Windows 7 Accessible Aero theme

1 June 2010, 20:32

Hello, friends!

I am a happy Windows 7 x64 user since 1st of January 2010. Although, since day one I wasn't happy about the default Aero theme, because it is too transparent and the titlebars texts are not visible on dark wallpapers and such. So, last week I thought of doing something different. Here's a Windows accessible Aero theme done by me, based on the default Aero theme. I just changed what I thought it lacks contrast. I've searched online for such themes, but I liked none of them. As such, I publish this theme for others who might need such a theme.  

For easeness, I prepared several screenshots portraying the difference between my theme (Accessible Aero) and the default Aero theme. These screenshots are a mashup of different Windows elements, in Basic and Aero modes.

 

 

 

If you like what you see, download the Accessible Aero theme here.

Here is a round-up of what this theme features:

• considerably less transparent glass, dark glass
• white text title bars with black glows, so they are readable irrespective of the background of the window
• increased contrast in the title bars for the Basic mode, when not using Aero and I also adjusted the caption buttons accordingly by enhancing the contrast between the glyphs and the buttons
• a much darker taskbar in Basic mode, making the clock and popup titles of the applications running much more readable
• a darker Start menu in Basic mode
• increased contrast for the Alt-Tab application switcher in Basic mode
• added a strong white glow to Alt-Tab app switcher to make the the title visible
• made text fields slightly more visible
• defined a clear difference between active and inactive text fields, making the borders thicker
• a more visible highlighting color for menus, popups menus, while trying to maintain the default look
• file column headers in Explorer or other applications, are enhanced as well; more visible and a more clear border between them
• changed the gray text color of tooltips to black for increased readability
• added dark glow to application titles in task bar and in the thumbnails to avoid situations when the titles are unreadable
• made the address bar, search field and the whole breadcrumb much more readable; brighter background and darker texts
• more visible separator in unlocked taskbar and other types of separators or window resize grippers
• bigger close button in taskbar pop-up thumbnails
• made the taskbar icons less wide, more ergonomic, both in Basic and Aero modes
• made more visible the MDI window buttons: close, minimize and restore/maximize
• restyled the whole taskbar to my personal taste

  By now, it is clear what is my main purpose with this theme: readability, accessibility, hence the title. So, it is not about eye-candy, fancy designs, or not even originality. I also published this theme on deviantart.com, for those using dA.

Feel free to send me comments to improve this theme.

Published in: aero, interfaces, themes, windows.