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eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

jackscogito.blogspot.com

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Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#31

Post by mcbuilder »

chambers wrote: post #12

In lieu of an e-ink monitor, I use a hotkey to toggle "Grayscale" filtering on my Mac. It's taking some of the addictiveness out of my screen viewing.

On the trip to my local recycling center I immediately did a double take when I saw a pair of Eizo GX540 monochrome medical diagnostic displays sitting there. I've got these babies hooked up and I can see myself using this e-ink mode and the grayscale nature of these monitors. Although these monitors weren't intended for productivity they are very good at editing B&W photography, terminal work, and even old films.

Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#32

Post by ikurei »

edvardas wrote: post #30
jonathanlb wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While looking for a typeface for my terminal, I happened upon the Braille Institute's website ( https://www.brailleinstitute.org/ ) which exemplifies more or less what you're describing. It is an aesthetically-pleasing site, with low visual and cognitive loads. Granted, that is an example of a site and not a browser, but I would love it if a browser could magically transform websites to look like the Braille Institut…

Do you happen to know how the Braille website's style is called? The high contrast, button shadows with big offsets. I've seen it in several places now and would like to use it myself

Probably not it, but it reminds me of some websites that have been described as "brutalist". See: https://web.archive.org/web/20250404083913/https://brutalist...

Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#33

Post by ikurei »

chambers wrote: post #12

In lieu of an e-ink monitor, I use a hotkey to toggle "Grayscale" filtering on my Mac. It's taking some of the addictiveness out of my screen viewing.

I use this setting often, together with Increase Contrast, through the Accessibility Shortcuts menu. For whatever reason, my computer feels more peaceful and calm with those on, even if it's worse and uglier too.

How did you assign it to a hotkey? I'm sure there's at least a dozen ways to do it, but I couldn't find a simple one without installing additional software.

Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#34

Post by groby_b »

This, the same as dark mode, and media queries etc, all completely undermines the core idea of the web - a semantic representation of data, rendered by a user agent, according to the users preferences.

CSS & JS are the opposite.

Yes, I realize it's a losing battle, but it's a depressing thing nonetheless.

Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#35

Post by dflock »

bityard wrote: post #6

Okay, so I started reading this and got excited to see what this was all about. I've been wanting a web browser that can turn the "regular web" (as much as possible) into something more like an e-book that happens to have hyperlinks. Essentially, imagine Reader Mode, but all the time. But this is... something else? I tried scrolling to the bottom and as soon as I click on the scroll bar, I get a pop-up showing a bunc…

I want this too! I discovered a really esotieric way to get this: https://duncanlock.net/blog/2024/01/04/super-fast-reader-mod... - but it would be really nice if there was just a way to switch reader mode on permenantly in modern browsers. Apparently Safari can do that, but afaik no other browsers support it.

I really wish browsers were more modular - if the rendering engine and network fetching were easily separable - and you could insert your own steps into that pipeline, you could do all sorts of neat stuff. If I could insert some code of my own in between the fetch and the render, that would be ideal - strip out all ads and malware, optionally remove all scripts or css, run it through readability, etc...

Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#36

Post by dflock »

groby_b wrote: post #34

This, the same as dark mode, and media queries etc, all completely undermines the core idea of the web - a semantic representation of data, rendered by a user agent, according to the users preferences. CSS & JS are the opposite. Yes, I realize it's a losing battle, but it's a depressing thing nonetheless.

Dark Mode, and media queries are both just options/hints - they are implemented on the client side - by the user agent.

The actual problem is that most browsers have forgotten that they're "user agents" - and have stipped away all the configurations and options that they used to have, removing control from the user.

Vivaldi is still very configurable, and still behaves like the users agent.

Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#37

Post by chambers »

ikurei wrote: post #33
chambers wrote: post #12

In lieu of an e-ink monitor, I use a hotkey to toggle "Grayscale" filtering on my Mac. It's taking some of the addictiveness out of my screen viewing.

I use this setting often, together with Increase Contrast, through the Accessibility Shortcuts menu. For whatever reason, my computer feels more peaceful and calm with those on, even if it's worse and uglier too. How did you assign it to a hotkey? I'm sure there's at least a dozen ways to do it, but I couldn't find a simple one without installing additional software.

I use the "Shortcut" section in Accessibility Settings. I uncheck everything except for "Color Filtering". I then map the default hotkey to a more convenient key using BetterTouchTool. BetterTouchTool is additional software for customizing input devices; I've used it for a decade and I consider it essential.

Sadly, adding "Increase Contrast" to the shortcut causes the hotkey press to generate a voiced popup instead of quietly and directly toggling.

Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#38

Post by StevenNunez »

chambers wrote: post #37
ikurei wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use this setting often, together with Increase Contrast, through the Accessibility Shortcuts menu. For whatever reason, my computer feels more peaceful and calm with those on, even if it's worse and uglier too. How did you assign it to a hotkey? I'm sure there's at least a dozen ways to do it, but I couldn't find a simple one without installing additional software.

I use the "Shortcut" section in Accessibility Settings. I uncheck everything except for "Color Filtering". I then map the default hotkey to a more convenient key using BetterTouchTool. BetterTouchTool is additional software for customizing input devices; I've used it for a decade and I consider it essential. Sadly, adding "Increase Contrast" to the shortcut causes the hotkey press to generate a voiced popup instead o…

Brilliant. I just added a button the StreamDeck using this. Thanks!

Re: eInk Mode: Making web pages easier to read

#39

Post by evantbyrne »

carlosjobim wrote: post #15
evantbyrne wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is something I've been wanting for a while. You could probably build an extension to accomplish that. One hard challenge would be extracting content and then displaying it in a way that retains its semantics across the web, including navigation, sidebars, etc. Another would be form handling.

How about an extension that does it -after- the browser has implemented reader view? Then all that is already taken care of.

As far as I can tell, none of the built-in reader modes seem to handle basic things like global navigation or pages that aren't laid out as articles. Even worse, many pages that appear to be articles to the eye won't render in reader modes. There's a lot of work to be done yet.
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