Why I Use High Contrast Mode on Windows

Windows High Contrast Mode settings showing customizable colour options on a dark background.
An overview showing the standard High Contrast settings menu


High Contrast Mode on Windows 10/11 wasn’t a feature I discovered for fun, but out of necessity. I first used it years ago to make the platform I sat my A-level exams on accessible, as there was no way to invert the brightness. At the time, it was a temporary solution — something I enabled when I needed it.

More recently, though, I had to make a permanent switch.
Screenshot of the DeafBlind Techie blog viewed using Windows High Contrast Mode, showing yellow text on a black background with purple headings and clearly defined links.
A screenshot of the Deafblind Techie Blog viewed using Windows High Contrast Mode

The Day My Setup Broke

One morning, I logged onto my PC and almost immediately had to pause. The text wasn’t white — it was grey. Flatter. Darker. Harder to identify, and simply exhausting to look at for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Up until that point, I’d had no issues using dark mode with large text. But on that day, I knew.

My sight had declined overnight.

Why a Screen Reader Wasn’t the Answer

I needed an alternative. Something that would allow me to continue working at a computer for extended periods of time. Something that wasn’t a screen reader, as certain software I rely on would become even more inaccessible. I needed a blanket overwrite — a way to force clarity across the entire system rather than patching things up app by app.

That’s where High Contrast Mode came in.

After researching different high-contrast colour combinations, I quickly realised that the clearest option for me was yellow text on a black background. The contrast was strong without being harsh, and the text remained noticeably clearer and less fatiguing than any of the other alternatives I tried.

One of the most powerful things about High Contrast Mode is how much control it gives you. It isn’t a one-size-fits-all preset — it can be customised to suit your specific visual needs.

Building a Setup That Works for Me

This setup didn’t instantly — it was built through experimentation, fatigue, and learning what my eyes actually needed day to day to function at their best.

My setup now is fully custom:
  • Standard text is yellow
  • Selected text uses the same colour I rely on when writing on physical paper — a lilac shade (#DFA9FD)
  • Links are either a darker purple or a teal, depending on the machine I’m using
The colour consistency is what matters most here. Assigning clear, predictable colours to different types of text makes it much easier to recognise what I’m looking at at a glance. It reduces the mental effort of constantly interpreting the screen and lowers my cognitive load when I’m working — I’m no longer guessing what something is meant to be.

Clarity Over Aesthetics

I’ll be the first to admit that, to people who aren’t used to it, my setup can look confusing. High Contrast Mode applies a blanket overwrite across everything — Microsoft apps, third-party software, and websites alike.

But honestly? That’s part of the joy of it.

It’s accessibility doing exactly what it’s meant to do — and if it occasionally confuses others along the way, I like to think of it as our own special kind of magic.

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