APCA

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APCA

APCA-W3 Current Functions & Abstractions

Ys SCREEN LUMINANCE abstraction

The estimated relative screen luminance, where Ys 1.0 relates to code value #ffffff The abstraction differs slightly from “standard” luminance Y in that it is intended to align with the SAPC standardized observer which is intended to better reflect modern devices and common use environments. BUT ALSO, to provide opportunities to add compensations for certain impairment issues, such as protanopia compensation.

Ys then is intended to be agnostic of the originating color space. For readability, only the achromatic luminance channel is of significant utility for determining contrast.

Functions

sRGBtoY(), displayP3toY(), adobeRGBtoY()
Values sent to these functions must be simple arrays of the RGB tuples [255,255,255]

    txtYs = sRGBtoY(<rgbArrayText>);
    bgYs  = sRGBtoY(<rgbArrayBackground>);

Note: both text and BG must be in the same color space and use the same ...toY() function

Lc CONTRAST of a color pair

Takes the estimated screen luminance of the text and the BG and generates a polarity sensitive perceptual “lightness contrast” value, L^c. The value is intended to be perceptually uniform relative to the minimum spatial frequency discernible at the given L^c value. That is, L^c is the contrast of high spatial frequency stimuli, and considering polarity, which is notably different than that of relatively large, detail-less patches of color such as described by Munsell value.

Additional color inputs for three way, 4-way and 5-way are possible. The base pair method being chosen right now for simplicity, at a modest expense of some accuracy, but weighted toward the “worst common case”.

It is conceivable that the three-way extension can and should be added as the proximal field is perhaps the most important additional input to the model.

Function

    contrastLc = APCAcontrast( txtYs, bgYs );

Where txtYs, bgYs are numbers derived from the ...toY() function

For the math used for the APCA contrast algorithm, see APCA-W3-LaTeX.md

FONT LUT for minimum font weight and size

Takes the Lc contrast, and returns an array of font sizes for weights 100 thru 900.

Function

    fontArray = fontLookupAPCA( contrastLc );

The first element in the array is the Lc value sent to the function, rounded to two places by default (but settable via the second parameter).

    [Lc,100,200,300,400,500,600,700,800,900]

Thus Lc 60 returns

    [60,72,48,42,24,21,18,16,16,18] 

Implementation notes

This follows the “Silver” basic lookup table. In development is a lookup table set that considers the use case of the text (probably sent as a parameter), and indicates maximum contrast limits, and also non-text recommendations.

REVERSE APCA to find a color @ Lc contrast

Takes the estimated screen luminance of the background (or text) and a target Lc value, and returns either a color or a target Ys value, or error (if the target contrast can not be met).

The basic version is reverseAPCA() which takes at a minimum a target contrast value, and returns an achromatic grey text color as hex (default background is #fff). Returns false on any error, including returns false if a suitable color can not be found.

Parameter defaults:
` reverseAPCA (contrast = 0, knownY = 1.0, knownType = ‘bg’, returnAs = ‘hex’) `

Function

    textColor = reverseAPCA( 60, bgYs );

Valid values:

contrast: 9 to 106 or -9 to -108 (values between -9 and 9 return false)
knownY: the Ys of the known color, can be any value 0.0 to 1.06
knownType: default is the background color (‘bg’ or ‘background’)
- if the known color is the text, then (‘txt’ or ‘text’) to determine the BG,
returnAs: default returns a CSS color as a hex string, (‘hex’)
- Alternately, (‘’ or ‘’) returns a simple array [colorB,colorB,colorB,1,retUse]
- And, (‘Y’ or ‘y’) returns the target Ys for the desired Lc contrast

Implementation notes

reverseAPCA() is intended as the simplest way to find a color of a given contrast, but does lack some automated features and returns false if a color that fits does not exist, and the color returned is always an achromatic grey.

A future version, inverseAPCA() adds more automation and better error handling, including returning white or black as a “best compromise” color, and also returning colors with chroma and hue added.

NON APCA COLOR UTILITIES

RGBA tuples abstraction

The Color Parsley library is used to convert any RGBA color value (as string, number, or object) to a simple array of RGBA tuples [255,255,255,1]

Function

    rgbArray = colorParsley(<CSScolor>);

Where CSScolor is any valid color string, or number, or object/array

RGBA text transparency

The alphaBlend helper function determines the resultant color of transparent text against a solid background.

Function

    rgbTextArray = alphaBlend(<rgbArrayTextWithAlpha>, <rgbArrayBackground>);

Where rgbArray is an array created by colorParsley()

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