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Visiting the new city hall website made me question a common dark mode rule
I checked out our city's redesigned website last week and noticed they used pure black (#000000) for the main background. Everyone says to avoid true black, but honestly, it looked sharp and clean. The text was a soft gray and the accent colors popped really well against it. It didn't feel harsh on my eyes at all, even after reading for about 15 minutes. Maybe the 'never use pure black' advice is too strict for some public sites that want a strong, official look. Has anyone else found a case where true black actually worked better than a dark gray?
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margaret_lane6mo ago
Wait, am I the only one who's been blindly following that rule like it's a law? I mean, I've avoided pure black for years because everyone said to, but maybe I was just scared to try it. Your city hall site sounds like it proves the point that contrast and good text color matter more than the exact shade of the background. It probably helps that it's a simple, official site without a ton of crazy elements. Now I feel like I've been overthinking my own projects for no reason.
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ninam866mo ago
Welcome to the club, we had jackets.
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terry_mitchell4mo ago
Remember to check the contrast ratio with a tool first, @margaret_lane, black can still fail if the text is too small or thin.
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