Beginning on January 31st, 2023,[1] the Scratch Team gradually rolled out color changes aiming to improve contrast and make Scratch more accessible for those who have poor eyesight.
Implemented
Project Icons
Before January 31st, 2023,[1] the project icons were a light shade of grey. The love and favorite icons could also be clicked to turn active, which would color them. After the update, the default shade of grey was darkened to improve contrast. The inactive state of the love and favorite icons was shown with an outline, and active icons stayed as they were before. This will allow colorblind users to differentiate inactive and active by looking for an outline.
Changed shade of green
After the change to the project icons on January 31st, 2023, a commonly used shade of green, #10be8d, was changed to a much darker one, #328554, in most places where it appears. This was done in combination with implementing the styling of the inactive buttons on the tags of the Explore page.
New block colors
- Main article: Scratch Lab#New Block Colors
On June 28th, 2023, a setting to change Scratch blocks into higher-contrast versions became available, using lighter block colors and black text. However, users are still able to switch back to the original blocks with a new dropdown in the editor.[2]
| Blocks without high-contrast | Blocks with high-contrast |
|---|---|
when gf clicked start sound (Meow v) say [High contrast blocks!] for (1) seconds forever turn cw (15) degrees move (pick random (1) to (5)) steps end |
when gf clicked start sound (Meow v) say [High contrast blocks!] for (1) seconds forever turn cw (15) degrees move (pick random (1) to (5)) steps end |
New website colors
On June 28th, 2023, the navigation bar of the Scratch website changed from blue to purple.[2] Most things that were blue prior to the changes became purple, including links, the outline around comments, and buttons, such as the Report button. On that same day, the common yellow in banners such as on the Ideas page and the Explore page changed to the new green.[3]
Controversy
The color changes have caused controversy since many Scratchers dislike the new colors.[4][5] Many scratchers have created studios and projects dedicated to 'Bringing back the blue',[6][7][8][9][10] in protest. Some other Scratchers support the purple. Lots of them have made projects and studios defending and celebrating the purple.[11][12] Some users have also changed their profile picture to match the website. There have also been multiple Flame Wars over the matter of the color. Some Scratchers who support one color have 'declared war' on the other color's supporters.[13]
References
- ↑ a b https://github.com/LLK/scratch-www/pull/7264
- ↑ a b topic:689659
- ↑ https://github.com/LLK/scratch-www/issues/7382#issuecomment-1448403509
- ↑ topic:663580
- ↑ topic:694845
- ↑ projects:870805530[dead link]
- ↑ projects:870559087
- ↑ studios:33567036[dead link]
- ↑ studios:33561162
- ↑ studios:33566724[dead link]
- ↑ studios:33561599
- ↑ studios:33569430
- ↑ studios:33561599/comments#comments-227931255
