I was looking at the information recently for a Kindle Paperwhite and I noticed that under “Accessibility Features” it mentions the ability to invert black and white. This was a win for me, because I just like reading white text on a black background. But then I wondered why that’s considered accessibility. I don’t doubt that it is for someone out there, I just wondered what eye/brain function makes this better and more accessible over black text on a white background. Just curious, and Google doesn’t seem to know.
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It could be something that colorblind people can see. There are some colour combinations that some colourblind people cannot distinguish. If you write a text of a certain colour with a background of a certain colour, they might be unable to read the text. However, white on black is probably one that they can distinguish, and so it is accessible to those with colour-blindness.
Dyslexics sometimes have an easier time reading black text on a non-white background compared to a white one, perhaps white on black is also easier.
Apparently black backgrounds are less stressful on yhe eyes of dyslexic people than a stark white background. It reduces the likelihood of the characters on the page swirling together. I read this online but couldn’t find any in depth resources on color perception of dyslexic people.
In general, people have different thresholds. We percieve color differently, so different contrasts work for different people.
For me, I get headaches reading on plain white, so I usually like a grey background and dark grey font. It strains my eyes less.
All the answers about dyslexia could be right, but one point not mentioned is “Night or Dark” mode, people love to read in bed, perhaps that’s another reason for it,
I have trouble reading when something is in dark mode. I raised this to one of the design folks that I work with. His question was do I have astigmatism? He pointed me at a few articles suggesting that can cause blurriness in dark mode. Also, it’s generally not as legible in lower light settings.
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