“Hey, when did all of the computer icons disappear? I can’t see any icons on the desktop.”
This is never a fun way to start a day at work, but that’s exactly what happened when I logged into my computer and suddenly couldn’t find any blue icons. The icons became visible once I turned on high contrast mode, but disappeared again when I turned it off. I later found out that a software update had changed the blue color of my icons to perfectly match my desktop wallpaper, essentially rendering them invisible!
Since that day, I have put more thought into choosing device wallpapers and backgrounds with low vision to ensure that I can locate icons and that visual clutter is kept to a minimum. Here is a list of options for choosing device wallpapers and backgrounds with low vision, which can also be useful for CVI.
Solid black background/default high contrast mode
High contrast mode is a display feature in Windows 10 and Windows 11 that removes non-essential display graphics and formatting, allowing users to select color schemes for their device’s display, text, links, and similar items. By default, high contrast mode has no wallpaper/background image on the home screen and uses a solid black screen, while preserving the colors/appearance of icons.
Related links
- How To Use High Contrast in Windows 10 and Windows 11
- High Contrast and Low Vision
- Choosing Between Light Mode and Dark Mode For Low Vision
- How To Use Invert Colors With Low Vision
Solid color background
Solid color backgrounds are simple and can be a great option for users with low vision that prefer a more minimalist design. I recommend choosing a color that is different from the mouse pointer/cursor and common desktop icons so that these items are easy to locate on the screen. Since my mouse pointer is turquoise, I would avoid shades of teal, green, and aqua so that my mouse pointer wouldn’t blend in.
Related links
- Mouse Pointers and Low Vision
- How To Make Text Cursors Easier To See In Windows
- Computer Mice and Mouse Alternatives For Low Vision
- How To Customize Icons For Windows
- How To Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows
Visual organizer background
A visual organizer background/wallpaper is divided into sections, so users can drag icons to different areas of the screen for easier access. Some visual organizers have labels or other visual elements such as a calendar, while others are colored shapes or lines on a simple background. Users can search for a visual organizer wallpaper online or make their own in an app like Microsoft PowerPoint, Canva, PicsArt, or another art app.
Related links
- How To Create Accessible PowerPoints
- Using PicsArt To Simulate Low Vision
- How To Write Alt Text For Color Palettes
- How I Optimize My Website For Cognitive Accessibility
- How To Organize Apps On iPad With Low Vision
High resolution image/high resolution art with distinct colors
When choosing an image or digital art online, I recommend choosing the highest resolution possible or a resolution that closely matches the device display for best results. One way to make this easier when searching for online image is to long press or right-click on the image in the web browser and select “search for this image” to view the image in multiple resolutions. Again, it’s important to make sure the colors of the image are not similar to the colors of desktop icons or the mouse pointer/cursor.
Want to avoid cropping an image on a phone/tablet? Create a custom sized canvas in PicsArt, Microsoft PowerPoint, or a similar app that matches the dimensions of the home screen, and add the image to the center, adjusting the image to stretch across the width of the canvas. This allows users to fit the image to the screen.
Related links
- How To Create High Resolution Images For Low Vision
- How To Run Effective Web Searches
- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Keyboards
- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Computers
Wallpaper of the day from Microsoft
Bing Wallpapers/Wallpaper of the Day from Microsoft is a free app that allows users to view high resolution photos from Bing and set them as their device wallpaper, or have a new wallpaper automatically chosen every day. Images include animals, nature, architecture, cultural images, historical images, and many more. Bing Wallpapers is available for Windows, MacOS, and Android, and is also built into the Microsoft Launcher for Android. I have this feature enabled on Microsoft Launcher and love seeing new photos daily— especially when the photo of the day is a fun animal!
Related links
- How To Create A Custom Android Home Screen With Microsoft Launcher
- Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Android Phones
- Explore the world one photo at a time | Bing Wallpaper (microsoft.com)
Choose art from a visually impaired artist
While art is typically considered a highly visual medium, there are many artists with low vision, visual impairments, and no usable vision who create unique and interesting works of art, as well as classic artists that lived with vision loss. Everyday Sight has a great list of blind/visually impaired painters, many of whom are still creating art today, and I’ve included my list of classic artists who were influenced by their visual impairments as well.
Another great source for finding high resolution wallpaper and backgrounds is to search for free digital art for gallery walls or free digital poster prints, as these are typically at a high resolution for printing. Pinterest is a great resource.
Related links
- 10 Incredible Blind Painters – Everyday Sight
- Ten Ways Visual Impairment Influenced Classic Artists
- Art Classes and Low Vision
- How Amazon Alexa Can Help You With Art
Commissioning an artist for custom wallpapers
There are several independent artists on BlueSky, Tumblr, Fiverr, Etsy, and similar social media websites that offer inexpensive commissions for designing custom wallpapers and backgrounds for phones, tablets, and computers, including several disabled artists. Most commissions I’ve seen for wallpapers have been around $5-$10 for simple designs or color schemes, though prices vary depending on the artist. I recommend checking out hashtags like #DisabledArtist or browsing through commission tags on social media for more information.
A lot of fan art for popular movies, TV shows, anime, and books use different colors than common icons for applications and can be a great option for low vision users depending on the style. Again, I recommend checking hashtags on social media to find suitable art for this
Related links
- Tips For Creating Art For Visually Impaired Friends
- How To Customize Icons For Windows
- How To Write Alt Text For Amateur Art
- How To Write Image Descriptions For Cosplay
- How To Make Tumblr Themes Accessible For Low Vision
Other tips for choosing wallpapers and backgrounds with low vision
- On iOS, the device’s pre-installed wallpapers come with both a light mode and a dark mode option, so the wallpaper will appear in a darker color scheme when dark mode is enabled. Learn more about iOS icons and wallpapers in How To Organize Apps On iPad With Low Vision and How To Create Custom iOS Icons and Custom Home Screen Designs
- Users can download custom themes for iOS, Windows, and Android that come with a few different options for backgrounds/wallpapers on their device’s App Store. I share more tips in How To Customize Icons For Windows
- When I was using a Mac, I had to manually adjust accessibility settings to choose a different accent color than the one associated with the desktop wallpaper. Learn how to do this in Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Mac Computers
Published June 4, 2019. Updated June 2025