Align and distribute dialog is contrast deficient in a completely wrong way

[Bit Disappointed]

Hi Serif staff

macOS 14, AD 2.2.1

I don't know how many times I've opened this dialogue from the toolbar in Designer, thinking that all these icons are inactive and that I've selected something wrong, because there is no contrast or contrast difference between what is active or not, even the text disappears in a grey fog. Only cancel stands out.

And yes, staff, this kind of thing is a bug. It's incorrectly implemented, it's not opinions or colouring, it's a bug.

[NathanC]

Hi @Bit Arts,

If you're finding that the Alignment dialog's UI isn't immediately clear between what's active and what's not you might have your Text contrast set too high in the App Settings > User Interface. For example, the below screenshot is how the dialog appears with my Text Contrast slider set to the highest possible value:

I would agree that at first glance it's not entirely apparent what's configurable and what's not, but that's only because the text contrast is set to a high value against the background. In comparison, the below screenshot is the Text contrast set to it's lowest possible value:

To me the above low contrast setting better distinguishes between what's currently configurable and what's not, but the trade-off is the text is harder to read overall, so finding a value somewhere in the middle, as well as changing the UI brightness setting from the same User Interface settings would be best option to see what works for you and your display.

 

 

[Bit Disappointed]

5 hours ago, NathanC said:

Hi @Bit Arts,

If you're finding that the Alignment dialog's UI isn't immediately clear between what's active and what's not you might have your Text contrast set too high in the App Settings > User Interface. For example, the below screenshot is how the dialog appears with my Text Contrast slider set to the highest possible value:

I would agree that at first glance it's not entirely apparent what's configurable and what's not, but that's only because the text contrast is set to a high value against the background. In comparison, the below screenshot is the Text contrast set to it's lowest possible value:

To me the above low contrast setting better distinguishes between what's currently configurable and what's not, but the trade-off is the text is harder to read overall, so finding a value somewhere in the middle, as well as changing the UI brightness setting from the same User Interface settings would be best option to see what works for you and your display.

 

Thanks for your reply @ash

If you notice, the UI around this pop up dialog is significantly more readable, I just don't understand why this dialog should NOT stand out. It is the reverse logic of how you normally present a pop-up where the rest of the program is muted while the pop-up appears clear. HERE I AM! You use the reverse logic that the pop up has less contrast and no prominent icons.

The icons in the box appear gray and without contrast, however in contrast to the fixed icons JUST ABOVE which appear with a clearly lighter color. Thus, there is no consistency in how icons look as active or inactive. I also don't think those contrast ratios pass an accessibility inspection. The customer does not have to adjust the interface to make it accessible and user-friendly, that is the company's task. 🙂

Also, I use monochrome icons - I don't see any blue lines. It's all washed out. The icons above appear clearly, the dialogue below significantly weaker. It makes no sense! Default settings used.

Look at how Adobe has done it in the Creative Suite - here it is clearly signaled which icons are active and inactive, and their inactive icons look like your active ones. Adobe signals clearly and correctly what is what. Further, the icons in the toolbar and in the dialog have same visual appearance active as well as inactive - and they are also synced.

Link to Adobe example video