Fuck screenreaders! [New Hot Design Trend] Here I come.
Dark mode. One button. Two themes. They change when you press the button. Black. White. Black. White. WOW! It took off and became the new hot thing when new styling libraries like Tailwind delivered it as one of their core features. Tutorials appeared in droves. It became the latest thing. Because it’s easy to implement but looks super complex for people outside of the dev/designer bubble. Something that makes heads turn.
I’m not here to scrutinize the dark mode trend. But, it’s weird that giving the user the option to have their website black or white gets a high reception. If we care so dearly about user customization, why aren’t we making it possible for the user to set the color variables? We could make it easier for people suffering from color-blindness. Instead, we are forcing black or white interfaces on them.
Let’s do a thought experiment. What if we took our investments into dark mode into making the website follow the WCAG requirements instead. Does it make financial sense? Yes! Blind people make 2% of all eCommerce transactions. So putting money and energy into making the website good with screen readers will make a big difference. And that’s only for blind people! Is it morally good? Yes! Only good things come out of giving more people a decent experience on the web, especially for people who have challenges in their regular life.
I think it’s time for all the businesses & people that don’t follow the WCAG requirements but still jump onto every new trend like a donkey to take a look in the mirror and ask what’s the most important. Making the web accessible for all or letting the user make the website black?
