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Comment by aw3c2 | Hacker News Reader

tldr: Do not waste your time on this.

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Webdesigners: please make sites usable.

The non-javascript fallback display is somewhat broken but at least it works. With javascript enabled the site is stuck on the second slide (Opera 11.50).

And then there is the part where the site says "Content ≠ Illustration". Well, yeah, you first. And by the way, centered text is hard to read. And I can't use my browser's back button nor does the site provide such a function. And dear god, it gets even better on this slide:

Let's put an end to this low-contrast, light gray nonsense and use typography for its purpose:

MAKING TEXT READABLE.

AGREE? LET'S CHANGE THE WORLD TOGETHER!

Never heard about all uppercase text being hard to read?

This might just be an elaborate joke or sarcasm, if so, I do not get it.

View on HN

Whenever I see a piece like this on Hacker News anymore (one that is going to provoke discussion), I am expecting a comment like this one. One that is equally as provocative in itself and taking the opposite stance.

People upvote these comments and they tend to make it to the top. This says something about HN.

What's wrong with comments like these ones is that they are being overly aggressive and argumentative for the sake of being overly aggressive and argumentative. Sure, being critical of others' opinions is a good habit to have, but disrespect is not.

In this comment, you tell the other site users to not waste your time on this and that this might just be an elaborate joke or sarcasm. That's pretty harsh for something that someone wrapped up together in their spare time and evidently put effort into it. Whether or not you agree, at least try to find the light in the piece of the work.

I know that a lot of people would be more inclined to read and accept an answer if you made it into less of a one-sided argument. Acknowledging both side and taking time to point out the strengths before the weaknesses go a long way and add to the overall politeness of the comment.

I think that, despite making some mistakes of its own, the content of the article is still valid and raises some important points. I did find it irritating that they used small, light coloured text on a dark background in places, as I find this very difficult to read (and am hardly alone in that).

However, I think there are bigger fish to fry than quibbles like that. On any given day, there's at least one article on the HN front page that I actually cannot easily read, and frequently it's black text on a white background, plenty of contrast, just far far too thin on my display. I suspect the significant difference between font weights in browsers between OS X and everything else may be to blame.

I also don't understand why people feel the need to use giant text everywhere- that's just as hard/annoying to read as tiny text. I'm with you on all points.

A better article on the topic: http://www.informationarchitects.jp/en/100E2R/

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