diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-audit.browser.js b/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-audit.browser.js
index ab52ba9f8..3c48e2ef5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-audit.browser.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-audit.browser.js
@@ -154,35 +154,61 @@ window.__contrastAudit = async function (imgBase64, time) {
     var fg = parseColor(cs.color);
     if (fg[3] <= 0.01) continue;
 
-    // Sample 4px ring outside bbox for background color
-    var rr = [],
-      gg = [],
-      bb = [];
-    var x0 = Math.max(0, Math.floor(rect.x) - 4);
-    var x1 = Math.min(w - 1, Math.ceil(rect.x + rect.width) + 4);
-    var y0 = Math.max(0, Math.floor(rect.y) - 4);
-    var y1 = Math.min(h - 1, Math.ceil(rect.y + rect.height) + 4);
-    var sample = function (sx, sy) {
-      if (sx < 0 || sx >= w || sy < 0 || sy >= h) return;
-      var idx = (sy * w + sx) * 4;
-      rr.push(px[idx]);
-      gg.push(px[idx + 1]);
-      bb.push(px[idx + 2]);
-    };
-    for (var x = x0; x <= x1; x++) {
-      sample(x, y0);
-      sample(x, y1);
-    }
-    for (var y = y0; y <= y1; y++) {
-      sample(x0, y);
-      sample(x1, y);
+    // Prefer an opaque own/ancestor background-color over the pixel ring. A
+    // caption/CTA that paints its OWN solid background (a pill, a button, a
+    // card) composites its text over THAT color, not over whatever surrounds
+    // the box. Sampling the ring there measured the text against the scene
+    // behind the element (often a dark photo) and reported false ~1:1 warnings
+    // for perfectly readable CTAs. Walk up until a fully-opaque background-color
+    // is found; stop and defer to the ring on the first background-image (text
+    // over real pixels). Keep this in sync with commands/contrast-bg.ts.
+    var ownBg = null;
+    for (var bn = el; bn && bn !== document.body; bn = bn.parentElement) {
+      var bcs = getComputedStyle(bn);
+      if (bcs.backgroundImage && bcs.backgroundImage !== "none") break;
+      var bc = parseColor(bcs.backgroundColor);
+      if (bc[3] >= 0.999) {
+        ownBg = [bc[0], bc[1], bc[2]];
+        break;
+      }
     }
 
-    if (rr.length === 0) continue;
+    var bgR, bgG, bgB;
+    if (ownBg) {
+      bgR = ownBg[0];
+      bgG = ownBg[1];
+      bgB = ownBg[2];
+    } else {
+      // Sample 4px ring outside bbox for background color
+      var rr = [],
+        gg = [],
+        bb = [];
+      var x0 = Math.max(0, Math.floor(rect.x) - 4);
+      var x1 = Math.min(w - 1, Math.ceil(rect.x + rect.width) + 4);
+      var y0 = Math.max(0, Math.floor(rect.y) - 4);
+      var y1 = Math.min(h - 1, Math.ceil(rect.y + rect.height) + 4);
+      var sample = function (sx, sy) {
+        if (sx < 0 || sx >= w || sy < 0 || sy >= h) return;
+        var idx = (sy * w + sx) * 4;
+        rr.push(px[idx]);
+        gg.push(px[idx + 1]);
+        bb.push(px[idx + 2]);
+      };
+      for (var x = x0; x <= x1; x++) {
+        sample(x, y0);
+        sample(x, y1);
+      }
+      for (var y = y0; y <= y1; y++) {
+        sample(x0, y);
+        sample(x1, y);
+      }
 
-    var bgR = median(rr),
-      bgG = median(gg),
+      if (rr.length === 0) continue;
+
+      bgR = median(rr);
+      bgG = median(gg);
       bgB = median(bb);
+    }
 
