Thread by @berkun

Every designer that uses grey for text is:

a) under 35 with good vision, and/or
b) doesn't care if people their parents age can actually read what's in their designs, or
c) doesn't believe anyone reads anything anywhere anyway.

#stopthegrey #design #ux

1. About 20% of replies to my #stopgrey tweet were against it: let's dig in.

1st: I agree the real issue is contrast. But the big crime against contrast is... poor use of grey in body text!

I can't teach visual theory in a tweet, but I can warn ppl away from a common mistake.

2. Many referred me to the WGAC Accessibility guidelines on contrast. Yay! But we skip how the "magic" 4.5 to 1 ratio is THE MINIMUM - not a goal.

(It's also unclear how we got 4.5 - I looked and couldn't find. If you know, please share).

contrast-ratio.com (handy tool)

3. Many pointed out that well-contrasted grey is useful for establishing visual hierarchy. Ok. But there are many other ways to do that without any risks of readability.

Why take that risk? That's where my list came from. You probably have better than avg. eyesight & monitor.

4. Fundamentally, grey has a specific meaning in UI conventions - it means "this thing is disabled."

This is still consistent in software (a convention older folks know better than younger), but the web has muddied this terribly. Why risk making something look disabled?

5. Designers fall into the same trap as engineers in believing their own experience of their own creation can inform them about everyone else's experience.

I know "you" think you have mastered using grey in text. But have you watched a (middle-aged) customer read what you made?

6. I put abuse of grey in the same common visual design traps of: type that's way too small, layouts that are beautiful but hard to scan/read and other habits that reveal more graphic design pride than usability or UX.

It doesn't have to be one or the other!

7. Plus: how many different displays/devices are in use? Is use outdoors a use-case for you?

What we see in our offices is likely the top 25% of visual quality of common scenarios.

(Failed to find data on older phone models that r still popular. If u have a link plz share).

8. Some folks explained they carefully use very dark greys, with off-white backgrounds, which is excellent and smart and for 99% of the population is indistinguishable in a good way from black/white.

That's fine. I thought that'd be clear from my tweet, but I was wrong.

9. Many have written about this before. The best single link about these issues I've found is this one - I think it could further in emphasizing designers underestimate readability issues in general.

nngroup.com/articles/low-c…