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Wired Glacier

#38eaf2
Notes

Wired Glacier (#38EAF2) is a true cyan with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (183°, 88%, 58%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#38eaf2
RGB
rgb(56, 234, 242)
HSL
hsl(183, 88%, 58%)
HWB
hwb(183 22% 5%)
OKLCH
oklch(85.6% 0.136 199.6)
HSV
hsv(183, 77%, 95%)
LAB
lab(85.04% -39.94 -16.40)
LCH
lch(85.04% 43.17 202.33)
CMYK
cmyk(77%, 3%, 0%, 5%)

Etymology

Wired
adjective

Old English wīr, wire — past-participle of wire. As a color modifier, wired implies a saturated-and-electrical-charged-and-active quality, the bright color of Tesla-coil-and-Van-de-Graaff high-voltage atmospheric-electrical emission. Sits at the bright-and-active end of the grid, parallel to charged and electrified in usage.

Glacier
noun

A compressed mass of ice that has accumulated over decades or centuries — Alpine, Andean, Patagonian, polar. The color refers to the exposed face of a clean glacier where compression has driven out the air: a soft, very pale blue-green with the optical clarity of dense ice. Lighter than aqua, cooler than seafoam, with the high-altitude weight of a landform now retreating across most of the planet.

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

Click any swatch to explore

Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#38eaf2
Original
#d8dff3
Protanopia
#bfccf3
Deuteranopia
#00f3ec
Tritanopia
#c5c5c5
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon White
1.48:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
14.22:1

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