A few months ago, I started writing a post highlighting some of my favorite / most hated things about web design, patterns and techniques. For various reasons, that post didn’t go through. So, I’m glad to see David Bushell tackle one of my bucket list items in “Death to Scroll Fade!” post, asking web developers to stop using a very annoying gimmick.
Even if you don’t know what it’s called, you’ve probably come across “scroll fade” before. You land on a web page that looks surprisingly empty, but when you start scrolling, text, images, and other content disappear from view, slide to the sides, or otherwise stand out.
To be fair, a good use of the scroll fade do there – see Terry Godier’s thoughtful review of RSS interfaces or Apple’s page for the iPhone 17 Pro – but they are the exceptions that prove Bushell’s rule. Simply put, “scroll fade” rarely updates the web page. More often than not, it feels like it was just done in a last ditch effort to make the web page feel cooler and more powerful. Of course, even websites that “scroll fade” well can remove it without breaking or affecting their user experience in the slightest.
So why is the “disappearing scroll” such a bad idea? In its case, “scroll fade” degrades the user experience by requiring users to adjust their behavior to make it more acceptable for web page performance, and often without prompting or instruction. For example, if a user scrolls a page too quickly, they may be stuck on a blank screen while they wait for content to “catch up” to their position – assuming it arrives first. (This is very easy to do in the Bushell example, actually.)
At the same time, “scroll fade” increases weight of mind to usersforcing them to pay more attention How Web page content serves as a substitute for the actual content itself. Back in 2023, Sara Paul wrote an in-depth article on the scroll fade that listed potential uses (eg, to guide users, improve data flow) while also highlighting potential pitfalls. One such issue is related to “impression of completeness” (ie, the user thinks he sees everything on the web page even though there is a lot of content).
He writes: “As the information at the bottom of the page gradually disappeared from the page that had already appeared complete, many participants thought that nothing more could be found on the page.” Also:
Many participants had this issue on the Crypto.com page, because the information at the bottom of the page disappeared only after the user moved far below the cage. Finally, because our participants in one study spent time browsing this site, they found content that was out of date, but it’s safe to assume that in real life, most users won’t find it on their own.
When users find that they have to make extra efforts to ensure they see everything a web page has to offer, That, or they’ll stop browsing altogether and leave the page, thus missing something potentially important because it took too long to slip to their attention.
“Scroll fade” can also be harmful from a business perspective. Some evidence suggests that “Scroll fade” content has a negative impact on SEO because search engines discount content that is initially hidden. So, if you use “scroll fade” on the most important and important content of your page, that content will not be visible. unless user scrolls far enough down the page, you may be shooting yourself in the foot, SEO-wise.
Finally, if scroll fade can annoy users, presents real problems for disability usersand in particular, users with vestibular disorders (ie, sense of movement). For these users, animations — such as content that fades in and out — can cause dizziness, nausea, and other problems.
Ideally, their needs would be met by placing a dark scroll and other images behind prefers-reduced-motion media question, because the last thing a developer should want is for their website to make someone feel physically ill. Nothing compels web designers to do that, however, and unfortunately, accessibility is often the top priority when designing a website, especially when that time can be spent making it look “smooth,” “shiny” and “light.”
I get it, you want your web pages to look good and feel attractive to users. But there are ways to do that without using funny images that annoy and frustrate users, hurt your site’s SEO performance, and annoy disabled users. I would even go so far as to say that the only reason someone will find your website affected is because its text is fading in and out,
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