There is a misconception that making a site accessible limits your creativity. That you have to use ugly high-contrast colors and giant fonts. The reality is that constraints breed creativity.
The Contrast Ratio as a Grid
Think of the 4.5:1 contrast ratio requirement not as a rule, but as a grid system for color. Just as a 12-column grid gives structure to layout, contrast ratios give structure to hierarchy.
The "Dim" Trend
One valid criticism of modern "dark mode" sites is the use of faint grey text on black backgrounds. It looks cool, but it causes eye strain. The best dark modes (like Linear, Vercel, or GitHub) actually use fairly high brightness text (zinc-200 or zinc-300) against dark backgrounds.
Tools to Use
Don't wait until the end to check contrast. Build it into your palette generation process. Tools like our own Contrast Dashboard (coming soon) or the Chrome DevTools inspector are essential.