Reversed Type Opinions

I find it fascinating that I keep stumbling across debates about whether light text on a dark background is readable/usable or not. There seem to be two camps: Those who argue that you should never use reversed type, because it's not accessable, and people who argue that it's not a big deal for various reasons.

Light text on a dark background is not inherently evil or even inherently unreadable. Certainly, white text on a black background gives me a headache just like everyone else. When I read Ron Moore's blog, I have to cut-and-paste the text into Word. But I also remember using WordPerfect back in highschool, and how everyone had it set to display white type on a blue background, because it was less intense than staring at black text on a white background for hours.

Allow me to repeat my web mantra: All things in moderation.

White text on a black background is an extreme. So is black text on a white background. Everyone please stop talking about studies showing that black text on a white background is easier to read. Those studies refer to print. Remember that on a monitor, large fields of white are like looking directly at a light bulb. Consider taking that white to an off-white like, say, a nice tan or green, and if you want to reverse type, that's fine, but don't go for white on black – the contrast is too much. Try off-white on a medium-dark color, like Veerle's site. Extreme contrast is bad. Moderation is good.