All checks

Supporting text steps back

Visual communication · essential check · measured from the page’s layout and styles · C006.1

Captions, hints and footnotes should look quieter than the text they support: smaller, lighter or muted.

When it fails

Supporting text doesn’t look quieter than what it supports: a supporting item looks stronger, or at least three have no hierarchy cue

Warns when

One or two supporting items have no clear hierarchy cue

Passes when

Supporting text has a quieter cue and no stronger visual cue

How to fix it

Make supporting text at least one step quieter than its primary text: about 0.9× the size, 100 lighter in weight, or a muted colour that still meets 4.5:1 contrast. Never make it larger or bolder than what it supports.

Its threshold is a starting value that we still calibrate against real pages.