: Does a script tag really need a color defined? I went to achecker.ca to test my website for accessibility issues. While it found no actual problems, it found about 100 potential issues. One

@Shanna517

Observations: achecker.ca lists it as "potential problem" (instead of "known" or "likely"). They document this script check in achecker.ca/checker/suggestion.php?id=86. They seem to justify the problem with guideline 1.4.1 Use of Color from WCAG 2.0.

Let’s see:


You could only have a color-related accessibility problem with a script element if you display this script element, for example with the CSS script {display:block;}.
Assuming that you display the script element, you could only fail the WCAG 2.0 guideline 1.4.1 Use of Color if the script element’s color is used for a certain meaning¹ (instead of being pure decoration).
Assuming that you use the script element’s color for a certain meaning¹, you could only fail that guideline if you don’t provide an alternative² to the color (e.g., text).


A tool can’t possibly check for 2. (if the color has a meaning¹) and 3. (if you provide an alternative²), so it would have to be always a potential problem, and for all (visible) HTML elements (script is nothing special here).

tl;dr: Ignore it unless you display the script element.

¹ A meaning could be, for example, when refering to the script element’s content via its color: "See the JSON in red", "The blue text is authored by Alice", "Additions are green" and so on.

² An alternative could be, for example, when refering to the script element’s content via its color and a textual character, an underline, etc. in addition: "See the JSON in red (marked with a *)", "The bold blue text is authored by Alice", "Additions are underlined and green" and so on.

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