The perceivability of user interface elements of a graphical user interface can be defined as a selection along a range. At one end of the range, a combination of settings for the graphical user interface allows for a highly-detailed user interface; at another end of the range, a combination of settings provides a graphical user interface having the highest perceivability. The high perceivability may include high contrast, but also may provide other user interface settings to address accessibility issues for an end user. The combination of settings can include attributes affecting the background, transparency, borders and text legibility. The selected combination of settings either sets, overrides or limits values for these attributes of user interface elements during rendering.