1060707 - about:home / about:newtab background color should match in-content background color

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Theme, defect)

Description

[Sören Hentzschel]

The background color of about:newtab and about:home should match the background color of the other in-content pages for the sake of consistency (project chameleon?). At the moment the colors are slightly different:

Actual:

about:preferences: #f1f1f1
about:addons after bug 989469: #f1f1f1
net errors (for example "server not found"): #f1f1f1
about:privatebrowsing: #f1f1f1
about:home: #f2f2f2
about:newtab: #f9f9f9

Expected:

about:preferences: #f1f1f1
about:addons after bug 989469: #f1f1f1
net errors (for example "server not found"): #f1f1f1
about:privatebrowsing: #f1f1f1
about:home: #f1f1f1
about:newtab: #f1f1f1

Comment 1

[u428464]

I'm really for this. The white new tab page looks odd all white as it is.

Comment 2

[Ed Lee :Mardak]

I'm not exactly sure where the #f9f9f9 came for about:newtab, but we'll need to keep in mind bug 1048137.

If we do switch the background to #f1f1f1, maintaining a 4.5 contrast ratio will require the titles to be #6e6e6e (currently #737373).

Comment 3

[Jared Wein [:jaws] (please needinfo? me)]

Aaron, what do you think should be done here?

Comment 4

[Aaron]

Well, I understand the desire for consistency across the board. Having said that, I think #f1f1f1 is a bit too dark for the New Tab page. My preference would be to maintain the #f9f9f9 BG value.

However, it wouldn't "hurt" anything to change the New Tab background to the darker value (#f1f1f1). If we do so, then I completely agree with Ed - the gray text elements should all be darker to provide adequate contrast.

Bottom line: I want to keep #f9f9f9, but would be okay if the team feels strongly about #f1f1f1.

Comment 5

[Aaron]

Final thought - when i apply the darker value to the BG for New Tab, the tiles don't "pop" as much. I'll upload a comp to show an example.

Comment 6

[Aaron]

Attachment: 01 - Initial View_F1F1F1.png

BG = F1F1F1

Comment 7

[Aaron]

Attachment: 01 - Initial View_F9F9F9.png

BG = #F9F9F9

Comment 8

[u428464]

(In reply to Aaron from comment #5)
> Final thought - when i apply the darker value to the BG for New Tab, the
> tiles don't "pop" as much. I'll upload a comp to show an example.

But the search field clearly so. I find this white background a bit weird, because it doesn't match the new in-content style.

Comment 9

[Aaron]

If this is a matter of style or preference, I like the lighter BG for the sake of contrast. I don't think users will have any understanding of "in content" pages on Firefox, and why the New Tab page would be lighter.

If this is a matter of brand consistency, then I will bow to the group. But the tiles look better with F9F9F9. And the tiles are what I want users to focus on.

Comment 10

[(Currently slow to respond) Philipp Sackl [:phlsa] (Firefox UX) please use needinfo]

Well, Chameleon is a guideline (one that is still in flux), not a solid set of solid rules.
Both about:newtab and about:home are sufficiently different from other in-content pages to warrant being treated separately.
The style of e.g. about:preferences very much reflects its nature of being a pure utility window as opposed to being primary UI. It would be weird if about:preferences and about:config had different styling, since they are in the same category of UI, but the two pages mentioned are really a different kind of UI.

Plus, Aaron and Ed already mentioned the contrast issue that we would have on about:newtab in addition.

Comment 11

[Madhava Enros [:madhava]]

You don't need me to agree here, but I do, regarding the background colour.