Colors

To align the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) brand with United States Web Design System for Federal Government, we have adopted a new color palette. The new palette is “flexible, yet distinctly American and designed to communicate warmth and trustworthiness while meeting the highest standards of Section 508 color contrast requirements.” When utilized consistently, the palette provides a cohesive look and feel across all OIT materials. This section provides guidance on which colors may be used to represent OIT.

Note: This palette is changing to be better aligned with the US Web Design System color palette. An updated OIT branding guide and VA Tier 1 Graphic Standard are in development to further define the default color palette.

Accessibility: Color cannot be the only way to express important concepts and to convey meaning. A large percent of the population experiences some form of vision impairment, including color blindness, so the textual content must be the primary mechanism. Additionally, color contrast (difference between the background and the foreground) must meet WCAG 2 AA requirements at a minimum. Level AA requires a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Large text is defined as 14 point (typically 18.66px) and bold or larger, or 18 point (typically 24px) or larger.