Re: [WebAIM] MS Word Document and PDF Darkmode

Hi, Miriam,

as far as I understand your question regarding dark mode in Microsoft
Word, the setting itself does not change any color, only representation
of its user interface and currently opened documents to the user.
Turning in on or off has no effect on the resulting PDF. Different
applications will render the "dark-mode" version of the document
differently. If PDF is the final format, I would test the dark-mode
rendition in Adobe Acrobat. In the end, different users will tweak their
rendition according to their needs.

Honestly, I have to admit I never thought of, what I will call from now
on a "dark-mode test", when evaluating accessibility of documents /
websites. Good call but since we cannot invent our own rules, current
success-criteria dealing with color contrast must suffice when enforcing
accessibility compliance. But it is a thought worth exploring for PDF
documents with text over colored background. Thanks for pointing it out!

Milan

On April 18, 2023, Miriam Fukushima <fukushima@glamus.de> wrote:
> Hi Milan,
>
>  thank you so much for your answer!
>
>  So do I understand ist correctly that MS Word only changes black text
> to white and white background to black and none of the other color or
> formatting settings?
>
>  Regards Miriam
>
> On 18/04/2023 13:22, Milan Regec wrote:
> > Hey, Miriam,
> >
> >  to have document compatible with "dark-mode" I would stay away from
> > playing with backgrounds and text colors in Word to cater to the
> > dark-mode specifically (though you definitely can use colors when
> > creating your document). Also, outlining text is IMHO the worst
> > approach of all.
> >
> >  Adobe Acrobat has simple accessibility setting allowing replacing
> > document colors - the default setting is white text on black
> > background, but user can tweak this according to his needs. 
> >
> >  It indeed does not change the color of graphical elements, however
> > you can mitigate almost all of the problems with this:
> >  *  use background colors for any elements that have text over them
> >     that provide sufficient contrast in both cases - if the text is
> >     black or white
> >  *  as much as possible use vector graphics elements, Adobe can
> >     change color of these according to your accessibility
> >     preferences (the checkbox is labeled "Change the color of line
> >     art as well as text")
> >
> >  While researching the answer I also stumbled upon the fact, that
> > Adobe Color has recently released Accessibility Tools
> > <https://color.adobe.com/create/color-accessibility> in their
> > website, allowing the creation of "color-blind" safe color-pallets
> > with ease in a tool that designers are familiar with. 
> >
> >  Hope it helped,
> >
> >  Milan
> >
> >
> > On April 18, 2023, Miriam Fukushima <fukushima@glamus.de>
> > <mailto:fukushima@glamus.de> wrote:
> > > Hello everyone,
> > >   
> > >   I was wondering if there are any ressources on how to create
> > > documents in MS Word or and also export them as PDFs so that when
> > > users have dark mode enabled, the documents and PDFs are still
> > > easily readable.
> > >   
> > >   As far as I understand, MS Word just switches background color
> > > and Text, so you should use the MS Word formatting tools to make
> > > sure MS Word can change the colors.
> > >  But are there any guidelines on what to do or not to do when
> > > creating documents or which settings to set?
> > >  Or are there any ressources on what is changed into what or by
> > > which criteria? 
> > >   
> > >  What about text on graphical background? A lot of company designs
> > > have their own backgrounds, headers and footers.
> > >  If I have text in front of a more complex background, then that
> > > is probably not changed but the text will be, so it becomes very
> > > likely unreadable.
> > >  But if I integrate the text into the graphic, to make sure it
> > > stays readable, then it's not accessible as text anymore.
> > >  Or is it a solution to outline text? But I could imagine some
> > > customers being highly opposed to that look.
> > >   
> > >  Are there any settings to set when exporting to PDF or any
> > > guidelines or best practices on how to create PDFs for light and
> > > dark mode?
> > >   
> > >  If not, do you have any experiences with this topic and found
> > > best practices for yourself?
> > >   
> > >  Thank you so much for the help!
> > >   
> > >  Kind regards, Miriam
> > >   
> > >   
> > >
> >
> >
> >  --
> >  Sent with HEY <https://hey.com/sent>
>
> -- Mit freundlichen Grüßen Miriam Fukushima - Entwicklung /
> Barrierefreiheit - - Development / Accessibility -
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