Design Systems Rodeo #4: True Colors with Andrew Somers
Episode 4: with guest Andrew Somers
May 1, 2024
Andrew created the APCA color contrast specification that will be introduced in WCAG3. In this interview, we talk about how Andrew became interested in the topic and why APCA compliance is necessary for accessibility.
Resources
Inclusive Reading Technologies Inc: https://readtech/ARC/
APCA calculator: https://apcacontrast.com
About Design Systems Rodeo
A new podcast where Kevin Muldoon and guests wrangle with the big common problems that design systems face. Every episode, they’ll hogtie a challenge, give it a good once over, and share the best techniques they’ve found to conquer them, from dealing with inconsistency to naming to white-label systems.
About the hosts
Kevin Muldoon
He/him; Design Technologist for Design Systems at Dow Jones
Kevin is a programmer, designer, writer, and speaker who specializes in Design Tokens and how they intersect with Games, Culture, and Language. He created the Genome Color Tool palette generator and Figma plugin as well as the Univers Color Palette and CTI+ token naming taxonomy.
LinkedIn | Twitter
Andrew Somers
Founder at Inclusive Reading Technologies Inc.
Andrew Somers has more than 35 years of professional media experience in the Hollywood film and television industry. As a recognized industry guru and technology evangelist, he’s worked design, color, imaging, typography, lighting, cinematography, visual effects, and immersed himself in practical applications of technology in the field, including through the transition from chemical images (film) to digital imaging.
Several years ago, Andrew’s eyesight became severely impaired due to early onset cataracts and related complications. Not to allow decades of color knowledge go to waste, he refocused his research toward visual accessibility, working as an invited expert with the World Wide Web Consortium and research lead with the Visual Contrast group, developing methods and guidelines for emerging standards such as WCAG 3.
His research led to the APCA contrast method, rapidly being adopted in design systems and modern color tools. Last year, he founded Inclusive Reading Technologies Inc., a nonprofit consortium focused on improving readability for all.