> In that interpretation, the authors point is even less valid.
The author's point is quite valid. #000 is a bit harsh and should be used sparingly.
> In that case he just advocates substituting a dark color by a less dark one, wrecking contrast and thereby acccessability.
That's pretty dramatic... just by swapping out black for a dark color you wreck contrast? No, that's wrong.
Check out the WCAG guidelines. Recommended contrast ratios for body text are 3:1 (minimum), 4.5:1 (level AA), or 7:1 (level AAA). The linked article uses #113654 on #FFFFFF, which has a contrast ratio of 12.5:1, which meets the highest level of the accessibility guidelines for body text contrast.
Meanwhile HN has text #828282 on #F6F6EF with a 3.54:1 contrast ratio. Barely meets minimum contrast guidelines for people with good eyesight. HN even features some #AFAFAF text, with a barely-readable 2.02:1 contrast ratio.
To clarify a bit... the #828282 is for some header info like story url domain in (parentheses) next the title, HN user names, relative timestamps, etc.
The main body text of comments which is the majority of content is #000000 total black and because of that, the high contrast makes it very readable. I hope HN never succumbs to fads and copies other websites that think it's stylish to use hard-to-read gray text on white or off-white backgrounds.
The author's point is quite valid. #000 is a bit harsh and should be used sparingly.
> In that case he just advocates substituting a dark color by a less dark one, wrecking contrast and thereby acccessability.
That's pretty dramatic... just by swapping out black for a dark color you wreck contrast? No, that's wrong.
Check out the WCAG guidelines. Recommended contrast ratios for body text are 3:1 (minimum), 4.5:1 (level AA), or 7:1 (level AAA). The linked article uses #113654 on #FFFFFF, which has a contrast ratio of 12.5:1, which meets the highest level of the accessibility guidelines for body text contrast.
Meanwhile HN has text #828282 on #F6F6EF with a 3.54:1 contrast ratio. Barely meets minimum contrast guidelines for people with good eyesight. HN even features some #AFAFAF text, with a barely-readable 2.02:1 contrast ratio.