Black Backgrounds

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by 11Ed71

I've heard two schools of thought on black backgrounds.
Some people say that black increases readability by reducing the brightness of the light that you're staring into. Others say that black is a typical n00b choice and looks amateur.
The site I'm designing right now is yellow text (ffff00) on a black background. I haven't finalized these choices yet, and before I do, I'd like to put them out to the people who know websites. I wish I could post a link, but I don't have hosting yet, so it's on my home server (read: desktop w/ IIS) and I don't want to DoS myself.

Black is not always a bad decision when it comes to designing websites. At the moment, the main page for Apple's iPod has a black background with white text, and it looks just fine. It's all how you use it.

Maybe it's just me, but I would not use yellow text. Even on a black background, and especially if it is Times New Roman font, yellow text is a nightmare on the eyes. Yellow is the first color processed by the brain, so yellow will always stand out; this is why street signs and modern fire engines engines are yellow. When everything on a page is yellow, your eyes and brain does not know where to focus.

If you like using yellow, I would consider using it for the headings, such as <h1> or <h2>, and use plain white text for the main body text. This way your eyes are drawn right to the headings (e.g. important stuff), while the main body text is easier on the eyes.