Website Background Colour

Off-Topic Chat
1

Random question but I’d appreciate your input Tina project of mine. Do you prefer websites with a black or white background?

Black or white background?
  • Black
  • White
  • Indifferent

0 voters

And any particular reason?

2 Likes
2

White for me - I find it clearer, brighter, more accessible, and I think it opens up more options for colour in logos or images etc.

I guess it largely depends what the website is for though… If its not much text then I wouldn’t have thought it would matter too much :blush:

However, I do like the dark mode on certain apps and will occasionally switch to that, but only ever do this on my phone and usually if I’m reading stuff late at night.

2 Likes
3

Depending what it is but black is better not so blinding.

2 Likes
4

I have processing issues so dark mode every time for everything. I even pick which software I use based on it honouring dark mode.

1 Like
5

I voted black because in general it’s less glare-ey. It really isn’t an either/or thing, though. Good design is always be a balance of aesthetics and legibility, with legibility paramount. Boy, do I hate “arty” websites where the house style is small, grey text on a dark background - epic accessibility fail! :roll_eyes:

1 Like
6

I voted white. When I’m tired I really struggle reading text on black backgrounds, especially white text.

1 Like
7

I’d say mostly white, especially during daylight hours. At night though I sometimes switch to dark mode as it seems easier to read and without the glare. Quite useful if you have a partner laying beside you moaning about the amount of glare coming from your tablet or phone! :roll_eyes:

1 Like
8

Black with the right colours and font size style. I love the colour black. White is brighter of course but I don’t think brightness matters depending on the monitor you have. White backgrounds can be hard to look at sometimes, they are blinding esp at night and can trigger headaches off for me! :slight_smile:

2 Likes
9

Does this forum have a dark mode, then? If so, how do I access it please?

1 Like
10

I think white shows colours in more vivid and realistic way. Think it may be because when I edit photos and I use soft proofing before print its on a white background and photos on white mounts always seem more pleasing

1 Like
11

I use Edge Chromium with Dark Reader, and my phone using Samsung Internet which honours Android in dark mode. Both render the LH Forum as a dark mode nicely.

3 Likes
12

I don’t think we have dark mode turned on, sorry :slightly_frowning_face:

1 Like
13

My preference is for white most of the time but like others say, at night n bed I tend to turn brightness as low as possible and turn dark mode on for apps that have it.

2 Likes
14

Im the opposite White is to much for my eyes.

2 Likes
16

Black, white can hurt my eyes so I turn brightness down on my phone and laptop. On social media like FB or Twitter they have a option to change it to dark which I do.

1 Like
17

FB slows my tablet down when it’s on dark mode if that didn’t happen I would always have it in dark mode.

1 Like
18

For a cleaner look white is better.

1 Like
19

I hear the argument that black may be slightly more eco friendly but it is so depressing for a forum site like this. Used creatively, it can be effective on a more general website.

1 Like
20

Thanks all, some useful comments here.

I totally get the user accessibility points and will be designing the site, whatever the colour, with that in mind :+1:

Personally I love the fresh white look on here although I do wonder how it’s look with a dark mode

21

White is fine during the day as it’s clearer and if people have reading difficulties it’s easier to help them, but at night I’d prefer to have a black screen for “dark mode” similar to mobile apps choice.

1 Like