     // Composite foreground alpha over measured background
     var compR = Math.round(fg[0] * fg[3] + bgR * (1 - fg[3]));
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-bg.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-bg.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8a58b3079
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-bg.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { parseColorRGBA, pickOpaqueBackground } from "./contrast-bg.js";
+
+const opaque = (bg: string) => ({ backgroundColor: bg, backgroundImage: "none" });
+
+describe("parseColorRGBA", () => {
+  it("parses rgb() with default opaque alpha", () => {
+    expect(parseColorRGBA("rgb(12, 34, 56)")).toEqual([12, 34, 56, 1]);
+  });
+  it("parses rgba() alpha", () => {
+    expect(parseColorRGBA("rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)")).toEqual([0, 0, 0, 0]);
+  });
+  it("returns null for non-rgb strings", () => {
+    expect(parseColorRGBA("transparent")).toBeNull();
+    expect(parseColorRGBA("")).toBeNull();
+    expect(parseColorRGBA(null)).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
+
+describe("pickOpaqueBackground", () => {
+  it("returns the element's own opaque background-color", () => {
+    // The core bug: a caption/CTA with its own solid pill background. Its text
+    // is readable against that pill; the ring outside the box is irrelevant.
+    expect(pickOpaqueBackground([opaque("rgb(255, 255, 255)")])).toEqual([255, 255, 255]);
+  });
+
+  it("walks up to an opaque ancestor when the element itself is transparent", () => {
+    const chain = [
+      opaque("rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)"), // element: transparent
+      opaque("rgb(20, 20, 20)"), // container: solid dark card behind the text
+    ];
+    expect(pickOpaqueBackground(chain)).toEqual([20, 20, 20]);
+  });
+
+  it("defers to the ring (null) when a background-image is hit first", () => {
+    // Text over a real photo — the pixel ring is the right proxy, not a color.
+    const chain = [
+      opaque("rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)"),
+      { backgroundColor: "rgb(20, 20, 20)", backgroundImage: 'url("photo.jpg")' },
+    ];
+    expect(pickOpaqueBackground(chain)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("skips a semi-transparent background-color and keeps walking", () => {
+    const chain = [
+      opaque("rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4)"), // blends with below — not a reliable bg
+      opaque("rgb(10, 10, 10)"),
+    ];
+    expect(pickOpaqueBackground(chain)).toEqual([10, 10, 10]);
+  });
+
+  it("returns null when nothing opaque exists (text truly over the scene)", () => {
+    expect(pickOpaqueBackground([opaque("rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)")])).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-bg.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-bg.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5aef85f7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/contrast-bg.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Pure background-resolution logic for the WCAG contrast audit.
+//
+// The browser-side audit (contrast-audit.browser.js) samples a pixel ring just
+// OUTSIDE an element's bounding box to estimate the background the text sits on.
+// That is wrong for any element that paints its OWN opaque background (a caption
+// pill, a CTA button, a solid card): the text is composited over that solid
+// color, not over whatever surrounds the box. Sampling the ring there measures
+// the text against the scene behind the element (often a dark photo) and reports
+// a false ~1:1 ratio, flagging perfectly readable CTAs.
+//
+// This module hosts the pure decision so it can be unit-tested without a browser.
+// The same logic is inlined into contrast-audit.browser.js (which is injected as
+// a raw string and cannot import) — keep the two in sync, mirroring the existing
+// "WCAG math is duplicated" note at the top of that file.
+
+export type Rgb = [number, number, number];
+export type Rgba = [number, number, number, number];
+
+/** Parse a CSS `rgb()`/`rgba()` string. Returns null if it is not rgb(a). */
+export function parseColorRGBA(color: string | null | undefined): Rgba | null {
+  const body = /rgba?\(([^)]+)\)/.exec(color ?? "")?.[1];
+  if (body == null) return null;
+  const p = body.split(",").map((s) => parseFloat(s.trim()));
+  if (p.length < 3 || p.some((n) => Number.isNaN(n))) return null;
+  const [r, g, b, a] = p;
+  if (r == null || g == null || b == null) return null;
+  return [r, g, b, a ?? 1];
+}
+
+/** One entry of an element's computed-style chain (element first, then ancestors). */
+export interface BackgroundStyle {
+  backgroundColor: string;
+  backgroundImage: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the nearest FULLY-opaque background-color painted behind an element's
+ * text, walking from the element up its ancestor chain.
+ *
+ * Returns null (→ caller falls back to sampling the pixel ring) when:
+ *  - a background-image is encountered first (text sits over real image pixels,
+ *    for which the ring is the better proxy), or
+ *  - no fully-opaque background-color exists in the chain.
+ *
+ * A semi-transparent background-color is skipped (it blends with whatever is
+ * below, which the ring captures better than any single color would).
+ */
+export function pickOpaqueBackground(chain: readonly BackgroundStyle[]): Rgb | null {
+  for (const s of chain) {
+    if (s.backgroundImage && s.backgroundImage !== "none") return null;
+    const c = parseColorRGBA(s.backgroundColor);
+    if (c && c[3] >= 0.999) return [c[0], c[1], c[2]];
+  }
+  return null;
+}