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Thread: too much contrast?
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From: Iaffaldano, Michelangelo
Date: Mon, Apr 14 2014 3:35PM
Subject: too much contrast?
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WCAG are explicit about insufficient brightness and colour contrast between text and background. But is there such a thing as too much contrast? I've read a bit about scotopic sensitivity syndrome in relation to dyslexia. I have also recently heard that black text on white is not ideal for people with astigmatism (although I am one and have not noticed this effect).
I avoid pure black text on white in my designs but that's mostly out of personal taste, since I don't have any solid data to back the point. Do you good people have any user testing data or other direct experience in support of (or against) this idea?
Michelangelo Iaffaldano
From: Olaf Drümmer
Date: Mon, Apr 14 2014 4:02PM
Subject: Re: too much contrast?
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I know people who suffer when contrast is very high.
As it will be impossible to find a contrast that suits everyone, it is important:
- not to absolutely enforce any specific minimum or maximum level of contrast
- and instead ensure that contrast can be adjusted as needed
Caveat: As a starting point, a clear contrast will always be helpful, as it can be dimmed down by those who wish to. A contrast that is essentially non-existing cannot be made stronger.
My 2 cents
Olaf
On 14 Apr 2014, at 23:35, "Iaffaldano, Michelangelo" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> WCAG are explicit about insufficient brightness and colour contrast between text and background. But is there such a thing as too much contrast? I've read a bit about scotopic sensitivity syndrome in relation to dyslexia. I have also recently heard that black text on white is not ideal for people with astigmatism (although I am one and have not noticed this effect).
>
> I avoid pure black text on white in my designs but that's mostly out of personal taste, since I don't have any solid data to back the point. Do you good people have any user testing data or other direct experience in support of (or against) this idea?
From: Jesse Hausler
Date: Mon, Apr 14 2014 4:03PM
Subject: Re: too much contrast?
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If your aim is to meet the current web accessibility standards, I wouldn't
think too much contrast is something to design for. As you noted, WCAG is
very specific about minimums, but say nothing for maximums.
When I was working in an AT center, people who had scotopic sensitivity had
some choices for toning down brightness with onscreen viewing
Colored screen overlays were popular, as well as OS level settings to make
everything that was white another color. Once we learned about that,
everyone in my office had pale green or blue backgrounds in MS Word. It
didnt print out green, but was gentle on the eyes when typing up reports.
There are also a few softwares out there such as f.lux that will change the
color temp of screens. It's not specifically for scotopic sensitivity, but
some may like the options.
As long as what you put out on the web respects the AT that people with
light sensitivity use, you should be fine.
Jesse
On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 2:35 PM, Iaffaldano, Michelangelo <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> WCAG are explicit about insufficient brightness and colour contrast
> between text and background. But is there such a thing as too much
> contrast? I've read a bit about scotopic sensitivity syndrome in relation
> to dyslexia. I have also recently heard that black text on white is not
> ideal for people with astigmatism (although I am one and have not noticed
> this effect).
>
> I avoid pure black text on white in my designs but that's mostly out of
> personal taste, since I don't have any solid data to back the point. Do you
> good people have any user testing data or other direct experience in
> support of (or against) this idea?
>
> Michelangelo Iaffaldano
> > > >
From: Monique Brunel
Date: Mon, Apr 14 2014 5:50PM
Subject: Re: too much contrast?
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Le 14/04/2014 23:35, Iaffaldano, Michelangelo a écrit :
> WCAG are explicit about insufficient brightness and colour contrast between text and background. But is there such a thing as too much contrast? I've read a bit about scotopic sensitivity syndrome in relation to dyslexia. I have also recently heard that black text on white is not ideal for people with astigmatism (although I am one and have not noticed this effect).
>
> I avoid pure black text on white in my designs but that's mostly out of personal taste, since I don't have any solid data to back the point. Do you good people have any user testing data or other direct experience in support of (or against) this idea?
>
> Michelangelo Iaffaldano
Hi,
Sorry, writing in English is difficult for me, but I'll try.
I spoke several times about this problem in conferences, however I have
not found many resources...
I have shown that the strict compliance with WCAG about contrast does
not produce an accessible site for some people, such as dyslexic.
