https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=173755
Bug ID: 173755
Summary: Color-accented notebookbar has to low contrast to
quick access icons
Product: LibreOffice
Version: 26.8.0.0 alpha0+ master
Hardware: All
OS: Windows (All)
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Severity: normal
Priority: medium
Component: UI
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
Description:
Problem: The recently (26.8) introduced color-accented notebookbar has an area
to the top-left where several icons are set against the accented background.
Depending on color and iconset there is a low contrast and the icons are hard
to recognize.
Context: The short toolbar This seems to replicate a similar feature in
Microsoft Office, the "Quick Access Toolbar": "a set of commands that are
independent of the currently displayed tab on the ribbon." [1], usually "save"
and "undo"/"redo".
In the case of MS Office, the icons seem to be either on a neutral (light/dark
gray) background using buttons with color (see [1] for examples) from 2021
onward – or monocromatic icons against a colored background (see [2] for an
example) in office 2016 and 2019 – which the 26.8 version seems to be similar
to.
[1]
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/customize-the-quick-access-toolbar
[2] https://bug-attachments.documentfoundation.org/attachment.cgi?id=208351
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Go to Menu: View/User Interface.../Tabbed, "Apply to all"
2. Open the applications and look at the upper left corner.
My examples are from the colibre icon set, but other sets will have similar
problems. It is plausible to assume colibre, since it seems to be the default
on Windows and people who are on that platform have possibly used MS office
before and thus might want to activate the tabbed notebookbar.
Actual Results:
The color contrast in many cases is very low, particularly for the inactive
undo/redo, the active undo/redo for writer (blue on blue) or the opening icon
for Impress (Yellow on yellow)
Expected Results:
The icons should have a decent contrast to the background (There are color
contrast checkers for accessible web design if a clear guideline is wanted)
Reproducible: Always
User Profile Reset: No
Additional Info:
The problem can be solved in several ways, all related to compromizes. The
current state is no different, the compromize there is that some icons are hard
to see, which is bad for usability.
- Change icons: Monochromatic icons could be used. This makes creating a
contrast easier, since only two colors need to be controlled. This also eases
dark/light mode. The problem is that the icons will be far less expressive
without any color.
- Change background: Display the icons on a light gray or dark gray background
again. Remove color accent or apply it somewhere else, but not as background of
icons.
NOTE: A quick hack would be to somehow fix this in the icon set and somehow add
contrasting borders or shadows. This, however, messes with the visual style of
the icons and would need to be tested for all possible icon/background
combinations.
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