Gray text vs. legibility

[dan3]

Why are you using gray text?

Are there any studies that confirm its benefits? All I have seen on the web is opinions about eye strain. If that is true, is that more of a problem than what seems to be obviously obscuring the text, making it less legible with probable decreases in retention and comprehension? For me as a desktop user, it's hard to read, so it probably impacts people with visual impairments even more. It IS trendy. But I doubt it's good for usability.

Are there any Canvas workarounds?

Dan

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello  @dan3  Welcome to the Canvas Community.  Thanks for posting your question.  You might want to consider talking to your school's local Canvas administrator.  Your Canvas admin has access to your school's entire Canvas account and any sub-accounts within Canvas.  As you can see from this Admin Guide, https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10891-4214418311 (take a look at the "Locate Components" heading about half-way down), it is possible to change the color of the "Main Text Color" to black (in this case, #000000).  This color change would then be applied to all courses in the account or all courses in the sub-account...not just your individual course(s).  I wasn't able to really identify where, in the screen shot you provided, you were seeing that gray text, but it looked a bit lighter than what I've normally seen.  So, maybe this was a change that was on purpose at your school?  Your local Canvas admin would be able to know for certain, however.  I hope this helps, Daniel.

[Stef_retired · Accepted solution]

Hi,  @dan3  Welcome to the Canvas Community! Based on your screenshot, you're referring to the text here in the Canvas Community—right? I share your concern. Please know that we are right in the midst of tweaking all of the color choices to make the text easier to read. I currently have High Contrast Mode enabled (you'll find it in your profile preferences), and that is darkening the displayed text for me considerably, but we are hopeful that once we've got the design the way we want it toggling to HCM will no longer be necessary.

Also, since your question is about the design of the Canvas Community rather than the UI of the Canvas software product, we've moved it to the Meta Community Group‌ where we discuss all-things-Community. 

Thanks!