Re: eNewsletter Guidance?

I would say it's ambiguous. The WCAG 2.1 has guidelines for content reflow when a user zooms in, but nothing specifically relating to adapting to dark mode (yet).

However, I think the intention is that content work with user preferences whenever possible. If you send out in unreadable email to a client using dark mode, you are not providing an accessible experience - because there may be a contrast error generated which IS a WCAG violation.

I'm interpreting your comments that the burden of remediating a darkmode glitch would fall on the user, but if the darkmode user is using it reduce visual strain, then it could be considered an accessibility issue to the user. The ideal is to NOT have the user remediate bad content.

For these reasons, I personally would recommend testing your email messages on darkmode. As I said, I've seen many colleagues switching to that mode.

Elizabeth

P.S. Good CSS best practice dictates specifying baseline background/foreground colors always, precisely because users may be using alternate stylesheets which could interfere with the color scheme. But this is not technically WCAG.

On Mar 8, 2021, at 4:30 PM, Patrick H. Lauke <redux@splintered.co.uk<mailto:redux@splintered.co.uk>> wrote:

On 08/03/2021 20:53, Pyatt, Elizabeth J wrote:
Steve:
I understand what you're trying to say, but actually one of the goals of WCAG is to deliver content that works in multiple platforms (e.g. many websites are viewed on smart phones and on desktops).
There are ways to ensure that content works when a user changes font size or uses darkmode (which does have some accessibility advantages for users such as myself).
Dark Mode - https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuxdesign.cc%2Faccessibility-and-dark-ui-themes-f01001339b65&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cejp10%40psu.edu%7Ca1cf379df8be40e226bd08d8e27a18f8%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C637508361318840956%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=vuf6UCz4%2FDh2ZHGGeLHaUAqbkY78y646jbjQiUkoNd8%3D&amp;reserved=0 <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuxdesign.cc%2Faccessibility-and-dark-ui-themes-f01001339b65&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cejp10%40psu.edu%7Ca1cf379df8be40e226bd08d8e27a18f8%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C637508361318850950%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=l8R7DflZEhqRspWBiEfJVqq54S%2BotTAdJnSsNDdkB%2FY%3D&amp;reserved=0>
There are limits as to how many configurations one can test, but I have seen more people moving over to darkmode, so I would consider it as a possibility.

However, if content fails to correctly display in dark mode (or to adapt to it/take notice of it at all), for instance, it's not necessarily a direct failure of WCAG unless it's due to something else that *does* fail WCAG directly (as there's no requirement in WCAG about making sure that content adapts there). Content that complies with WCAG stands a better chance of adapting to specific user-set environments, but it's not guaranteed...and failure to adapt is not a failure of WCAG. That's what Steve was referring to.

P
--
Patrick H. Lauke

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Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D.
Accessibility IT Consultant
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