5 ms·
To the author: please use a darker font. Preferably black. I’m only in my 40’s, I don’t require glasses (yet) and I have to actively squint to read your site o
by Jolter 6mo ago
To the author: please use a darker font. Preferably black.
I’m only in my 40’s, I don’t require glasses (yet) and I have to actively squint to read your site on mobile. Safari, iPhone.
I’m pretty sure you’re under the permitted contrast levels under WCAG.
- readingnews 6mo agoCompletely agree with this comment. Had to cut / paste it into vim and q! when done, was getting a headache.
- maalhamdan 6mo agodocument.querySelectorAll('p').forEach(p => p.style.color = 'black'); Use this command in the developer tools console to change the color.
- prmoustache 6mo agoEven as a Vim user I find this completely overkill when you can just press the reader mode button on the browser.
- vovavili 6mo agoI instinctively use Dark Reader on any page with a white background so I was genuinely surprised by your comment at first.
- argsnd 6mo agoSafari’s reader mode is good for this. All you have to do is long press the icon on the left edge of the address bar.
- Jolter 6mo agoYes, it’s a great workaround but website owners should not make me do that.
- dwayne_dibley 6mo agoLONG PRESS????!?! you legend. How does one find these things out.
- Jolter 6mo agoLike this, by word of mouth. That’s how Apple has done UI design since they stopped printing paper manuals. - ctrl-shift-. to show hidden files on macOS - pull down to see search box (iOS 18) - swipe from top right corner for flashlight button - swipe up from lower middle for home screen Etc, etc
- galad87 6mo agoLong press is a shortcut, the longer way is to click on the icon beside the url and tap/click the enormous "reader mode" button.
- the-grump 6mo agoThat's what I've done for years. Long pressing is much more pleasant. I wish Apple would give us a hint rather than requiring us to chance upon this recommendation on HN.
- NetMageSCW 6mo agoThat’s a nice use for AI - pop up hints when it sees you using the long way a few times. The problem is Apple’s hints keep popping up even after you say no thanks or it’s fine.
- myself248 6mo agoIt's so intuitive, how could I have missed that?
- doubled112 6mo agoGood old iOS and hidden features. Great discoverability. Long press those, swipe that, gesture this. I have a gesture for whoever decided "find in page" should go under share.
- kaszanka 6mo agoSurprisingly only the headings (2.05) and links (3.72) fail the Firefox accessibility check, the body text is 5.74. But subjectively it seems worse and I definitely agree with you that the contrast is too low.
- KwanEsq 6mo agoI wonder if it's because of the font-weight being decreased. If I disable the `font-weight` rule in Firefox's Inspector the text gets noticeably darker, but the contrast score doesn't change. Could be a bad interaction with anti-aliasing thin text that the contrast checker isn't able to pick up.
- captainbland 6mo agoI'd say it looks pretty readable on android although I still wouldn't describe it as good. I wouldn't say I feel encouraged to squint. But possibly different antialiasing explains it.
- mhitza 6mo agoContrast looks good for the text, but the font used has very thin lines. A thicker font would have been readable by itself. At 250% page zoom it's good enough, if you don't enable the browser built-in reader mode.
- zachrip 6mo agoI think the accessibility checks only take into account the text color, not the actual real world readability of given text which in this case is impossible to read because of the font weight.
- baq 6mo ago+1 Firefox users: press F9 or C-A-R
- soblemprolver 6mo agoF9 doesn't seem to do anything for me on Linux... Neither on the posted page nor on HN. What is it supposed to do? There is no mention of F9 on this support page either: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/keyboard-shortcuts-perform-firefox-tasks-quickly https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/keyboard-shortcuts-perf... Am I missing something?
- moebrowne 6mo agoI assume they are trying to enable Reader mode which is Ctrl+Alt+R
- nbernard 6mo agoProbably. When available, reader mode can also be activated by clicking the little "page with text" icon on the right of the address bar.
- QuantumNomad_ 6mo agoAccording to http://web.archive.org/web/20260317212538/https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-reader-view-clutter-free-web-pages http://web.archive.org/web/20260317212538/https://support.mo... its F9 on Windows Ctrl + Alt + R on Linux Command + Option + R on macOS (It uses JS to only show the one for your platform but with view source you can see it mentions all three of these different OSes.) So I guess the first guy is a Windows user and you other two use Linux.
- Liquid_Fire 6mo ago> (It uses JS to only show the one for your platform but with view source you can see it mentions all three of these different OSes.) There is a dropdown at the top-right to select the platform - no need to view source.
- contravariant 6mo agoI'm also pretty sure 14 points font is a bit outdated at this point, 16 should probably be a minimum with current screens. It's not as if screens aren't wide enough to fit bigger text.
- ncts 6mo agoThat's good guidelines and all, but meanwhile you are posting it on a site with.. .default { font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color:#828282; } .admin { font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size:8.5pt; color:#000000; } .title { font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color:#828282; overflow:hidden; } .subtext { font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; color:#828282; } .yclinks { font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; color:#828282; } .pagetop { font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color:#222222; line-height:12px; } .comhead { font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; color:#828282; } .comment { font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; }
- Semaphor 6mo agoThere’s a reason I have HN set to 200%
- dsr_ 6mo agoWhich is why Firefox has memorized that this site needs 170% zoom.