I'm dyslexic, with scotopic sensitivity syndrome.
For me white letters on black background appear twinkle, and the words
seem to move ... I am unable to read (except for some words in large
font, as a short title)
Best regards,
Monique
--
Monique Brunel
Accessibilité et qualité des sites Web | Mozilla Rep
Conférences - Ateliers - Conseil | Tél. +32(0)473 25 81 94
| http://blog.webatou.info | http://aliaz.com/monique-brunel |
| www.opquast.com | www.openweb.eu.org | www.mozilla-belgium.org |
From: Whitney Quesenbery
Date: Tue, Apr 15 2014 8:36AM
Subject: Re: too much contrast?
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All of this just suggests that the real solution is a robust mechanism to
allow personal settings. No standard is ever going to provide a perfect
solution. At their best, they eliminate the most common problems for the
widest number of people. However, given the wide variation in accessibility
needs, a single, mandated, design solution is not possible. Nor is it
possible to hand-code individual variations.
Mary Theofanos and Ginny Redish wrote an excellent research report on this
issue back in 2005, when they did usability studies at the National Cancer
Institute with both screen-reader users and others with various forms of
low vision. Their "vision of the future" (at a time when this was not
widely discussed) was "personal profiles with portability" including:
- A wide range of flexibility
- Portability
- Graceful transformation without loss of information
Theofanos, M. F. and Redish, J. C., 2005, Helping Low-vision and Other
Users with Web Sites That Meet Their Needs: Is One Site for All Feasible?,
Technical Communication, 52 (1), February, 9-20.
Abstract:
For this study, we recruited low-vision users with a variety of vision
problems who need software to magnify computer text. Although we did not
systematically recruit for specific vision problems, the fact that our
users had different needs gave us one of the most critical insights in this
study: The needs of low-vision users are too diverse for simple solutions
to Web accessibility and usability.
We show a few ways in which today's Web sites are missing the needs of all
low-vision users and provide guidelines for fixing those problems. However,
the diversity of vision needs and the resulting adaptations that low-vision
users require mean that there are no simple solutions to making Web sites
work for everyone. In this article, therefore, you will not find many
simple guidelines. Instead, we raise a critical issue and suggest a "vision
of the future" solution.
Link to the article on Ingenta Connect.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/stc/tc/2005/00000052/00000001/art00002
Their article on designing for screen reader users was published in ACM's
interactions, and is available on Ginny's site:
http://redish.net/articles-a-slides
Theofanos, M. F. and Redish, J. C., 2003, Guidelines for accessible and
usable web sites: Observing users who work with screen readers,
Interactions, X (6), November-December, 38-51.
On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 7:50 PM, Monique Brunel < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >wrote:
> Le 14/04/2014 23:35, Iaffaldano, Michelangelo a écrit :
>
> WCAG are explicit about insufficient brightness and colour contrast
>> between text and background. But is there such a thing as too much
>> contrast? I've read a bit about scotopic sensitivity syndrome in relation
>> to dyslexia. I have also recently heard that black text on white is not
>> ideal for people with astigmatism (although I am one and have not noticed
>> this effect).
>>
>> I avoid pure black text on white in my designs but that's mostly out of
>> personal taste, since I don't have any solid data to back the point. Do you
>> good people have any user testing data or other direct experience in
>> support of (or against) this idea?
>>
>> Michelangelo Iaffaldano
>>
>
> Hi,
>
> Sorry, writing in English is difficult for me, but I'll try.
>
> I spoke several times about this problem in conferences, however I have
> not found many resources...
> I have shown that the strict compliance with WCAG about contrast does not
> produce an accessible site for some people, such as dyslexic.
>
> I'm dyslexic, with scotopic sensitivity syndrome.
> For me white letters on black background appear twinkle, and the words
> seem to move ... I am unable to read (except for some words in large font,
> as a short title)
>
> Best regards,
> Monique
>
> --
> Monique Brunel
> Accessibilité et qualité des sites Web | Mozilla Rep
> Conférences - Ateliers - Conseil | Tél. +32(0)473 25 81 94
> | http://blog.webatou.info | http://aliaz.com/monique-brunel |
> | www.opquast.com | www.openweb.eu.org | www.mozilla-belgium.org |
>
> > > >