It depends on how big/important/popular of a product you're talking about, but most software that your average joe uses (operating systems, native communication

It depends on how big/important/popular of a product you're talking about, but most software that your average joe uses (operating systems, native communication apps, national websites) likely either conduct significant usability testing or largely inform their designs using great usability testing from people like the mozilla foundation and the nielsen norman group. And no-- neither of those organizations have to be perfect for that to be a perfectly valid approach, and if you follow that guidance, you'll never end up with a 'very low contrast' interface.