I use the blacken plugin on my browser, which automatically converts all text to black. I know this isn't your point, but it is much better than altering CSS to fix the web.

Otherwise, I'd just assume the designers disrespect all of us with poor vision and take it for granted the writing is done with equal care. Rather than ranting about it, I'd rather not think about it.

With that said, for some reason, blacken doesn't automatically convert this site to black, meaning I have to manually convert the text to black. Even after the author fixed the color, it is still impossible for me to read. Please don't override user-assisted plugins. Being on the fort page of HN, I'm assuming this is a decent article, but I have no desire to read it now. thanks.

We're going to darken the text on our next push. Thanks for pointing it out.

The problem with blacken is on certain color schemes you don't want black text.

We'll make an adjustment. Thanks for the feedback.

FYI, your Contrast Ratio is 2.8:1. Aim for 4.5:1

Try using #4c4c4c

You can use this tool to test. http://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

A bad contrast ratio will always look very bad on older screen, making text hard to read. It is also hard to read by people with eyes issues.

"WCAG 2.0 level AA requires a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (14 point and bold or larger, or 18 point or larger). Level AAA requires a contrast ratio of 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text."