colortunable

Colortunable is a concept and, in some software ecosystems, a library or tool that enables dynamic, user-adjustable color schemes within applications. The central idea is to expose color parameters—such as hue, saturation, lightness, and alpha—as tunable controls that can be adjusted in real time to generate coherent palettes for user interfaces and branding.

Colortunable aims to support theming, accessibility, and rapid design iteration by providing a standardized method to derive color variants from a base color. It typically supports multiple color spaces (for example RGB, HSL, and Lab) and can interoperate with design systems, style dictionaries, or CSS variables to propagate changes across components.

Common features include live color editing through sliders or inputs, preset palettes, constraints to maintain brand rules, automatic contrast checks against WCAG guidelines, and serialization of color configurations into formats such as JSON or CSS custom properties. Some implementations offer color blind simulations or perceptual adjustments to maintain legibility.

Colortunable implementations appear in various programming environments, most frequently in JavaScript tooling for web interfaces, but the concept has analogues in design tools and native app development. The term is used descriptively as well as as a product name in some projects.

Limitations include the need to manage consistency across devices and platforms, potential performance considerations when many components react to color changes, and the importance of aligning tunable colors with accessibility and branding standards.

See also: color space, theming, accessibility in design, CSS variables.