Is #8A8260 accessible for body text on white?

#8A8260 has a contrast ratio of 3.86:1 against white, which is not sufficient for WCAG AA body text (4.5:1).

What is the complementary color of #8A8260?

The complement of #8A8260 is #60688A.

#8A8260 Shadow

rgb(138, 130, 96)

Color conversions

HEX: #8A8260
RGB: rgb(138, 130, 96)
RGBA: rgba(138, 130, 96, 1)
HSL: hsl(49, 18%, 46%)
HSV / HSB: hsv(49, 30%, 54%)
CMYK: cmyk(0%, 6%, 30%, 46%)

Wide-gamut spaces

XYZ: xyz(20.575, 22.214, 14.268)
LAB: lab(54.25 -2.59 19.54)
LCH: lch(54.25 19.71 97.56)
OKLAB: oklab(60.47% -0.0055 0.0491)
OKLCH: oklch(60.47% 0.0495 96.44)
Nearest name: Shadow

Shades, tints and tones

Shades

Tints

Tones

Color harmonies

Complementary

The hue directly opposite on the color wheel. Maximum contrast, ideal for a single accent against a dominant brand color.

Analogous

Neighbouring hues that share a temperature. The safest harmony for calm, cohesive interfaces.

Triadic

Three hues evenly spaced 120 degrees apart. Vibrant and balanced — use one as dominant and the other two sparingly.

Split Complementary

The complement split into two adjacent hues. Nearly the contrast of complementary with noticeably less tension.

Square (Tetradic)

Four hues at 90-degree intervals. A rich set for illustration, data visualisation, and category coding.

Rectangle (Tetradic)

Two complementary pairs offset by 60 degrees. Gives two warm and two cool options in one system.

Monochromatic

A single hue across five lightness levels. The foundation of most UI scales and the most accessible starting point.

Similar colors

Closest matches

Opacity variations

#8a82601a

#8a826033

#8a82604d

#8a826066

#8a826080

#8a826099

#8a8260b3

#8a8260cc

#8a8260e6

#8a8260ff

On white

3.86:1

Body text AA Large · Large text AA

On black

5.44:1

Body text AA · Large text AA

White-on-color contrast is 3.86:1.

Color blindness preview

Protanopia

No red cones — ~1% of men

Protanomaly

Reduced red sensitivity — ~1% of men

Deuteranopia

No green cones — ~1% of men

Deuteranomaly

Reduced green sensitivity — ~5% of men

Tritanopia

No blue cones — very rare

Tritanomaly

Reduced blue sensitivity — very rare

Achromatopsia

No color perception — ~1 in 30,000

Achromatomaly

Partial color perception — rare

Meaning, psychology and brand usage

Optimism that demands careful contrast handling

Yellow is the most luminous hue, which makes it excellent for highlights and terrible for text. Its very high relative luminance means yellow type on white almost never reaches WCAG AA — always pair it with a dark surface or use it as a fill behind dark text.

Sunshine, caution, and intellect in most markets. In parts of Latin America it carries mourning associations, and in Japan it historically signalled courage.

Yellow ochre sits alongside red as one of the earliest pigments. Chrome yellow, beloved by Van Gogh, was toxic and prone to browning — modern replacements are stable but chemically unrelated.

Best as an accent or brand signature rather than a UI primary. When used at scale, anchor it with near-black type and generous white space so it reads confident rather than cheap.

Common industries: Retail, Energy, Children's products, Delivery, Agriculture. Pairs well with near-black for legibility, deep violet for a modern contrast, white for airiness.

Code exports

CSS

:root {
  --color-shadow: #8a8260;
  --color-shadow-rgb: 138 130 96;
  --color-shadow-hsl: 49 18% 46%;
  --color-shadow-oklch: 60.47% 0.0495 96.44;
}

.element {
  color: #8a8260;
  background-color: hsl(49, 18%, 46%);
  border: 1px solid rgb(138 130 96 / 40%);
}

SCSS

$shadow: #8a8260;
$shadow-light: #c5c1b0;
$shadow-dark: #454130;

.element {
  color: $shadow;
  background: rgba($shadow, 0.12);

  &:hover {
    color: darken($shadow, 8%);
  }
}

LESS

@shadow: #8a8260;
@shadow-light: lighten(@shadow, 12%);
@shadow-dark: darken(@shadow, 12%);

.element {
  color: @shadow;
  background: fade(@shadow, 12%);
}

Tailwind CSS

/* Tailwind v4 — src/styles.css */
@theme {
  --color-shadow-50: #e8e6df;
  --color-shadow-100: #dcdacf;
  --color-shadow-200: #d0cdbf;
  --color-shadow-300: #b9b4a0;
  --color-shadow-400: #a19b80;
  --color-shadow-500: #8a8260;
  --color-shadow-600: #7c7556;
  --color-shadow-700: #615b43;
  --color-shadow-800: #454130;
  --color-shadow-900: #29271d;
}

/* Usage */
<div class="bg-shadow-500 text-shadow-50 ring-shadow-600" />

/* Arbitrary value, no config needed */
<div class="bg-[#8a8260]" />

Bootstrap

// Bootstrap 5 — _variables.scss (before importing bootstrap)
$shadow: #8a8260;
$primary: $shadow;

$theme-colors: map-merge($theme-colors, (
  "shadow": $shadow
));

// Generates .text-shadow, .bg-shadow, .btn-shadow
@import "bootstrap/scss/bootstrap";

Flutter

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

const Color shadow = Color(0xFF8A8260);

// As a MaterialColor swatch
const MaterialColor shadowSwatch = MaterialColor(0xFF8A8260, <int, Color>{
  50: Color(0xFFE8E6DF),
  100: Color(0xFFDCDACF),
  200: Color(0xFFD0CDBF),
  300: Color(0xFFB9B4A0),
  400: Color(0xFFA19B80),
  500: Color(0xFF8A8260),
  600: Color(0xFF7C7556),
  700: Color(0xFF615B43),
  800: Color(0xFF454130),
  900: Color(0xFF29271D),
});

Swift / SwiftUI

import SwiftUI

extension Color {
    /// #8a8260 — Shadow
    static let shadow = Color(
        red: 0.5412,
        green: 0.5098,
        blue: 0.3765
    )
}

// UIKit
extension UIColor {
    static let shadow = UIColor(
        red: 0.5412,
        green: 0.5098,
        blue: 0.3765,
        alpha: 1.0
    )
}

Android

<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<resources>
    <color name="shadow">#8A8260</color>
    <color name="shadow_translucent">#808A8260</color>
</resources>

<!-- Jetpack Compose -->
val Shadow = Color(0xFF8A8260)

JavaScript

export const SHADOW = {
  hex: "#8a8260",
  rgb: [138, 130, 96],
  hsl: [49, 18, 46],
  oklch: "oklch(60.47% 0.0495 96.44)",
};

JSON tokens

{
  "$schema": "https://design-tokens.org/schema.json",
  "shadow": {
    "$type": "color",
    "$value": "#8a8260",
    "$description": "Shadow — generated by ColorVerse AI"
  }
}