

Ask HN: Fixing low contrast websites on the client side - Tepix

I&#x27;m annoyed by websites that are hard to read, HN being one of them. I can only mail them and tell them about the issue (and point to contrast rebellion), but I can&#x27;t force them to make their site pleasant to read.
Is there a smart way to improve <i>all</i> websites with poor contrast (especially gray text) with a user stylesheet? Ideally it would turn grey text on a light background into black and turn grey text on a dark background into white.
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smt88
TL;DR - Clearly[1] and HackerWeb[2].

I agree. I'm especially annoyed by HN's terrible design because this is
supposed to be a site for web enthusiasts. Stubbornly sticking to this
unusable, ugly, un-responsive design, just for the sake of looking hack-y and
unrefined, is ridiculous. A designer could fix this mess in a few hours (and
many actually have, with third-party HN clients).

For general browsing, I use Clearly[1]. Because HN has comments and threads
and whatnot, I use a dedicated app[2].

1\.
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearly/iooicodkii...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearly/iooicodkiihhpojmmeghjclgihfjdjhj?hl=en)

2\. [http://cheeaun.github.io/hackerweb/](http://cheeaun.github.io/hackerweb/)

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jamesdelaneyie
Can't say I completely agree that sticking to it's current design is
ridiculous. The risk of backlash from the community upon changing anything is
high for one. Personally, I prefer communities where their 'brand' is imbued
into the site design. This is a site for 'hackers', why should it look like
anything else?

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smt88
So making the site responsive would create backlash? I just don't buy it. Very
few users' enjoyment of HN will be made or broken by the design, unless it
becomes gaudy/trendy/elaborate. I'm not suggesting that. It should be simple
-- just _modern_ and simple.

And although I don't have this problem, some users have visual impairments.
Having a site that is so difficult-to-read is discriminating against those
people. It's 2015, and it's long-past time to worry about accessibility.

~~~
jamesdelaneyie
Bit late but worth the read: [http://www.wired.com/2015/02/on-the-joy-of-
mastery/](http://www.wired.com/2015/02/on-the-joy-of-mastery/)

Agree with you on accessibility and responsiveness. Think visual design for
the most part should stay the same.

