish tan, arid beaches and deserts from blue lakes, rivers, oceans and ravines."

Maybe there are reasons why the Maps' contrast is like what it is.

[Jesi]

@iorikun301 I'm sorry you couldn't understand what 7:1 would look like, but I'm sure that if you Googled it you could find some examples of 3:1 color contrast ratio vs 7:1 color contrast ratio to see the difference. If you need help looking for examples let me know though! Maybe the Color Contrast Ratio tool I linked on the related article would help you too.

I unfortunately can't put in the time to edit a screenshot of map with the color contrast ratio I mean at the moment, but I agree it would be nice to help people see how it could be like 🙂

As I mentioned Web Accessibility and Google Chrome extensions in the article, I'm mainly talking about the Desktop version here! Although it would be nice to also change the contrast of the light version of Maps on the app, I think.

As you might know, Google Maps on Desktop doesn't offer dark mode, or anything to help make this "good contrast", that is why some people need to use Chrome extensions and more tools to see it properly.

[Lou2022]

good idea.