The 2026 Drupal Business Survey is open. Your response will help shape the future of the Drupal business ecosystem.Problem/Motivation
It would be better to default to "Auto" instead of "Light" for the Light/Dark mode setting for the Admin Theme.
Notes
- Discussed during the Accessibility Office Hours on June 18, 2026.
- Setting the best defaults is extremely important since often people do not change them.
- Honoring system and browser defaults helps people who need a certain setting (like dark mode) not have to first use an inaccessible or less comfortable setting (like light mode for some) in order to update to their preferred setting.
Steps to reproduce
- Go to the Admin Theme's Settings
- Default isn't "Auto".
Proposed resolution
- Set the default to "Auto".
- Make "Auto" the first option in the list.
Remaining tasks
User interface changes
Toggle starts on Auto.
Introduced terminology
API changes
Data model changes
Release notes snippet
Issue fork drupal-3604071
Show commands
Start within a Git clone of the project using the version control instructions.
Or, if you do not have SSH keys set up on git.drupalcode.org:
- 3604071-change-default-to
changes, plain diff MR !16164
Comments
Comment #2
mherchel+1 on this!
Comment #3
mgiffordThis is great @jmstair thanks for setting up this issue.
This is absolutely a best practice and one we should be leading with.
Comment #4
mgiffordComment #5
kentr commented+1!
Comment #6
kentr commentedI set the parent to #3585823: [Meta] Improve the accessibility of the Default Admin theme.
Comment #7
mherchelI feel when we do this, we should make "Auto" the first option in the list.
Comment #10
bernardm28 commentedIt should be good to go. Switch the default config to load auto and the order of the buttons.
Comment #11
kentr commentedI added the bit about making "Auto" the first option to the proposed resolution.
Comment #12
jurgenhaasI've reviewed the code and tested it on a fresh installation. Works as described.
Comment #13
kentr commented@jurgenhaas I saw that you assigned #3606655: Make dark mode a first class citizen of Drupal core to yourself. Does that mean that you're working on it? Should this issue wait on that one?
Comment #14
jurgenhaas@kentr yes I'm working on the other one. And actually, it would be better if this one could be merged before as my other work could then sit in top of it.
Comment #15
jurgenhaasTurns out that the implementation over at #3606655 makes this issue and its MR redundant, as the settings being adjusted here will disappear entirely. So, when the other one lands, this one should be closed as won't fix.
Comment #18
longwaveLet's land this anyway as an accessibility improvement as it's ready, and it's not clear if the other issue will land before 11.5/12.0.
Committed and pushed 73524b05a7f to main and 2092b4196a0 to 11.x. Thanks!