I know there’s nothing very scientific about this comment, but… Microsoft Word used to have an option for using a blue background with white text. It may still exist - not sure. I always turned it on as it seemed easier on the eyes.
For a while I used to use black on light blue for my test HTML pages. Because it was easier on the eyes, but mostly because the color code was #badbee
Easy to remember and it suited my somewhat quirky sense of humor.
Raphaelle: If you want a color blindness simulator the following tool is MUCH better than the VisCheck tool Stomme posted: http://colorfilter.wickline.org/
It checks against 3 color deficiency problems and 2 monochrome deficiency problems which the VisCheck agent doesn’t even bother about 
Total filters: Protanopia, Deutanopia, Tritanopia, Achromatopsia, Atypical Achromatopsia, Protanomaly, Deutanomaly, Tritanomaly.
Thanks for posting that link. It sure does make the design look different. But it’s still readable and acceptable, just different. It’s a relief to know that it still works for (at least what was tested for) color blind visitors.
Thanks Alex for the link, I hadn’t come across that one before.
I use the colour contrast analyser from <snip> then Resources then Tools to download - pages’ urls don’t appear in the address bar, great for bookmarking, eh. (I think CCA was once available from juicy studios as well)
It offers colour contrast, luminosity and colour blindness (under simulations)
[Mittineague] - Yes, IMHO http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=628 is a much better link
Why on earth were they using Framesets? Dr John, you could have opened the link into a new tab and got: http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=628 There is something weird going on with that site. Sometimes when you using a referring technique it loads within a frameset then others it doesn’t… It seems to correct itself if you go through the /info.aspx I think they didn’t set the server/scripting correctly.
Sounds odd, but black text on white background is very easy for me to read. Read on, I am dyslexic. I tried all sorts of things, themes, setting color preference settings, etc. I was always running into a program, example Microsft Word that wanted to use white background with black text, so tweaking would continue. Found if I changed my monitor settings, I didn’t have to tweak for programs. White is no longer a bright white. Now I have another problem, anyone who uses medium grey on white with a font like courier new (small stem size) is harder for me to read. A text with a consistent wide stem uses more pixels, so shows more of the text color.
Just information about how a font choice with size setting can make a difference on readability.
techmichelle makes a good point.
Also, too many make a site’s design too complicated. Just darken the background just a tad, to rid of the bright white.
Done.
I really wasn’t aware of this at all… I always assumed that white on black was the best for accessibility… Regarding the simplebits link - Is that to do with the grain texture of the background or is it just still colours were talking about here?