Ensuring WCAG Compliance with CSS Custom Properties in a Dynamic Dashboard
I'm working on a project and hit a roadblock. I tried several approaches but none seem to work..... Currently developing a data visualization dashboard aimed at users with varying accessibility needs. A key focus is ensuring our CSS adheres to WCAG standards, especially concerning color contrast and responsive text sizes. Using custom properties (CSS variables) for theming allows flexibility, but I’m struggling to manage accessibility while keeping performance in mind. In my codebase, I have a color palette defined like this: ```css :root { --primary-bg: #ffffff; --primary-text: #000000; --secondary-bg: #f0f0f0; --secondary-text: #333333; } ``` I’ve set the text colors dynamically based on user preferences, but it seems that changing these properties doesn’t always take effect across all components, leading to unexpected contrast ratios. For example, in one component, I’ve implemented a simple theme switcher: ```javascript const toggleTheme = () => { document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--primary-bg', '#000000'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--primary-text', '#ffffff'); }; ``` While this works, I noticed that when switching themes, some components retain their previous styles due to specificity issues. To address this, I've tried forcing a re-render of components using a state management library (Redux), but performance profiling showed a significant lag and flickering. Also, I’m curious about how to ensure that the font sizes scale appropriately based on user settings, particularly for screen readers and visually impaired users. I’ve set base sizes in `rem` units, but this gets tricky when paired with media queries: ```css @media (max-width: 600px) { :root { --font-size: 1.2rem; } } ``` The adjustments seem effective, yet I worry that those using older browsers might not receive the updates correctly. Has anyone faced similar challenges with dynamic theming and CSS custom properties while ensuring both accessibility compliance and optimal performance? Any insights or examples would be greatly appreciated. Any ideas what could be causing this? My development environment is Linux. Any pointers in the right direction? What's the correct way to implement this?