As you all know, we here at the Irreal bunker are not fans of dark mode. Of course, if you’re a benighted soul who likes dwelling in the dark on your own computer, I may shake my head in bewilderment but it’s your business and I would not presume to interfere.
Where I do feel the need to object is when you foist this abomination on others. Let me be honest: although I prefer light mode, I don’t really object to dark mode that much so long as the contrast between the text and the background don’t make the text unreadable. What I hate are things like dark blue text on a black background that make it virtuously impossible to read. You may think I’m exaggerating but believe me, examples abound. Again, if this is your thing, have at it but please don’t subject the rest of us to it on your blog or other Web sites.
Vishnu Haridas has a post that echoes my feelings. In his case, low contrast dark mode sites mess with his eyes and even afterwards he sees artifacts induced by the dark mode text. He also finds high contrast text unreadable although that doesn’t bother me. I just need the text to stand out so I can distinguish it from the background.
Haridas notes that there are, in fact, standards about all this. Although he doesn’t find them completely satisfactory, at least they help make text readable. Of course, all this could be avoided if folks would only embrace the light and eschew the loathsome dark mode.