One question I sometimes get about the sites I work on here at OPLIN is: “Why can’t I change the font size or color of individual pieces of text?” Here’s why: because giving users those kinds of controls almost always creates way more problems than it solves.
OPLIN Webkits are designed to keep library websites consistent, accessible and professional. Allowing editors to freely change font sizes and colors works against all of those goals.
Font size has to mean something
On a well-structured website, larger text isn’t just decoration: It usually communicates hierarchy, which is especially critical for accessibility.
A page title is an <h1>. A section heading might be an <h2>. A subsection might use an <h3>. Regular content is a paragraph. That kind of structure helps people scan a page and understand how the information is organized. It also gives screen reader users meaningful navigation for the content.
If editors can simply make a paragraph 24 pixels tall because they want it to “stand out,” it may look like a heading without actually being one. That creates a visual hierarchy that doesn’t match the underlying page structure. It also tends to lead to the digital equivalent of a ransom note: 18-point text here, 22-point text there, something enormous and bold in the middle because it was deemed really important. In other words, an unprofessional-looking mess.
Color causes yet more trouble
Giving editors unrestricted text-color controls makes it amazingly easy to create inaccessible content.
Text needs sufficient contrast against its background. Under WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum), normal text generally needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, while large text needs at least 3:1. A color that looks perfectly readable to one person may be difficult or even totally impossible for someone with low vision or a color-vision deficiency to read.
And, once arbitrary colors are available, they tend to multiply like rabbits. Red for this announcement. Blue for that program. Purple because someone likes purple. Soon, the website no longer has a coherent look or feel, adding to an unprofessional aesthetic. And, probably nobody is checking whether every combination actually meets accessibility requirements.
We’re not trying to be mean
The goal here isn’t to prevent creativity. It’s to prevent every new page from requiring new design decisions. Without problematic font controls, site content editors can concentrate on the thing that actually matters: the content.