Andrew Somers

Biography and Professional Background

 

 

Andrew Somers Biography

Andrew Somers is Director of Research at Inclusive Reading Technologies, Inc., a California nonprofit dedicated to improving readability for all. He is the creator of the Accessible Perceptual Contrast Algorithm (APCA) and lead author of the APCA Readability Criterion (ARC), a next-generation framework for visual accessibility and readability on electronic displays.

The Science of Seeing

APCA addresses a fundamental problem in web accessibility: the existing method for measuring text contrast, adopted in 2008, produces systematic false passes and false fails because it does not account for how human vision actually processes contrast on self-illuminated displays. APCA is grounded in decades of peer-reviewed vision science — including color appearance models (CIECAM), contrast sensitivity functions (Barten, Campbell & Robson), and psychophysical readability research (Legge, Peli, Fairchild) — and translates that science into practical, testable guidelines for designers and developers.

The algorithm is the candidate contrast method under evaluation for W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0. It has been voluntarily adopted by organizations including Stack Overflow (which replaced WCAG 2 contrast with APCA as their standard), ServiceNow’s Horizon design system, and Schibsted Marketplaces. APCA is integrated into Chrome DevTools, implemented in the color.js library by Lea Verou and Chris Lilley (W3C Technical Director), and supported by over 20 third-party tools and Figma plugins. Independent reviews have been published by researchers at the University of Cambridge, KAIST (Korea), the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, and in Springer’s Communications in Computer and Information Science series.

From Hollywood to Accessibility

Andrew’s expertise in color and visual perception is not academic in origin — it is rooted in more than 35 years of hands-on professional experience in the Hollywood film and television industry. Beginning in broadcast engineering in the 1980s, he transitioned into television production, earning three Emmy awards, including two as supervising sound designer for the CBS series Beakman’s World.

As a technology evangelist during the film industry’s transition from chemical imaging to digital, Andrew became known as a problem-solver for complex technical challenges on major studio productions. His feature credits include visual effects and post-production work on The Matrix, TRON: Legacy, Terminator: Salvation, The Thin Red Line, Deep Impact, and Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast. He developed some of the earliest digital workflows for production use and was instrumental in evaluating and deploying emerging digital tools, including the Fairlight MFX2 digital audio system for FOX’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.

He is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

A Personal Stake

Several years ago, Andrew’s own eyesight became severely impaired due to early-onset cataracts and related complications. Rather than allow decades of color science knowledge to go to waste, he redirected his research toward visual accessibility — bringing the same rigorous, empirical approach he had applied to digital imaging in Hollywood to the problem of readability on screens.

As an Invited Expert at the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, he led the Visual Contrast subgroup of the Silver (WCAG 3) task force, where he developed APCA and its associated readability guidelines. His work is published in Smashing Magazine, UX Collective, and referenced across the accessibility, design, and color science communities.

The Readability Crisis

Andrew’s current mission extends beyond web standards. Research indicates that reading has declined significantly in the era of electronic media — by some measures, as much as 40%. He views this as both an accessibility crisis and a civic one: populations that do not read are populations vulnerable to manipulation. His work at Inclusive Reading Technologies is focused on ensuring that display technology serves readability rather than undermining it, through better contrast methods, better typography guidance, and better understanding of how human vision interacts with the screens we spend our lives looking at.