[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #62831: Bring in lighter background for admin

[WordPress Trac]

#62831: Bring in lighter background for admin
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 Reporter:  karmatosed       |       Owner:  audrasjb
     Type:  defect (bug)     |      Status:  reopened
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:  6.8
Component:  Administration   |     Version:
 Severity:  normal           |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch early  |     Focuses:  accessibility
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Comment (by afercia):

 > Privacy/Site Health are now white-top, white-tabs, white-body

 That's a good example and illustrates well how the editor UI and the admin
 pages are different cases.

 The editor is supposed to use the theme's background color for the canvas,
 unless users disable the preference 'Use theme styles'. For example,
 Twenty Twenty-Four uses `#f9f9f9`. Only the editor UI (top bar, panels,
 toolbars etc.) uses full white.

 As a consequence, in the editor most of the screen will ''not'' be full
 white. Actually, the editor doesn't use white for the canvas, which is the
 area where users do most of their work. The canvas is white only when the
 theme uses a white background. So the argument that the editor uses white
 for the background isn't accurate in the first place. Also, I would agree
 with @johnbillion that when the theme uses a white background, the editor
 suffers from a lack of visual hierarchy everywhere because the whole
 screen is white everywhere.

 To me, the admin pages are a different case. Some of the admin pages
 contain large UIs that mitigate the 'all white' effect. For example: list
 tables, media library and the like, cover most of the full white
 background. Although there are still problems as many reported above, in
 this case the 'all white' effect is mitigated. However, for other admin
 pages like Settings, Tools, Site health, etc., 90% of the screen is now
 full white. That's too much strain for the eye. I find myself constantly
 decreasing my screen brightness since this change landed in core.

 > that's also the case on WordPress.org websites, on this Trac tool and on
 a lot of accessibility compliant websites

 I would echo what @johnbillion pointed out earlier: just because other
 wp.org parts use full white everywhere doesn't mean it's the best
 solution. Also, I would love to see a collective effort to strive not just
 for WCAG technical compliance. A web page could be technically compliant
 but not provide the best user experience. Instead, I would love to see
 WordPress provide the best possible user experience.

 Avoiding full white for the background is sort of an industry standard and
 it's an established best practice since ages. There's research and user
 testing that validates it and I would love to see WordPress follow the
 industry best practices instead of reinventing the wheel every time.
 Experimenting is good and it fuels productive discussions but I'm not sure
 this change provides the best user experience.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/62831#comment:33>
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