Visual Design

# Created: 2022-01-23; Modified: 2022-01-23

Readability

In theory, readability correlates with the contrast between text and background.

Color contrast is measured by contrast ratio. Calculate the contrast ratio between two colors here. Contrast ratio between white and black is 21.

A minimum contrast ratio of 4.5 is required by WCAG.

I personally find anything less than 16 is eye-tiring, partly thanks to the outdated monitor I’m using.

Apart from color, font weight plays a role in perceived contrast as well.

In acedamia, dark theme is referred to as “negative polarity”. And according to this 2013 research, it is less readable than light theme.