Monday, May 30, 2011

A Web Design Public Service Announcement


Now that you are back to the norm of black text on a white background, how are you feeling? Are you seeing ghost images of the previous text box against this white space? Is it hard to adjust? Do you feel a little dizzy? If not, you're lucky! For many of us, (often also prone to vertigo and motion sickness), the effects of reading white text on black is so troublesome, we'll simply click away no matter how interesting the content is. If I absolutely MUST read something, I might copy and paste the text into Word so I can read it, but that is only if I know I want to read it beforehand.

So - if you are one of my fellow artist peeps and you've got white on black websites, PLEASE reconsider! If it doesn't bother you, you might think I'm crazy, but I'm not alone - just search "white text black background" on Google - you'll see! The choice is yours design wise, but I'm pretty sure that you want as many visitors as possible with nothing standing in your readers' way, right? Right.

7 comments:

Meine Dinge Franka said...

You are right!!!

Come and see my *background*!
:-)

I like your images very much!

Salut!
Franka

Cheryl Quist said...

wow, that black box of text made my eyes actually HURT! I've got a watercolorish background. I wonder how that is for you. Let me know if you get a chance to look, k? Thanks for the demonstration - I had NO idea!

Unknown said...

Perfectly fine backgrounds my friends!

r.bohnenkamp said...

oh yes you are so right.
I can not understand why some users have a black background.
I like your blog!
greetings from germany

Michelle said...

Hi Jessica,
I read your piece on black backgrounds and realized from what you said that it might not be the best for those who want to view art. So I changed it to a white background and I do agree it is much easier on the eyes. :-)

Susie Tenzer said...

Yes, I thought I loved the black - yes, I thought it was edgy & cool. I changed it & I agree, it's much easier to read. thanks, Jessica!

Unknown said...

Amen!! Totally agree!