branchandroot: oak against sky (Default)
Branch ([personal profile] branchandroot) wrote in [site community profile] dw_accessibility2009-05-15 01:48 pm

Color contrast issue in Celerity

A support/bug item was put in by a user who found the cream background color, in the Celerity site scheme, difficult to read on. I wanted to bounces this around here and ask if anyone else has had or heard of similar problems.

If it's an isolated issue, it will probably be best to deal with it via that user's browser styles. If it's more wide-spread, then the scheme should be changed.

The current background color is #f9f9f0 and the text color is #222211. Should these be edged further apart? I would like to strike some kind of happy medium between too-high and too-low contrast, though this may, in the end, not be possible.
rydra_wong: Lee Miller photo showing two women wearing metal fire masks in England during WWII. (Default)

[personal profile] rydra_wong 2009-05-15 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
It's definitely got a strongly tinted background now; in combination with the green it does make it pretty colour-heavy, which may be hard on some people. I tested it out and did find myself wanting to change it back in a hurry (sensory processing issues).

As a practical point, it means that Lynx is the only available site scheme with a white background, right?

Neurologically-based visual processing issues can be very idiosyncratic, so there's never going to be a one-size-fits-all option (I know some people have an easier time reading with a tinted background).

But maybe it might be worth thinking in terms of choices -- making sure that there are at least a couple of site schemes with a white background, for example.