Is it me or is it everyone else...

[Zogbert Splod]

Is it me or is it everyone else?  OK, not EVERYONE, but a lot of people.  More accurately, a lot of websites.  I am forced to wonder why so many web designers are using dark grey text on either a white or light grey background.  I doubt if I am the only one who has a problem with the lack of contrast making things hard to see/read.
My set up here consists of dual 24" monitors.  They are of a good quality and have a good range of contrast, but I still struggle to read the information presented in an increasing number of cases.  I used to think it was simply an 'increasing age' problem but was told recently, by a young man in college studying 'media', that they were increasingly being encouraged to use low contrast as it was more 'restful' and presented 'less strain' to the eyes of the reader.
Together with the decreasing font sizes in use by many web designers this is really becoming a problem for me and I suspect that I am not alone.
How much of this is an age thing and how much of it is a web fashion thing?  I don't expect to get much younger any time soon so I am hoping that it is the 'fashion' aspect that is stronger, and that the fashion changes SOON!

Please tell me that I am not the only one suffering from this situation...

Regards, Allan.....

[austinbob]

I think you are absolutely right Mr. Splod. I have often seen weird colour schemes with pretty much zero contrast like... Light yellow on a light grey, dark purple on dark blue etc..
White on very light grey is just as bad. Its actually more of a strain to view these than black or dark grey on a white background. As you get older you need better contrast IMHO.

[Newportnobby]

Have you got a link to an example, Allan. I need glasses to watch TV and for driving but otherwise rely on the MK1 eyeball, and they both tend to water a lot  :'(

[railsquid]

Whatever he said, plus "EXCESSIVE WHITE SPACE, AAAARGH!". And let's not mention autoplay video content, I thought we'd got over that ca. 2004, but obviously there's a new generation of web designers who have yet to understand the advantages of being slapped around the face with a large wet fish.

[railsquid]

Oh, and infinitely scrolling pages, DIE DIE DIE.

[themadhippy]

aint a clue wotcha talking about

[railsquid]

Oh, and if I'm viewing a website on my mini tablet with phone app (aka smartphone, aka DIE DIE DIE YOU USELESS PIECE OF OVERHYPED GARBAGE, and I don't even have an iPhone), please please please remember my preference for "desktop mode" and not that insipid "mobile version".

[railsquid]

aint a clue wotcha talking about

It's all relative

[ntpntpntp]

I agree that weird text/background combinations are a real pain.  It was a fashion 20 years ago but decent web designers soon realised it was a bad idea, and most mainstream sites now stick to straight forward black on a light-ish background. I prefer it if the background isn't pure white, as long as there's still good contrast.   This forum gets it about right.   I tend to drop the brightness right down on my monitors anyway as I'm staring at them all day at work.

What I hate is web sites where the designer has decided they can do a better job than the browser when it comes to scroll bars etc., and instead write their own scroll routines etc.  We had a design house do that for my company's web site back in the late 90s, it was ridiculous.

My current pet hate are these flippin' "reader" apps with animated page turning and other junk which add no value at all to the reading experience (in my opinion).  Just give me a pdf of the magazine (or whatever) and the standard pdf reader!!!

[ntpntpntp]

... oh and add to that, I also hate it when the website tries to be "helpful" and show menu dropdowns if your mouse simply passes over a link.  Really irritating if the script behind it doesn't work properly and leaves the dropdown up when you're nowhere near.   If I want to see the menu I'll click the link, thanks.

[austinbob]

aint a clue wotcha talking about

After a bit of squinting and magnification... That is definitely what I'm talking about.

[Malc]

aint a clue wotcha talking about

After a bit of squinting and magnification... That is definitely what I'm talking about.

I just highlight the text with my mouse, if I'm on a PC. Doesn't work as well on a tablet or phone.

[Buzzard]

Cannot abide websites that assume I'm using a screen resolution set to billions of pixels wide or have a monitor the size of a big screen at a sports event.

Anyone know a quick key in Firefox for left and right scrolling?

[RailGooner]

Left/Right Arrow keys?

[daffy]

I have a foolproof method for dealing with websites that place design and effect over function -

I close them.