Does this not limit the design?

It removes options, yes: essentially very light greys and thin typefaces at small sizes. In exchange it removes the argument later on, which is where weeks actually disappear. Nobody ends up without a brand because they could not use grey at twenty per cent.

And our current brand, which is already approved?

It gets measured and we tell you which pairs fail. It is nearly always solved with a digital-use variant: the corporate colour stays as it is for print, and a neighbouring shade, slightly darker, is defined for text on screen. It is an adjustment, not a new brand.

How do we check it ourselves without being technical?

With a free contrast checker and the two colour codes: paste them in and out comes a number with a pass or a fail. We leave the list of already validated pairs in the guidelines, so that when somebody proposes a new colour you know within a minute whether it qualifies.

BRAND WebCoding · Edinburgh

Branding and content in Edinburgh

We build identity and a content system. With one check made before anything is approved, and it saves months: if a pair of colours does not reach the minimum contrast, it does not go into the palette.

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Branding and Content en Edinburgh

How we work in Edinburgh

The same technical standard and process we apply to projects of any size. What changes is the knowledge of the local market.

Two members of the WebCoding team organising ideas with sticky notes on the glass wall

The palette is measured before it is approved

Every combination of text colour over background colour is checked against the 4.5:1 minimum, and 3:1 at large sizes. The ones that fall short are adjusted while the brand can still move. Approving a palette without measuring it turns every screen afterwards into an exception somebody will have to justify.

Light grey on white

Secondary text in very light grey looks elegant on a calibrated studio screen and vanishes on a phone in the middle of the street. When we tell you that grey does not pass, it is not one design opinion against another: it is a number you can check for yourselves in thirty seconds.

The focus colour is part of the brand too

The outline showing where the keyboard is will appear on every button and every field, which makes it as much an identity element as the logo. If it is not designed, one of two things happens: the browser default stays and rarely fits, or somebody removes it. Our rules forbid removing it without a visible replacement.

Alt text is copywriting, not a technical field

Somebody has to write what can be seen in each photo, and that has tone, length and judgement, exactly like a headline. The guidelines carry real examples of yours: what to write for a product shot, what for a team portrait, and when to leave it empty because the image is purely decorative.

Answering your questions