See, and this is where you show your 'qualifications' to break down horribly.

The colour scheme at ocforums has always been very easy on my eyes, and has allowed me to read it for hours on end. The whole point of a Black theme is to enable people with eyes more sensitive to light than average to still easily enjoy a site's content. Something like your suggested #DDD as a background shade is still far too bright for me to read off of comfortably for extended periods of time with a large back lit screen.

Right now, this reply box is actually white on black, and while it is a little annoying, it isn't too bad for the time I need to read off it. However, there are two large black bars to either side of it. If they were gray or white, I would already be developing a headache.

Your posts in this thread are the equivalent of suggestions for more comfortable thread rise and run lengths for the front steps to a building, and you are ignoring that some of us are actually looking for a proper wheel chair ramp. If you actually care about developing websites that are highly accessible, I strongly suggest you get it out of your head that there is any kind of a 'one size fits all' method you can take.



On a side note, for people like me the largest issue tends to come from large fields of very light colours which project large amounts of light into the eyes, especially on the edges of vision. A bright image boxed in a dark colour can go a long way to reducing the eye strain and headaches.

With all due respect: First, i think your analysis is bordering on character attack, at least the way you word it. Consider toning down the holier-than-thou attitude. Second: please don't ignore the fact that i clearly stated that what i wrote was personal opinion and subjective.

Since you make me defend my 'qualifications', here they are: I currently work as a web developer for a website with an awful lot of text content. My job is to make sure it is easy to read, looks nice, and works well, because our income depends on it.

Before that i was a color analyzer in a large photo/color lab. I spent most of every day for six years doing color correction and darkroom work. I have a very acute sense of color from doing that. I also learned a lot about environmental and biological factors that can affect your sense of color.

None of this means that my opinions are The Most Right. My point is: it's okay to have a differing opinion, but please don't talk down to other people like they're blubbering idiots.

'Luckless' said:

The colour scheme at ocforums has always been very easy on my eyes, and has allowed me to read it for hours on end.

And that's the opinion part. And that's fine. Everybody sees differently.

My eyes are quite sensitive. That's why i posted in this thread in the first place. I would also like to have a dark theme!

'Luckless' said:

Your posts in this thread are the equivalent of suggestions for more comfortable thread rise and run lengths for the front steps to a building, and you are ignoring that some of us are actually looking for a proper wheel chair ramp. If you actually care about developing websites that are highly accessible, I strongly suggest you get it out of your head that there is any kind of a 'one size fits all' method you can take.

From an administrative point of view, consider this: newcomers to the site won't know there are multiple skins available. They'll just plop in and judge the site as-is. I think the default theme at least should be as close to "one size fits all" as possible. Certainly not wrong to have alternates though.

'Luckless' said:

The Black/Dark theme is for those of us who have issues reading from the default blue-white/bright theme. If you can read the default just fine, then you don't really need to come here and complain about how the dark theme is hard for you to read,… This is not the theme you are looking for. This is for the rest of us who DO have an issue with the default theme and need something different so we can comfortably read the site. (And that is why the dark theme is an option.)

But i DO have issues with the default theme. Again, that's why i started reading this thread to begin with. I would still like a dark theme myself. (My text editor and terminals use a light on dark theme, for instance). I just don't think the current color selections are any improvement over the light theme, that's all. With some tweeks it would be good.


A few other observations on color, garnered from slaving away for years in front of a machine doing color correction:

• Environment can affect your sense of color. If you normally have your room lights on, turn them off (or vice-versa). Some people have a hard time staring at a screen without ambient light in the room. Some people need darkness. (I'm going to guess that most people that prefer the dark theme are also working in a dark room).
• Placement of ambient lights in the room can affect your sensitivity to light. I personally find that lights in front of the computer or above it become painful. Light behind me is okay.
• Time of day affects your sensitivity to color. See if you feel differently about the light/dark themes in the morning versus late at night. Usually eyes are more sensitive and tired at night.
• Caffeine will dull your sense of color.
• Amount of time spent looking at the screen will take it's toll. If you feel overly light sensitive, try getting regular "light breaks", especially if you work in a dark room.
• Exposure to certain colors will dull or skew your perception of other colors. That's why brightly colored backgrounds are never a good idea for reading. (some websites still don't understand this!)
• Certain colors or color combinations cause physical pain! High-chroma blue/red combinations are the ultimate sins, IMO. I also note that high-chroma colors on neutral grey will also do this. If they are on white or black, they seem to be fine. Stark white/black (zebra stripe) can be painful for some.
• Your perception of color will change naturally over time. If asked to identify a specific color, even trained experts will not (usually) be able to pick the exact same shade the following day!