High Contrast Mode
An application that uses standard system colors or allows the user to choose colors that are not defined by the system has its basic color-related needs covered. However, Windows 95 introduces a new feature called High Contrast Mode, which the user can activate through Control Panel to advise applications to provide high contrast visuals. Applications can check for this setting by calling the SystemParametersInfo function with the SPI_GETHIGHCONTRAST value. Applications should query this value during initialization and when processing WM_COLORCHANGE messages.
When the High Contrast Mode flag is set, an application can take additional steps to make its display friendly for users who require high contrast. You should use these techniques when the High Contrast Mode flag is set:
- Omit bitmapped images or other complex backgrounds behind text and controls.
- Draw images in monochrome instead of multiple colors, and draw them using standard foreground and background colors.
- Replace application-specific colors with standard system colors defined through Control Panel, and try to use as few color combinations as possible.