Changes to multiple administration color schemes reduce the visibility of active/highlighted UI elements in WordPress 7.1 Beta 4

[mdridipu]

While testing WordPress 7.1 Beta 4, I noticed that several built-in Administration Color Schemes appear to use a dimmer color palette, making active and highlighted UI elements less visually prominent throughout the WordPress admin.

The following color schemes appear to be affected:

• Blue
• Coffee
• Ectoplasm
• Ocean
• Sunrise

As a result, it is more difficult to quickly identify the current menu item, selected state, and other highlighted interface elements.

Expected Result

Active and highlighted interface elements should remain clearly distinguishable with sufficient visual contrast across all built-in Administration Color Schemes.

Actual Result

The affected Administration Color Schemes use a dimmer color palette, making active and highlighted interface elements less visually prominent throughout the WordPress admin.

Screenshot URL: ​https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XgFcox0jlsVl-SGEgwGehKiyBMyXXQpC

[mdridipu]

screenshot

[sukhendu2002]

I tested this ticket on WordPress 7.1-beta4-62899-src and reproduced the reduced visibility in the Blue, Coffee, Ectoplasm, Ocean, and Sunrise Administration Color Schemes. The difference is most noticeable in Coffee and Ectoplasm. Ectoplasm matches the ticket screenshot: the menu uses #4a3369, while the active item uses #646c3e.

| Scheme | Current menu / active colors | Contrast change |
| Blue | #245278 / #437aa8 | 2.57:1 → 1.80:1 |
| Coffee | #5c4c40 / #916745 | 3.35:1 → 1.65:1 |
| Ectoplasm | #4a3369 / #646c3e | 4.11:1 → 1.91:1 |
| Ocean | #39535a / #567958 | 1.65:1 → 1.67:1 |
| Sunrise | #8a312d / #ad631e | 1.56:1 → 1.79:1 |

All five schemes currently have less than 2:1 contrast between the normal and active menu backgrounds. Contrast dropped significantly for Blue, Coffee, and Ectoplasm; Ocean and Sunrise were already below 2:1.

The change came from [62454], which darkened these colors so white text in the editor chrome and primary buttons would meet WCAG AA. A direct revert could restore menu visibility but reintroduce those text-contrast problems. In my view, the better approach is to keep the current editor colors and define stronger menu-state colors using the existing $menu-highlight-background, $menu-highlight-text, and $menu-highlight-icon variables.

[mdridipu]

I tested all five updated admin color schemes over the past few days.

Overall, I think the new unified accent color approach works well. The updated button, selection, and highlight colors feel consistent across the affected color schemes, and I didn't notice any usability issues in Blue, Coffee, Ocean, or Sunrise.

The only scheme that stood out during testing was Ectoplasm. Its current highlight color feels noticeably more muted than the others, making the active menu state less distinguishable.

Based on my testing, I believe adjusting only the Ectoplasm highlight color would address the issue while preserving the new unified color system introduced in this update.

[mdridipu]

Proposed update #6D911D

…st Ticket #65764

Ticket #65764

## Summary

This PR adjusts the highlight color used by the Ectoplasm administration color scheme to improve the visibility of active and highlighted interface elements while preserving the new unified accent color approach introduced in WordPress 7.1.

## Testing

I tested all five updated administration color schemes over the past few days.

• Blue
• Coffee
• Ocean
• Sunrise

These schemes appeared visually consistent with the new design system and did not require any further adjustments.

During testing, Ectoplasm was the only color scheme where the highlight color appeared noticeably more muted, making the active menu state less distinguishable than the other updated schemes.

This change increases the visibility of the active state while maintaining the overall appearance and behavior of the new color system.

## Before / After

Screenshots comparing:

• WordPress 7.0.2 and WordPress 7.1 Beta https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/65764/7.1-beta4.png

• Proposed update https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/65764/Proposed%20update%20%236D911D.png

are attached for reference.

Trac ticket:

## Use of AI Tools

[sabernhardt]

In Ectoplasm, the #646c3e dark olive green is quite dull compared to the #a3b745 yellow-green the color palette had in previous releases. Something like #608010 would be a little brighter than #646c3e and still have a contrast of 4.57:1 with the white text, above the 4.5 threshold. Against the #4a3369 purple background for the other top-level menu links, the #608010 green would have a ratio of 2.33:1.

Color	Contrast with white text	Where/when
#646c3e	5.59:1	current (7.1)
#a3b745	2.23:1	previous (7.0)
#6d911d	3.67:1	PR 12814
#608010	4.57:1	my suggestion

Note that I did not get that color from ​buildBgRamp(), which "cannot reproduce arbitrary colors."

Any color would need to be updated in both colors.scss and general-template.php.

[mdridipu]

Thanks for the detailed review and the accessibility analysis, @sabernhardt !

I've updated the PR based on your suggestion by using #608010 for the Ectoplasm highlight color. I also updated general-template.php so the administration color scheme preview matches the updated highlight color.

I appreciate your feedback and guidance!

[fushar]

Thank you, I agree that the newly proposed Ectoplasm's highlight color looks better. If we want to go ahead with this, we also need to merge this Gutenberg PR that I just created ​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/81127 and ship it along with 7.1.

Thanks for the PR.

It seems the button colors differ between this PR and ​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/81127. Probably we should standardize the primary color as well, not just the highlight color? cc @fushar

### This PR

#646c3e

### Gutenberg PR: ​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/81127

#608010

Thanks for testing. This should be fixed in ​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/81127#issuecomment-5178956824. You need to run both the GB and Core PRs (in the same installation) to test the update. Could you check again?

[wildworks]

​PR 12814 and ​Gutenberg PR 81127 appear to be ready for shipping from my end. I will process them to make it in time for tomorrow's 7.1 RC1, but I welcome any further feedback.

[wildworks]

Based on ​this comment, it seems better to decide on the upstream color first.

[joedolson]

@mdridipu FYI, changing this from a bug to an enhancement makes it ineligible for commit during 7.1.

If we agree that this is really an enhancement - and I think that's fair, then I'm going to bump this to 7.2.

[mdridipu]

Thanks for the update, @joedolson! I understand the reasoning. I'm happy to continue testing and make any further updates needed for the 7.2 cycle.

[joedolson]

Thanks! In that case, I'm going to punt this to 7.2 to be reassessed. Thank you!