When choosing colors for websites, apps, documents, or any medium viewed on screens, it’s important to select colors that are easy on the eyes. Certain colors and color combinations are easier to look at for extended periods without causing eye strain, headaches, and fatigue.
The quick answers to key questions about eye-friendly colors are:
– Darker colors are usually easier on the eyes than lighter colors for background and text. Dark mode interfaces with light text on dark backgrounds can reduce eye strain.
– Low contrast between text and background colors makes reading difficult and strains the eyes. High contrast is better for readability.
– Cooler colors like blues, greens, and purples are often more relaxing for the eyes than warm reds, oranges and yellows.
– Matte finishes and flat colors cause less eye fatigue than glossy or metallic finishes that reflect light.
– Color combinations with high visual lightness differences like dark text on a white background provide good contrast.
– Avoid complementary color pairings like red-green, blue-orange, and purple-yellow which can vibrate against each other.
Factors That Determine Eye-Friendly Colors
Several key factors influence which colors are easiest on the eyes and best for reducing eye strain and visual fatigue:
Background and Text Color Contrast
Having sufficient contrast between the text color and background color is vital for readability and visual comfort. Low contrast forces the eyes to work harder to distinguish text, causing faster eye fatigue. Darker text on a lighter background provides good contrast. Light text on a dark background (dark mode) also gives strong contrast for easy reading.
The WCAG 2.0 accessibility guidelines recommend a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (over 24px or 19px bold).
Color Value and Intensity
Darker, deeper colors are usually easier on the eyes than extremely light or bright colors for backgrounds. Very light colors like white reflect more light into the eyes, creating glare and visual discomfort faster. Darker colors absorb more light for a soothing effect.
For text, black or darker grays are most readable, but dark blue, dark red, and dark green can also work well. Light text should be used sparingly, only with sufficient contrast against dark backgrounds.
Cool vs Warm Colors
The temperature of colors affects their eye comfort. Cooler blues, greens, purples, and neutrals are often easier on the eyes and less visually stimulating than warm reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks. Warm colors advance towards the eye, while cool colors recede for a calming effect.
Color Combinations
Certain color pairings have high visual vibration that can strain the eyes. Strong contrasts between complementary colors like red-green, orange-blue, or yellow-purple side-by-side cause afterimages and vibrating effects that make it hard to focus steadily.
Analogous, triadic, and tetradic color schemes often work better by using colors located close together on the color wheel. Monochromatic schemes also avoid strong visual vibration.
Surface Finish and Effects
Matte, flat, or muted finishes generally cause less eye strain than shiny, glossy, or metallic finishes. Reflective surfaces produce more glare and reflections that tire the eyes faster. Subtle gradients can work if not overly shiny.
Typeface and Font Styles
Simple, clean fonts with easily distinguishable characters help reduce eye strain for reading. Serif and sans-serif fonts designed for long passages of text both work. Italics, ALL CAPS, and other decorative treatments are harder on the eyes for large bodies of text.
Colors to Choose for Low Visual Fatigue
Based on these eye-friendliness factors, here are some of the best text and background color combinations to reduce eye strain:
Text Colors
– Black (#000000)
– Dark gray (#333333, #444444)
– Medium/dark blue (#000099, #000066)
– Medium/dark red (#990000, #660000)
– Medium/dark green (#006600, #003300)
Background Colors
– Off-white (#f5f5f5, #e5e5e5, #d5d5d5)
– Light gray (#c8c8c8, #aeaeae)
– Light blue (#d6e3fc, #d9edf7)
– Light green (#e7f1d5, #d9ead3)
– Light tan/beige (#f5f5dc, #ece7d5)
Good Color Combinations
| Text Color | Background Color |
|---|---|
| Black | Off-white |
| Dark blue | Light gray |
| Dark gray | Light blue |
| Dark green | Light tan |
These combinations provide enough contrast for easy readability while using subdued, matte colors that minimize glare and visual stimulation. Cooler backgrounds paired with slightly warm text colors also create comfortable contrast.
Designing for Dark Mode
Dark mode interfaces have risen in popularity to reduce eye strain, especially for nighttime use. With dark mode, off-black backgrounds are paired with light text colors for strong contrast.
Good color combinations for dark mode designs include:
– Off-black background (#121212, #1a1a1a) with light gray text (#d3d3d3)
– Charcoal gray background (#252525) with medium cyan text (#66cccc)
– Cool dark gray background (#2d2d2d) with light yellow text (#ffffcc)
– Dark blue background (#193549) with off-white text (#eceae8)
The same principles for providing sufficient contrast and using muted, matte colors apply. But the value contrast is reversed, with darker backgrounds and lighter text.
Avoiding Poor Color Combinations
To prevent eye strain, it’s important to avoid color pairings known to create visual vibration, low contrast, and glare:
| Text Color | Background Color |
|---|---|
| Yellow | White |
| Light gray | White |
| Green | Red |
| Blue | Orange |
| Black | Dark blue |
These combinations make it hard to focus and cause eye fatigue quickly due to low contrast, extremely light or bright colors, and clashing complementary hues. Strong value contrast and separation between complementary colors is best.
Conclusion
By considering the factors that affect visual comfort and following principles like sufficient contrast, subdued colors and avoiding complementary color vibration, designers can select palettes that reduce eye strain.
The most eye-friendly colors use moderately warm dark text with cool, soft, light backgrounds. Dark mode interfaces reverse this for similar readability benefits and less visual stimulation. Paying attention to eye fatigue issues when choosing colors can create interfaces that are easier and more enjoyable to use for extended periods.