Black Background With White (or light) Text... Am I the Only One That's Annoyed by This?

[Amused]

Many web pages have a black background with white text. After reading for just a few minutes my eyes go all squirrelly on me when I switch back to a light colored page.

Does this bother anyone else?

 

[blackdogdeek]

not really.

i actually have my text editor set to black background with a number of different text colors.

 

[Viper GTS]

Yup, highly, highly annoying.

Viper GTS

 

[Amused]

Oh come on, this HAS to bug more people.

 

[Gothgar]

I like it better, when a page is in all black,a nd the text in grey or white, it is much easier on the eyes

 

[blakeatwork]

that's my default background for AT...

If it's dead black and dead white, then yea, its definitely hard on the eyes, but the charcoal on here is a great colour for light text..

 

[notfred]

It seems to be some kind of "l33t" script kiddie thing. You'll notice that very few actual professional websites put light text on a dark background, because it's harder to read and just plain looks bad. I don't like it either.

 

[nakedfrog]

No problems with it. Whenever I do any writing, I use WP5.1, with black background and red text.

 

[yoda291]

It's poor design for the web because people are taught to read dark text on white paper as children. So, when you put down the color black as your "whitespace" color, it generally fails because black is difficult for most people to associate with whitespace and the white text that is normally associated with blank space has now become the focus color.

Read Homepage usability and Why we buy. It isn't likely to be helpful in your day to day, but they're interesting reads nonetheless.

For terminals, however, many computer nerds grew up with white on black or green on black monochrome displays so it becomes less or a non-issue.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

blue text (lighter shade) on black looks AWESOME!

 

[pyonir]

I honestly won't read a page if it is white text on black background.

 

[tami]

occasionally, but it depends on the font of the white text. if it's more bold-looking (e.g. terminal vs. arial), i'm not as irritated by it.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: pyonir
I honestly won't read a page if it is white text on black background.

No maddox for you, then?

 

[edmicman]

I've chosen a black background for most of my text because it's easier on the eyes than staring at a white screen. Think about it: your monitor is not a piece of paper, no matter how hard you try to make it one. Staring at a white background while you read is like staring at a light bulb (don't believe me? Try turning off the lights next time you use a word processor). Would you stare at a light bulb for hours at a time? Not if you want to keep your vision.

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=faq

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: pyonir
I honestly won't read a page if it is white text on black background.

Those pages usually svck.

 

[phreaqe]

if i find a webpage with black background and white text i just highlight everything so that it reverses the colors so i can read it

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: pyonir
I honestly won't read a page if it is white text on black background.

No maddox for you, then?

Maddox is different IMO. The text is larger and is almost like a bold...it's a lot easier to read that Times New Roman at size 10.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: edmicman

I've chosen a black background for most of my text because it's easier on the eyes than staring at a white screen. Think about it: your monitor is not a piece of paper, no matter how hard you try to make it one. Staring at a white background while you read is like staring at a light bulb (don't believe me? Try turning off the lights next time you use a word processor). Would you stare at a light bulb for hours at a time? Not if you want to keep your vision.

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=faq

His is, quite simply, wrong.

I have no problem reading text on a page with a light background. But a page with a black background and light text causes ghosting in my vision. The lines of text start to cause burn-in type ghosting and it's very distracting when I move my eyes as I'm reading.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: phreaqe
if i find a webpage with black background and white text i just highlight everything so that it reverses the colors so i can read it

I do that too. However some colors do not highlight properly.

Example:

the 5th paragraph down on this page:

http://www.springfieldilhog.co...ps%20&%20Tales.htm

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: edmicman

I've chosen a black background for most of my text because it's easier on the eyes than staring at a white screen. Think about it: your monitor is not a piece of paper, no matter how hard you try to make it one. Staring at a white background while you read is like staring at a light bulb (don't believe me? Try turning off the lights next time you use a word processor). Would you stare at a light bulb for hours at a time? Not if you want to keep your vision.

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=faq

His is, quite simply, wrong.

I have no problem reading text on a page with a light background. But a page with a black background and light text causes ghosting in my vision. The lines of text start to cause burn-in type ghosting and it's very distracting when I move my eyes as I'm reading.

I get the same effect. If i even read maddox to long, my eyes start to flip out.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: pyonir
I honestly won't read a page if it is white text on black background.

Some how, I think we'll all survive if you don't.

I voted no btw. Black is badass. And its old school from my DOS days. But I honestly don't really care.

 

[dighn]

make my eyes uncomfortable with prolonged reading

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: edmicman

I've chosen a black background for most of my text because it's easier on the eyes than staring at a white screen. Think about it: your monitor is not a piece of paper, no matter how hard you try to make it one. Staring at a white background while you read is like staring at a light bulb (don't believe me? Try turning off the lights next time you use a word processor). Would you stare at a light bulb for hours at a time? Not if you want to keep your vision.

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=faq

His is, quite simply, wrong.

I have no problem reading text on a page with a light background. But a page with a black background and light text causes ghosting in my vision. The lines of text start to cause burn-in type ghosting and it's very distracting when I move my eyes as I'm reading.

Eh, to each his own. I modify my Windows color scheme so that the background is kind of a light bluish, much easier on my eyes than harsh white everywhere.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
blue text (lighter shade) on black looks AWESOME!

points to sig.

and doesnt bother me one bit

 

[Snapster]

Must be all those pr0n sites you go to. Most of my bookmarks are fairly light/white backgrounds with black text.