https://hugovk.dev/tags/macos/Recent content in macos on Hugo van KemenadeHugoen<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">{{< icon "cc" >}}&hairsp;{{< icon "cc-by" >}}&hairsp;{{< icon "cc-sa" >}}</a>&nbsp;Hugo van Kemenade<br><p class="text-xs text-neutral-500 dark:text-neutral-400">Powered by <a class="hover:underline hover:decoration-primary-400 hover:text-primary-500" href="https://gohugo.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hugo</a> &amp; <a class="hover:underline hover:decoration-primary-400 hover:text-primary-500" href="https://github.com/jpanther/congo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Congo</a> &amp; <a class="hover:underline hover:decoration-primary-400 hover:text-primary-500" href="https://hugovk.dev" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hugo</a></p>Wed, 28 Oct 2026 15:37:15 +0000https://hugovk.dev/blog/2026/macos-light-and-dark/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 15:37:15 +0000https://hugovk.dev/blog/2026/macos-light-and-dark/<p>I normally have my macOS set to dark mode because developer, but sometimes I need to take screenshots for talk slides. For readability and accessibility, it&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/teach-advocate/accessible-presentations/">important to have enough contrast</a>, and often dark text on a light background is best.</p> <h2 id="aliases" class="relative group">Aliases <span class="absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100"><a class="group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700" style="text-decoration-line: none !important;" href="#aliases" aria-label="Anchor">#</a></span></h2><p>Rather than having to click 🍎 &gt; System Settings… &gt; Appearance &gt; Light, here&rsquo;s a couple of aliases to do it from the command line:</p> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-sh" data-lang="sh"><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nb">alias</span> light-mode<span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;osascript -e &#34;tell app \&#34;System Events\&#34; to tell appearance preferences to set dark mode to false&#34;&#39;</span> </span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nb">alias</span> dark-mode<span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;osascript -e &#34;tell app \&#34;System Events\&#34; to tell appearance preferences to set dark mode to true&#34;&#39;</span> </span></span></code></pre></div><p>Then I can type <code>light-mode</code>, take the screenshot, and then go back with <code>dark-mode</code>.</p> <h2 id="see-also" class="relative group">See also <span class="absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100"><a class="group-hover:text-primary-300 dark:group-hover:text-neutral-700" style="text-decoration-line: none !important;" href="#see-also" aria-label="Anchor">#</a></span></h2><p>Some info on accessible presentations:</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://www.gov.wales/how-create-accessible-powerpoint-presentations">GOV.WALES: How to create accessible PowerPoint presentations</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/teach-advocate/accessible-presentations/">W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Making Events Accessible</a></p> </li> </ul> <hr> <p><small>Header photo: Snow basketball today (<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">CC BY-NC-SA 2.0</a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hugovk/3115549385/">Hugo van Kemenade</a>).</small></p>