Theme - Highlighted search query and mention are not visible when high contrast mode is enabled

[lanitochka17]

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Version Number: 9.3.44-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: N/A - new feature, doesn't exist in prod
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #85197
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): snodijosdnjoijiosnj@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.2 / Chrome
App Component: Search

Action Performed:

Precondition:

• App theme is dark mode.
• High contrast mode is enabled.

Bug 1:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Open any chat.
3. Click search button on the top right.
4. Click Search in.

Bug 2:

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace chat.
3. Type #hey or any user mention.

Expected Result:

Highlighted search query and highlighted mention will be visible when high contrast mode is enabled.

Actual Result:

Highlighted search query and highlighted mention are not visible when high contrast mode is enabled.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7113034_1774456559984.4.mp4

Bug7113034_1774459910401.Bug_2.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @truph01

[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #85197

[melvin-bot]

💬 A slack conversation has been started in #expensify-open-source

[github-actions]

👋 Friendly reminder that deploy blockers are time-sensitive ⏱ issues! Check out the open `StagingDeployCash` deploy checklist to see the list of PRs included in this release, then work quickly to do one of the following:

1. Identify the pull request that introduced this issue and revert it.
2. Find someone who can quickly fix the issue.
3. Fix the issue yourself.

[OSBotify]

🔍 Investigation Summary

Classification: Frontend bug
Causing PR: #85197 - "feat: high contrast feature" by @truph01 (High confidence)
Related Issues: None

Recommendation: ROLL FORWARD

The fix is straightforward and safer than reverting. PR #85197 introduced high contrast theme functionality, and reverting would remove the entire feature. The fix only requires adding missing color overrides to two theme files (dark-contrast.ts and light-contrast.ts).

Labels: Keeping DeployBlockerCash (frontend bug - no label changes made)

📋 Detailed Analysis

Evidence

The bug report shows that highlighted search queries and mentions are not visible in high contrast mode. I analyzed PR #85197 which added the high contrast feature by creating new theme files:

• src/styles/theme/themes/dark-contrast.ts
• src/styles/theme/themes/light-contrast.ts

These files extend the base themes using the spread operator but only override specific colors.

Verification

Dark Contrast Theme (dark-contrast.ts):

• Overrides mentionText: colors.blue600 (#0164BF - dark blue)
• Does NOT override mentionBG, so it inherits from dark.ts: mentionBG: colors.blue600 (#0164BF - dark blue)
• Result: Both text and background are #0164BF = INVISIBLE

Light Contrast Theme (light-contrast.ts):

• Overrides mentionText: colors.blue700 (#003C73 - very dark blue)
• Does NOT override mentionBG, inheriting from light.ts: mentionBG: colors.blue100 (#B0D9FF - light blue)
• Does NOT override messageHighlightBG, inheriting: messageHighlightBG: colors.yellow100 (#FFF2B2 - light yellow)
• Result: Contrast may be insufficient for high contrast mode standards

The PR modified 32 files to implement high contrast theming but missed these critical background colors in the contrast theme definitions.

Root Cause

When creating the high contrast theme variants, the PR author overrode mentionText to achieve higher contrast text colors, but forgot to also override the corresponding background colors (mentionBG and messageHighlightBG). In dark-contrast mode, this creates a situation where mention text and background are identical colors.

The fix requires adding these overrides to both contrast theme files:

• dark-contrast.ts: Add mentionBG and messageHighlightBG overrides with contrasting colors
• light-contrast.ts: Add mentionBG and messageHighlightBG overrides with higher contrast values

[Valforte]

@truph01 I don't wat to revert the High contrast for this bug, can you create a PR fixing this and any other potential problems detected during QA?