It’s Nice to Give Visitors Options

If you scroll to the bottom of this page, you’ll find my new JavaScript-powered theme picker. Said theme picker makes it possible for you, the visitor, to choose between my default medieval manuscript-inspired stylesheet and my new minimal stylesheet. The minimal stylesheet, like the medieval one, automatically respects system preferences for dark mode or light mode.

I didn’t have to add this feature to my site, but I wanted to, because I know that the ornate blackletter headings I use in my medieval theme could be overly distracting or difficult to read for people who have certain disabilities. I also know that some people just prefer a simple, bare-bones reading experience, and couldn’t be bothered to look at derpy fourteenth-century dancers or grumpy hedgehogs that have grapes stuck in their quills. I mean, I think those things are delightful, but I realize they might not appeal to everyone.

I would be well within my rights to say “my website, my design choices” and force every visitor to look at my default theme, except I don’t really feel like this is just my website. This is a piece of digital property that’s open to the public, and as such, I feel it’s only right to make as many visitors feel welcome here as possible. Offering my visitors the ability to change the default theme to something they may find easier to read is the very least I can do to accomodate different needs and preferences.

This opinion is at least partly-informed by personal experience. While I don’t consider myself disabled, my eyesight definitely isn’t what it used to be, and there are plenty of personal websites out there that I simply can’t visit for very long because they give me headaches.¹ Sites with tiny, low-contrast fonts and flashing gifs that aim to recapture the late ’90s GeoCities aesthetic are my worst headache triggers. I’d hate the thought of visitors to this site bouncing for similar reasons … hence the new theme picker! It’s not perfect,² I wish, for instance, that I didn’t have to use JavaScript to make this work … but to the best of my knowledge, there’s really no other way to dynamically swap out CSS stylesheets and save visitor preferences without JS. and I’m sure there’s much more I can do to improve accessibility on my site overall, but it’s a start.

To be clear, I’m not saying that everyone with a personal website should offer visitors more themes to choose from. It’s okay to have a specific vision for your site’s aesthetics, and if that’s the only iteration you want to present to the world, that’s your prerogative! Giving your visitors options is definitely a courteous thing to do, though, and I think it’s worth at least considering for that reason alone.

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