Understanding WCAG 2.0 - criteria 1.4.8

Question

I'm having trouble understanding the WCAG 2.0 criteria 1.4.8.

From what I understand it basically says that if I have for example a <div> that I define both background and text color in, I will have to either:

• Provide a color picker tool for that div so that the user can change those colors
• "G156: Using a technology that has commonly-available user agents that can change the foreground and background of blocks of text"

Providing a color picker sounds pretty far fetched, so I'm placing my hopes on "G156". Does a regular web browser (ie,firefox,opera etc.) qualify as such an user agent?

Another confusing part is the "common failure" where it says "F24: Failure of Success Criterion 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8 due to specifying foreground colors without specifying background colors or vice versa", which I sort of interpret as "as long as you specify both background and text color for that div, your safe".

Any thoughts on how to interpret this WCAG criteria?

Answer 1

Does a regular web browser (ie,firefox,opera etc.) qualify as such an user agent?

According to http://www.w3.org/TR/2010/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20101014/G156, it seems so. It says:

Tests

Procedure

• Open the Web page in a browser that allows users to change colors of HTML content.

• Change the foreground and background colors in the browser settings so they are different than those specified in the content.

• Return to the page and check that that the new specified foreground text and background colors in the browser override the colors specified in the content.

Expected Results

• Check #3 is true.

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"as long as you specify both background and text color for that div, you're safe"

I think so. It means don't just assume the background is white, because if you don't explicitly specify it, it might not be.