Ask HN: Fixing low contrast websites on the client side

[Tepix]

I'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't force them to make their site pleasant to read. Is there a smart way to improve all 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.

[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...

2. http://cheeaun.github.io/hackerweb/

[jamesdelaneyie → smt88]

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?

[smt88 → jamesdelaneyie]

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 → smt88]

Bit late but worth the read: 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.