Goal
Make long-form text easier to read and customize for individual needs.
Success Criterion · WCAG 1.4.8
Visual Presentation
For the visual presentation of blocks of text, a mechanism is available to achieve specific formatting including foreground and background colors, width, alignment, line spacing, and text spacing.
Level AAAWCAG 2.0Perceivable1.4 · Distinguishable
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What to do
Support user control over presentation: colors, width, line/paragraph spacing, and avoid fully-justified text.
Why it matters
People with low vision, dyslexia, and some cognitive disabilities often need specific typography and layout settings for readability.
Success criterion
What WCAG 1.4.8 requires
Summarized directly from the official Understanding document so teams can quote the requirement accurately.
For the visual presentation of blocks of text, a mechanism is available to achieve the following: (1) Foreground and background colors can be selected by the user. (2) Width is no more than 80 characters or glyphs (40 if CJK). (3) Text is not justified. (4) Line spacing is at least space-and-a-half within paragraphs, and paragraph spacing is at least 1.5 times the line spacing. (5) Text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent in a way that does not require the user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text on a full-screen window.
Intent
Why WCAG created this requirement
- Reading comfort varies; some users require specific typography and spacing to read effectively.
- Very long line lengths and justified text can reduce readability and comprehension.
- Adequate spacing improves legibility for many users, including those with dyslexia.
Benefits
Who gains when you pass
- Users with dyslexia can increase spacing and reduce line length to improve tracking.
- Low vision users can pick higher-contrast color combinations and comfortable text sizes.
- Users with cognitive disabilities benefit from layouts that reduce visual crowding.
- Users with migraines or light sensitivity can choose comfortable foreground/background colors.
Why it matters
User impact when this criterion fails
Summaries drawn from the Understanding document help you socialize impact statements with product stakeholders.
Users may struggle to track lines of text in very wide layouts.
Justified text can introduce uneven spacing (“rivers”) that harms readability.
Tight line/paragraph spacing can make blocks of text feel crowded and hard to parse.
Lack of color control can make text uncomfortable or unreadable for some users.
Overview
This AAA criterion targets readability of blocks of text by allowing users to adjust key presentation factors. Users should be able to choose colors, avoid overly wide lines, avoid full justification, and ensure adequate spacing. It also reinforces that zooming/resizing should not force horizontal scrolling for each line of text.
- Provide a “reading view” or settings panel for long-form content (articles, documentation).
- Target ~45–80 characters per line for readability (use max-width in ch units).
- Avoid full justification for large blocks of text; prefer left-aligned text.
- Allow sufficient line height and paragraph spacing; don’t lock spacing in ways users can’t override.
- Ensure zoom/resizing doesn’t require horizontal scrolling for each line (see also 1.4.10).
Reference: All summaries and highlights originate from Understanding WCAG 1.4.8 and the W3C quick reference.
Fast facts
- Conformance level
- Level AAA
- WCAG version introduced
- WCAG 2.0
- Principle
- Perceivable
- Guideline
- 1.4 · Distinguishable
Examples
Make success tangible for teams
Share pass/fail snapshots to coach designers, engineers, QA, and content authors.
Article page
Pass
Article has a reading mode that limits width to ~65ch, uses left alignment, and offers theme + spacing controls.
Fail
Article spans full screen width with justified text and fixed tight line spacing.
User color control
Pass
User can switch between multiple foreground/background themes, including high-contrast.
Fail
Foreground/background colors are locked with no alternate styles or settings.
Spacing
Pass
Line-height is 1.6 and paragraphs have comfortable spacing; user can increase spacing further.
Fail
Line-height is 1.1 and paragraphs have no spacing, creating dense text blocks.
Evidence to keep
Document conformance decisions
Capture artifacts for VPATs, procurement reviews, and regression testing.
- Document reading mode features and how users can activate them.
- Record the typography defaults and the allowable user overrides.
- Capture screenshots of reading settings panel and example content.
Official resources
Deep dives and supporting material
Keep these links handy when writing acceptance criteria or responding to audits.
Understanding 1.4.8
Official W3C interpretation, techniques, and intent for Visual Presentation.
Quick Reference 1.4.8
Filterable list of sufficient techniques and failures.
Technique C20
Using relative measurements to set column widths so text can reflow.
Technique G204
Providing a mechanism to change the foreground/background colors.
Implementation checklist
Capture progress and blockers
- Identify pages with substantial blocks of text (articles, documentation, legal pages).
- Implement a reading settings UI or provide alternate stylesheet options (theme toggles, reading mode).
- Constrain line length using `max-width: 80ch` (or less) for content columns.
- Avoid fully-justified alignment for body text.
- Use accessible defaults: line-height ~1.5 and comfortable paragraph spacing.
- Ensure users can override colors (support dark mode and theme variants).
- Verify text resizing to 200% doesn’t introduce horizontal scrolling for each line in full-screen view.
Testing ideas
Prove conformance with evidence
- Verify a mechanism exists to adjust text presentation (or an alternate view).
- Check line length stays within 80 characters (40 for CJK) in the configured view.
- Confirm text is not fully justified in the configured view.
- Verify line and paragraph spacing meet the stated minimums.
- Test 200% text resizing and confirm no horizontal scrolling is needed per line.
- Confirm foreground/background colors can be adjusted by the user (via settings or user stylesheet).
Related success criteria
More from Distinguishable (1.4)
WCAG 1.4.1Use of ColorLevel AWCAG 1.4.2Audio ControlLevel AWCAG 1.4.3Contrast (Minimum)Level AAWCAG 1.4.4Resize TextLevel AAWCAG 1.4.5Images of TextLevel AAWCAG 1.4.6Contrast (Enhanced)Level AAAWCAG 1.4.7Low or No Background AudioLevel AAAWCAG 1.4.9Images of Text (No Exception)Level AAAWCAG 1.4.10ReflowLevel AAWCAG 1.4.11Non-text ContrastLevel AAWCAG 1.4.12Text SpacingLevel AAWCAG 1.4.13Content on Hover or FocusLevel AA