website-v2 icon indicating copy to clipboard operation
website-v2 copied to clipboard

Use the High Contrast color mode in block screenshots

Open DNin01 opened this issue 2 years ago • 10 comments

Most of the images around the website still use the original block colors, but we might want to change that. Scratch's new high contrast colors are more accessible (at least in terms of WCAG 2.0) and it's not an extreme high contrast theme, so there's not really a reason not to use it, right?

This decision could also extend outside of the website, such as into YouTube videos or future "explanatory" pictures in the Scratch Addons settings page.

For instance, just look at this picture: when green flag clicked, wait 1 seconds The white text on the yellow Events blocks, and maybe on the gold Control blocks too, aren't that good. These are much better in high contrast. And if it seems legible, you're probably just used to it - if you think about it, it is probably not incredibly comfortable to look at.

For reference, the official Scratch Team YouTube channel uses high contrast, which makes sense - it's the official accessible theme, and isn't at an extreme level.

Any thoughts? @ScratchAddons/admins @mxmou

I wanted to help settle this soon before my next blog post and future content elsewhere, just in case we choose the original colors for whatever reason. Ideally, everyone would use the color mode we decide on when contributing their screenshots, GIFs, and videos.

DNin01 avatar Sep 28 '23 03:09 DNin01

It would be hard to enforce this in the blog and the YouTube channel, but we could consider this for the addon screenshots that are displayed on scratchaddons.com/addons

WorldLanguages avatar Sep 28 '23 03:09 WorldLanguages

Related #4

Hans5958 avatar Sep 28 '23 04:09 Hans5958

I don't think it's important to read the blocks. They're older, most people use the original theme.

Secret-chest avatar Sep 28 '23 04:09 Secret-chest

I'm not against this, but I do want to point out that the older blocks are more recognizable (associated with Scratch).

BroJac5246 avatar Sep 28 '23 12:09 BroJac5246

This is a positive suggestion, but I do not wish this to be a strict requirement.

Hans5958 avatar Sep 28 '23 12:09 Hans5958

This is a positive suggestion, but I do not wish this to be a strict requirement.

I think addon screenshots should remain consistent - if we decide to use the high contrast mode, all of them should be updated. For blog posts and other content, a strict rule probably isn't needed, but I think using high contrast blocks makes sense.

mxmou avatar Sep 28 '23 14:09 mxmou

I don't think it's important to read the blocks.

I guess the text on the blocks doesn't really matter. Are the blocks themselves easier to discern in high contrast?

DNin01 avatar Sep 28 '23 15:09 DNin01

Are the blocks themselves easier to discern in high contrast?

Actually, they have less contrast with the background, and the categories are harder to tell apart.

Secret-chest avatar Sep 28 '23 15:09 Secret-chest

they have less contrast with the background

They have the same border color as normal blocks.

mxmou avatar Sep 28 '23 16:09 mxmou

They have the same border color as normal blocks.

Which is very thin.

Secret-chest avatar Sep 28 '23 17:09 Secret-chest