- nottorp 6mo agoHaha I keep forgetting that. Fortunately the browser remembers my zoom settings per page. I'm pretty sure the font is now at 16 or something via repeated Cmd +.
- skydhash 6mo ago10 point at 96 dpi or with correctly applied scaling is very readable. But some toolkits like GTK have huge paddings for their widgets, so the text will be readable, but you’ll lose density.
- raptor99 6mo ago[flagged]
- Jolter 6mo agoThe who?
- JLCarveth 6mo ago> Please don't complain about tangential annoyances—e.g. article or website formats, name collisions, or back-button breakage.
- u1hcw9nx 6mo agoThis is not merely annoyance. This is usability failure.
- baq 6mo agoif I can't read TFA because of its formatting it isn't tangential
- u_fucking_dork 6mo ago[flagged]
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- Dylan16807 6mo agoWorst case scenario you copy the text out. It's worth complaining sometimes, but yes it's tangential.
- baq 6mo agoflying really close to the dropbox comment, sir
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- rrreese 6mo agoAs the author I certainly apreciate this feedback
- capital_guy 6mo ago
- jasode 6mo agomacOS/iOS Safari and Brave browsers have "Reader mode" . Chrome has a "Reading mode" but it's more cumbersome to use because it's buried in a side menu. For desktop browsers, I also have a bookmarklet on the bookmarks bar with the following Javascript: javascript: document.querySelectorAll('p, td, tr, ul, ol').forEach(elem => {elem.style.color = '#000'}) It doesn't darken the text on every webpage but it does work on this thread's article. (The Javascript code can probably be enhanced with more HTML heuristics to work on more webpages.)
- silvestrov 6mo agoSome css files abuse !important so you might have to add that too: {elem.style.color = '#000 !important'}
- rrreese 6mo agoYour feedback is noted! I'll darken it down a few nootches and test it on mobile. Thanks for the feedback
- billev2k 6mo agoPlease: Not "a few notches". All the way. Black. That is if you actually care if people read your posts.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- specialp 6mo ago>I don’t require glasses (yet) One day try throwing a pair on you'll be surprised. The small thin font is causing this not the text contrast. This and low light scenarios are the first things to go.
- nottorp 6mo ago> The small thin font is causing this not the text contrast. Whatever causes it, I do wear glasses (and on a recent prescription too) and the text is still very hard to read.
- bencevans 6mo agoI found this to be a common theme in web design a while back, and in part led to an experiment developing a newspaper/Pocket-like interface to reading HN. It's not perfect, but is easier on the eyes for reading... https://times.hntrends.net/story/47762864 https://times.hntrends.net/story/47762864
- avazhi 6mo agoYour iPhone has this cool feature called reader mode if you didn’t know. As for mentioning WCAG - so what if it doesn’t adhere to those guidelines? It’s his personal website, he can do what he wants with it. Telling him you found it difficult to read properly is one thing but referencing WCAG as if this guy is bound somehow to modify his own aesthetic preference for generic accessibility reasons is laughable. Part of what continues to make the web good is differing personal tastes and unique website designs - it is stifling and monotonous to see the same looking shit on every site and it isn’t like there aren’t tools (like reader mode) for people who dislike another’s personal taste.
- gkanai 6mo agoMany here at HN find that site hard to read, not just the original commenter.
- Jolter 6mo agoI don’t know, I got 140 upvotes on a nitpick so I think others agree with me it’s hard to read.
- avazhi 6mo agoDidn't say it wasn't. I said invoking an accessibility standard when it comes to a guy's personal website is laughable because the way it was said implied he was compelled to change his site because some bureaucratic busybodies somewhere said he should. Unless you are a business or a government, most people aren't overly concerned about accessibility, nor should they be - especially if it comes about only through guilt tripping or insinuated threats.
- Jolter 6mo agoI don’t think I’ve insinuated any threats. WCAG are guidelines. It’s a great idea to follow them if you want your content to be consumed, but as you say most jurisdictions would only mandate accessibility for certain actors, not for everyone. Me, I have no idea what jurisdiction the OP is in, or who he/she is, or whether WCAG would be a compliance issue to them. I just used that term as a clue/hint that there are frameworks that can help guide web authors towards good practices. Like how WCAG 2.2 specifies a minimum contrast level. Nobody knows all of this stuff by default, we all have to learn it. Gotta assume good intentions and just point them towards the tools available.
- shortformblog 6mo agoThe problem is less the color than the weight. If it was 500 rather than 300 it would be perfectly fine.
- dgellow 6mo agoReader mode?
- bayindirh 6mo agoThe font is dark enough, yet the weight is too light. Hairline or ultrathin or something. It's eye straining.
- giancarlostoro 6mo agoI'm on my laptop and that font is too thin and too small. I'm in my mid 30's ;)
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- Aerroon 6mo agoOn my android phone it's perfectly legible. Moving my phone away it's only a tiny bit worse than HN. Is this maybe a pixel density of iphone issue? I wouldn't mind a darker and higher weight font though.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]