OK, I'm now on the PC. My main PC with the hi-res monitor is being refurbished so this 2nd PC will have to do, it only has an old Dell E228WFP monitor (1680x1050) attached. The browser is now Firefox.
This is a Windows PC with the browser font set to its default size. The webpage is now readable but it's still low in intensity (contrast) and the MS ClearType is having considerable difficulty in keeping certain characters sharp—in fact it's hardly working—the 'i' 'l' and 'm' look annoyingly fuzzy.
When I increase the font (CTRL +) several sizes in the browser it improves out of sight and the text becomes completely and easily readable. It's a shame I can't post some screen shots to show how significantly different that typeface is under different viewing environments/conditions. It only proves the point that web designers shouldn't just take what they see on their own monitors and assume it's the same as everyone else sees it.
As mentioned, I'm not alone in complaining about low contrast grayish typefaces, here's the first other complaints I've just found:
Incidentally, an interesting observation is that the character pi, π, in the webpage is perfectly viewable on the smartphone and has good contrast. Clearly it's from a different typeface set, it also proves that the text's typeface is the culprit in that it doesn't view well on all displays.
I'll now go back to the smartphone and figure out what typeface the phone is displaying the text in.
This is a Windows PC with the browser font set to its default size. The webpage is now readable but it's still low in intensity (contrast) and the MS ClearType is having considerable difficulty in keeping certain characters sharp—in fact it's hardly working—the 'i' 'l' and 'm' look annoyingly fuzzy.
When I increase the font (CTRL +) several sizes in the browser it improves out of sight and the text becomes completely and easily readable. It's a shame I can't post some screen shots to show how significantly different that typeface is under different viewing environments/conditions. It only proves the point that web designers shouldn't just take what they see on their own monitors and assume it's the same as everyone else sees it.
As mentioned, I'm not alone in complaining about low contrast grayish typefaces, here's the first other complaints I've just found:
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/how-the-web-became-unreadable/
https://www.contrastrebellion.com/#page2
Incidentally, an interesting observation is that the character pi, π, in the webpage is perfectly viewable on the smartphone and has good contrast. Clearly it's from a different typeface set, it also proves that the text's typeface is the culprit in that it doesn't view well on all displays.
I'll now go back to the smartphone and figure out what typeface the phone is displaying the text in.
Thanks for your comment.