Are you planning to have an impressive website for your business? One of the decisions your web designer will make is whether to use light or dark mode. While websites are traditionally in light mode, many designers today prefer dark mode. Dark mode has become trendy for its unique benefits, though it also has disadvantages.
What is Dark mode?
Dark mode, also known as night mode or dark theme, involves setting a website’s background to a dark color. The text, icons, and other elements appear light-colored. This setting gives websites a unique look and is less stressful on the eyes. Dark mode is also preferred in environments where there is not enough light.
Modern users often prefer websites that offer the flexibility to switch between light and dark modes when they visit a website. This helps them adjust the website backgrounds as per their environmental conditions. However, designers should know about the pros and cons of the trendy dark mode when designing a website.
Here are the dark mode advantages and disadvantages you should take into account while designing a website:
Benefits of Dark Mode
Users enjoy many advantages from websites designed in dark mode. This not only increases user experience but also helps save energy. Here are some significant benefits of dark mode:
Lesser eye fatigue
Dark mode emits less light, reducing strain on the eyes, especially for those who spend long hours in front of computer screens. The contrasting effect of dark mode presents a color contrast that is less stressful on the eyes.
Enhanced user engagement
Engaging visitors and users of a website with its different pages and content is key to its success. Dark mode functionality allows designers to give users an option to switch to this mode if they do not like the light mode functionality. That helps in enhancing user experience and engagement.
Energy saving
One of the advantages of dark mode is that it helps save energy with OLED or AMOLED screens. The energy consumption of darker pixels is lower than that of lighter ones. Less energy consumption due to the dark mode with OLED displays can help extend battery life. Mobile devices especially benefit from the power-saving ability of the dark mode.
Modern aesthetic appeal
Visually appealing images drive users’ attention and engage them with the content. Dark mode gives a website a modern and distinctive aesthetic that many users love. Moreover, web designers can expect most platforms and applications to have a dark mode option today. That means they can consider dark mode as a website design feature.
Disadvantages of Dark Mode
Website designers should also consider some disadvantages of dark mode and take steps to provide solutions. Here are the key disadvantages:
Design inconsistencies
Sometimes, a website design can face some inconsistencies due to dark mode. It will be difficult to blend images and videos having different backgrounds and color schemes.
So, you need to put extra effort into designing a website with dark mode. You need to tackle issues that might lead to inconsistencies regarding using colors and other elements.
Not optimal for every user
Dark mode may not be equally great for those users experiencing vision impairments. People with astigmatism or low contrast sensitivity may find it difficult to read light text on dark backgrounds. Therefore, make sure that all of your website visitors can access your appealing user interface.
Users may face readability challenges
Another big disadvantage of the dark mode is that the dark background makes the text difficult to read. In low-light environments, text on a dark background may present legibility challenges. Some users might also experience blur or halo due to the light text and dark background.
Tips for Implementing Dark Mode to Your Advantage
If you wish to create your website in trending dark mode, you must follow some effective tips to deal with some impediments. Here is how you should tackle the issues:
Allow Switching to Light Mode
Your website should allow users to switch to the lighter mode using a mode toggle option: they can always leave the dark mode for the lighter one if they have vision or readability issues. The toggle option lets them switch directly to light mode without using the multi-step process of the settings menu.
Resolve readability issues
Readability is a big issue for many users when they visit a website with dark mode. To resolve this issue, you should follow WCAG 2.0 guidelines. First, test different shades of dark mode to determine the readability of the site pages.
Ensure your website meets recommended contrast ratios. Pick color combinations that enhance readability without straining their eyes.
Ensure design consistency
While designing a website in dark mode, ensure design consistency. That means keeping the color scheme and other design elements the same throughout the web pages. Moreover, both the light and dark modes should display the same color palette to keep the brand identity intact.
Avoid using shadows and excessive gradients that do not go well with dark mode. Do not use complex visuals as well. So, ensure that your chosen website design services maintain visual consistency across both light and dark modes.
Keep Images Visually Appealing
Make sure your images remain visually appealing in dark mode by adjusting brightness and contrast or designing specifically for dark mode. So, adjust images for brightness and contrast. If that does not work, create images for dark mode to have the desired impact.
Test dark mode on different devices
Do not launch your dark mode website without testing it on different browsers and devices. Ensure you test the website pages for compatibility and performance across various devices and browsers.
These are the key considerations for successfully implementing dark mode in website design. Consider user experience as a parameter to judge the success of your dark-mode website design.
Designhill is a leading creative marketplace where you can locate talented website designers who have solutions for dark mode issues. Contact them using this platform or launch a design contest for the designers to get multiple design ideas.
Wrapping Up
While browsing a website, people often switch to dark mode, showing its popularity amongst users. Its benefits include less eye fatigue, energy saving, better user engagement, and aesthetic appeal. But consider its disadvantages as well.
