User Vision Issues

I have found that reading on a strak white backgound is hard on the eyes after extended periods. This is not so bad on paper, but on a back lite monitor, it can be rather tiring. I recently read a author comment on fanficiton.net, that recommended users that have an issue try the light/dark option on fanfiction.net. Basically it is the same as the 2 High Contrast choices on the page/style in Opera.

While some may like that. It would be preferable, if there was an option to ONLY change the background if it was WHITE, to another color. An example of a site that uses a good background color is the Financial Times Web site, that uses a light taupe color. The financial times is famous for its PINK news print that it has used since 1893. I read an article years ago, that said a recent study found that the color the Financial Times used was actually beneficial. Seems the eye processes the black ink on the salmon-pink paper better for small fonts. Such as the pages the the stock numbers.

I tried a user.css containing only a background: #FAFAD0 and it was an improvement. However the site fanfiction.net switches backgrounds in several places to create headers. Using a Blue background with white text, among other places on the pages. It is just the main body of the stories that are on a white background.

An example of the issue is the following site Irlen Syndrome - Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome - reading through colored lenses. If you move your mouse over the BACKGROUND COLOR at the top, you will see the effect different backgrounds have on vision.

Bottom line, I would like to see a page/style that allows a conditional change. To ONLY change the backgound from WHITE to user selected background color. Leaving the rest of the page alone. Sort of allowing the user to choose to look through Rose Colored Glasses. Or Cream, Taupe, Pale Lavender, etc.

Call it Page Tint, and have it on the menu as page/style/Page Tint/list of colors. Soft colors that kill the glare would be best.

maybe you should adjust the brightness of your monitor?

Originally posted by serious:

maybe you should adjust the brightness of your monitor?

Hmm, perhaps you have perfect vision and no health problems. But there are many people out there who have Irlen Syndrome. Then there are others with Photophobia (sensitive to bright light), Dyslexia, and other problems. Me, I have worn glasses for over 30 years, diabetic, mildly photophobic, high blood pressure, and high cholestorol. Meaning, I am on meds for 3 of those. All of which have an effect.

I have infact had my monitor adjusted for years. I was one of the first to switch from a CRT to LCD, because LCD caused less I strain. This issue with white backgrounds is recent for me. But as the link in my initial post shows, I am not the only person with this problem. My monitor has many presets, including Text, Internet, Game, Sports, Movie and Custom. Of the standard presets, Text is the lowest briteness. But I use custom to take lower. Still over 8 hours a day at a computer mean eye strain. Before I wrote the initial post, I used a user.css with the background: #FAFAD0. I had little stain at the end of the day. However it affected every background on the page and was a mess.

Hence my post. My post is all about applying a Tint to only white backgrounds. To help people that have a wide variety of vision issues. As I said Tint. Some people have problems with certain colors. If you look at the link in my initial post. Once on that page move your mouse over the word Background Color at the top left of the page. Each letter changes the background to a different color. Simply Reversing Balck and White to get White Text on a Black background can help. But it is not for everyone. Back in the 70's when I was in High School, I had a classmate that had Dyslexia. One of the things that helped was having things not on white paper. Due to the difficulty of doing this for book, handouts, etc. They wore bright yellow sunglasses. IE the lens were a bright yellow. These same yellow lenses are highly recommended for people that drive at night to reduce the glare from oncoming headlights, and also for winter snow glare. You will see many ski goggles with yellow lens.

Do think before you write a response like that, that makes you sound insensitive.

Originally posted by serious:

maybe you should adjust the brightness of your monitor?

Maybe you should adjust your attitude?

Originally posted by PantherTO:

An example of the issue is the following site

The link is broken by two spaces — edit your first post before its too late (within 24 hours).
Dyslexia Test Site

Originally posted by Pesala:

Maybe you should adjust your attitude?

look who is talking

anyhow, the reason i posted that was that I know many people who complain about eye strain and when you investigate further they have never even bothered to adjust the brightness or contrast (really important) on their monitor and eg. read on full brightness in dark rooms and such.

@topic: I see a bunch of problems with tuning down only clear white background, the most obvious one being eg. a background color of #FEFEFE or similar stupidity ... and also taking into account the font color/contrast to background to adjust the colors accordingly ... so, not a simple topic :/

Originally posted by serious:

the reason i posted that was that I know many people who complain about eye strain and when you investigate further they have never even bothered to adjust the brightness or contrast (really important) on their monitor

PantherTO is not some noobie who doesn't know how to adjust the monitor settings or he would not be editing style sheets without first trying the obvious.