Checkbox ticks in READMEs are barely visible on IOS

[Insprill]

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Bug

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On IOS, the tick in checkboxes is barely visible, making it hard to tell if its checked or not.

In this screenshot from a project's readme, the top two boxes are ticked, and the bottom two are not.

ℹ️ Additional Debug Info

GitHub for iOS, Version 1.111.1 (98645245) Device: iPhone 8 Plus (iOS 16.4.1)

[aconsuegra]

Hi @Insprill, thanks for getting in touch, and I'm sorry about the late reply. I'm going to need some help to reproduce the issue that you are reporting because I see checkboxes using slightly different colors:

This is how checkboxes look for me in an issue body:

Do you have a link to the project's readme (if public) of the screenshot that you included in your comment? Thanks

[Insprill]

https://github.com/jpochyla/psst
The checkboxes are about halfway down the readme.

I just double checked an issue and a PR, and the checkboxes do render properly there, so it looks to only be an issue in readme's.

[aconsuegra]

Thanks for confirming!

[Jay-o-Way]

It's weird how on some pages (including issues and prs) they're blue and sometimes they're gray. Could it possibly be related to the repository? Also noticed that the same (blue or gray) color is visible in the Chrome browser.
I'm using Android 13.

[aconsuegra]

This seems to be a bug affecting github.com and the mobile apps. We'll investigate further. Thanks!

[cehfisher]

Hi @Insprill - this issue should be resolved as reported in this comment tracking a similar issue. Could you re-test this out on your end? Thanks!

[Insprill]

The issue is still present. Screenshot taken from the psst repo I linked above. GitHub Mobile Version 1.195.0 (153853213), IOS v16.7.10.

[cehfisher]

Thank you @Insprill for the additional context and screenshot! Would you mind if I moved your issue over to the Accessibility category, so we can track this better?

[Insprill]

Go for it, I'd just like to see this solved :)

[cehfisher]

Just a quick follow-up @Insprill - the accessibility team was able to replicate your reported checkbox issue on iOS and the mobile team is looking into implementing a fix for it. We will follow-up here with any additional questions or updates. Thanks again!

[Bound3R]

Just a quick follow-up @Insprill - the accessibility team was able to replicate your reported checkbox issue on iOS and the mobile team is looking into implementing a fix for it. We will follow-up here with any additional questions or updates. Thanks again!

Hi! 👋

Just wanted to note that I’ve been looking into existing issues related to this to avoid duplication—I’m currently running into the same problem on desktop, and I suspect it’s all connected.

I also had some trouble 👀 rendering checkmarks in a .md file recently.

If there are updates or if I can assist with testing/debugging, please tag me! Appreciate your hard work here! 🙌

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[cehfisher]

Hi @Insprill — the accessibility mobile engineers investigated this issue, and while working on a fix, they noticed that Apple released updates that improved contrast for native mobile components. After testing in iOS 18.4 (WKWebView), they found this issue is no longer reproducible.

Possible reasons include:

• Updates to the default user agent stylesheet in WebKit that improved checkbox rendering
• System-level enhancements to contrast handling in iOS

Would you mind updating to the latest iOS version and testing again? Thanks so much!

[Insprill]

I have an iPhone 8 so I cannot update past iOS 16.

[cehfisher]

Thanks for the additional info @Insprill. I’ll share this with the team and get back to you. I know we have some limitations around supported web browsers, but I’m not sure about devices. Thank you for your continued patience!

[WalkQuackBack]

I have an iPhone 8 so I cannot update past iOS 16.

Can repro on an iPhone 8 Plus on the latest version of iOS 16 available, 16.7.11

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[Jagadeeshwaran-J]

On iOS, the checkbox styling in GitHub’s markdown renderer uses a very faint system checkmark, which makes the “checked” state nearly indistinguishable from “unchecked,” so the issue is primarily a visibility/contrast bug in the UI.

[Insprill]

Yup, this is still an issue with v1.222.0 (170680083) on iOS v16.7.11. I'm not sure why this has the question label since it's a clear and reproducible bug/accessibility issue.

Here's a new screenshot I just took. The last two checkboxes are not ticked, and they're almost indiscernible from the others, which are ticked, especially on a phone screen.

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[Insprill]

Still an issue with GitHub Mobile Version 1.230.0 (175443615) on iOS 16.7.12.

[bsgautam]

Select Topic Area

Bug

Body

On IOS, the tick in checkboxes is barely visible, making it hard to tell if its checked or not.

In this screenshot from a project's readme, the top two boxes are ticked, and the bottom two are not.

ℹ️ Additional Debug Info
GitHub for iOS, Version 1.111.1 (98645245) Device: iPhone 8 Plus (iOS 16.4.1)

Thanks for pointing this out! 🙌
I also noticed the same issue on iOS — the tick mark in the checkboxes is very faint and almost invisible, especially when using dark mode or on devices with lower brightness.

It seems like a contrast or rendering issue specific to iOS, since on Android and desktop browsers, the tick appears normally.

Maybe increasing the checkmark’s opacity, color contrast, or using a custom SVG icon could solve this.

Would be great if this could be looked into, as it affects visibility and accessibility for users on iPhones/iPads.