Re:Stop Using Arial and Helvetica (2013)
by kagamine on Monday January 30, 2017 @06:31AM
(#13520248)
It's generally accepted (rightly or wrongly, trends change) in UX that black on white is a "bad thing"(TM) and that a dark grey text (#333 thru #262626) makes for better readability. Or that black text on an off-white 'paper' is also better.
The problem is when inexperienced developers read about this UX rule and do both grey text and off-white bg, or use a grey text that is far too light and removed all contrast making the eyes strain to see the text at all, something that is all too common.
I use a sub-par screen regularly, a 2007 T42 screen, and the app I use most on that PC is FocusWriter, that has low contrast text aimed toward longer periods of writing .
Also, I don't really buy that "less contrast" argument. Not everyone uses a HDR Retina screen, so by dialing down the contrast in CSS, you're reducing the available contrast range on sub-par screens. People with high-contrast screens should just dial down the brightness a bit.