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> Pure black on white has been discussed many times. While it satisfies min contrast requirements, it feels unnatural, and again, hard to read, causing eye stra

by ggreer 9y ago

> Pure black on white has been discussed many times. While it satisfies min contrast requirements, it feels unnatural, and again, hard to read, causing eye strain… I completely disagree with this. Consider the failure modes of erring in either direction: - Too much contrast? Reduce screen brightness. (This has the beneficial side effect of increasing battery life on mobile devices.) - Too little contrast? Uhh… squint more, or try to find software that lets you override the designer's intent. Most people aren't using professional screens in low lighting, and not everyone has young eyes. Lower contrast can be a deal-breaker for these people. Even for those with perfect vision, low contrast can be incredibly annoying. It's so frustrating to view a screen in direct sunlight and be unable to see content because a designer didn't want to cause eye strain. A side note: Amusingly, the first thing I did when looking at your second source (http://ianstormtaylor.com/design-tip-never-use-black/ http://ianstormtaylor.com/design-tip-never-use-black/) was use my reader mode extension. I disliked the off-black sans-serif font.

mintplant 9y ago
I would prefer if the background color were something other than pure white, though, or even better, if a night mode (light on dark) toggle were offered. Staring at large expanses of white is uncomfortable for my eyes.
- ggreer 9y ago
  That's exactly what I do on my personal website. At the bottom of every page is a button which inverts the color scheme to white text and black background.[1] It sets a cookie, so the setting should persist across all pages. 1. e.g. scroll to the bottom of https://geoff.greer.fm/2017/02/28/software-rot/ https://geoff.greer.fm/2017/02/28/software-rot/ and click "go dark".
SippinLean 9y ago
>> Pure black on white has been discussed many times >I completely disagree with this Pure black on white has been reccommended against for some time, typically you'd use dark grey on a pure white bg >Note: for low resolution screens, an overly strong contrast (full black and white) is not ideal either, as the text starts to flicker. Benchmark: #333 on #fff. https://ia.net/topics/100e2r/ https://ia.net/topics/100e2r/

by ggreer 9y ago

mintplant 9y ago

I would prefer if the background color were something other than pure white, though, or even better, if a night mode (light on dark) toggle were offered. Staring at large expanses of white is uncomfortable for my eyes.

ggreer 9y ago
That's exactly what I do on my personal website. At the bottom of every page is a button which inverts the color scheme to white text and black background.[1] It sets a cookie, so the setting should persist across all pages. 1. e.g. scroll to the bottom of https://geoff.greer.fm/2017/02/28/software-rot/ https://geoff.greer.fm/2017/02/28/software-rot/ and click "go dark".

SippinLean 9y ago

>> Pure black on white has been discussed many times >I completely disagree with this Pure black on white has been reccommended against for some time, typically you'd use dark grey on a pure white bg >Note: for low resolution screens, an overly strong contrast (full black and white) is not ideal either, as the text starts to flicker. Benchmark: #333 on #fff. https://ia.net/topics/100e2r/ https://ia.net/topics/100e2r/