Unpopular opinion: pure black text on white is not always the easiest to read
I run a free contrast checker on my flyers every week and I keep seeing people post designs with #000000 text on #FFFFFF and call them done. Last month I tested a 14 point body block that way and then swapped it to a dark charcoal, around #1F1F1F, and three people at my print shop in Akron said the charcoal version felt calmer on the eyes without losing any contrast. What people get wrong is thinking max contrast always equals easy reading. It passes the check, but on a long paragraph the pure black starts to glare and your eyes work harder. Has anyone else tested dark gray on white and found a sweet spot that still passes?