Some websites are just plain hard to read.  It might be that the background color is dark and the text is too dark, so there is not enough contrast.  Or maybe the background is actually an image, and it makes the text difficult to see.  Or it could be that the font is just too small.

Whatever the reason…if you find yourself having a hard time reading the words on a website, remember this: it’s not your fault (at least in most cases).

When a website is created, it is the responsibility of the website designer to make the site easily readable by anyone who might visit the site.  If it’s not easy to read, that’s who you blame.

But what if you are at a website that you actually need to read?  It’s nice to know who’s at fault, but that doesn’t help you with being able to read the information.

Here’s a trick you can try:  Hold down the Ctrl key, and tap the letter “a”.  What this does is highlight everything on the page, so the text usually becomes more visible.

Let’s try an example.  Here’s a link to one of the most poorly-designed websites ever: Cherokee Rose Border Collies.  These people may be great with dogs, but they should hire someone to do their website.

Anyway, if you look down the left side you might be able to see that there is some black text there.  It’s difficult to see because of the background image.  Click Ctrl + A, and see what happens.  The website design remains completely awful, but at least you can read the words if you need to.

(Side note: if you have a website that needs to be found on Google by your prospective customers, contact me.)

This week’s video is comedian Tim Hawkins talking about the creepiness of children’s bedtime prayers:

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