The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 21, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 07, 2001
David Morton, Redmond, WA (US);
Greg Lewis, Woodinville, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A method and system are provided for ensuring adequate contrast between colors used for graphical user interface elements. Pairs of colors for use in a given pair of graphical user interface elements are compared to determine whether a minimum required contrast exists between the colors. If a determination is made that the contrast between a given pair of colors is less than the minimum required contrast, one of the colors is designated as locked and the other color is designated as moveable. The moveable color is moved toward white or black to increase the relative brightness intensity and thereby increase the contrast between the moveable color and the locked color. Once the required minimum contrast is met or exceeded, the color pairing may be used for rendering a given graphical user interface element. After a color is designated as locked for a particular graphical user interface, that color for that interface remains locked when or if it is subsequently compared against a different graphical user interface element. After a color has been designated as moveable and has been moved to enhance contrast between two graphical user interface elements, that color for that graphical user interface element is locked from subsequent movement.