Black text usage

Question

I hear conflicting information on the usage of #000; for body copy vs a light gray.

The latest is using black text is culturally a better option and more legible. Especially not knowing user monitor calibration and viewing conditions.

Does anyone have additional insight on this subject?

Grey is the new black. A #333 where applicable always looks neater than a #000 and it provides more range of darkness. It's been this way for nearly 10 years. Just don't use it on things that are hard to read when doing so. — insidesin, Dec 07 '17 at 06:49
Does this answer your question? Is there a problem with using black text on white backgrounds? — curiousdannii, Jun 13 '22 at 00:05

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 07 '17 at 04:17

I think the text color is depend on the backgrounds, also there is Accessibility guideline that says we should make the text contrast to a certain amount, where most people can reach your contents. Personally I prefer dark grey text on white background, and use of black is depend on the background color contrast. check the contrast here, Color contrast checker

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 06 '18 at 15:34

Whenever such a question about anything similar comes up, and we can't decide, we try to remember to ask ourselves, "Why do we want to do it that way?", and it usually helps. If you can't give a reason to use anything else, then you have no reason to change it, and you should stick with what you've got.

Black text usage

2 Answers2