---
title: "More aspects to contrast"
date: 2022-07-03T22:16:09-07:00
replyURI: "https://github.com/Myndex/SAPC-APCA/discussions/74"
replyTitle: "Dark Mode Color Palettes and APCA"
replyType: "DiscussionForumPosting"
replyAuthor: "Ayush Agarwal"
replyAuthorURI: "https://microblog.ayushnix.com/"
---
This feedback has been helpful for me too; I incorporated the discussion around the Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect into [the "contrast is complex" section](https://seirdy.one/posts/2020/11/23/website-best-practices/#contrast-is-complex) of my web best practices article.

I think the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect also ties into my concerns regarding overstimulation, also described in the same section of that article. Over-saturation of perceptually "light" colors that also look like "warning" colors (e.g. yellow, which contains the perceptually-bright green along with red) can be psychologically stressful.

I'm beginning to think that _a single scalar value might not be the best way to represent all these different axes._ Designers should try to strike different balances between different _sets_ of values, depending on responses to media queries.

On the other hand, the "default" values should still try to "even-out" potential harms and conform to existing norms, because fingerprinting-averse users (and users who just need to borrow someone else's un-personalized machine) should still receive some accommodation.