NoPureBlackText [constraint] v1.0.0

Body and paragraph text must never use pure black (#000000 / oklch(0% 0 0)). Pure black on near-white induces excessive contrast and visual fatigue; use a soft near-black such as oklch(18% 0.04 var(--hue)).

Target

• body text
• paragraph color
• default foreground in long-form reading contexts

Severity

high

Values

• • Forbidden: #000000
  • Forbidden Equivalent: oklch(0% 0 0)
• • Forbidden: rgb(0, 0, 0)
  • Forbidden Equivalent: hsl(0 0% 0%)

Exceptions

• Logos and brand marks where pure black is part of the identity.
• Pure-data UI tokens (e.g., terminal text on a black-themed code editor where intent is high-contrast monospace).
• Print stylesheets (where reflectance, not emission, governs perception).

Approved Alternatives

• oklch(18% 0.04 var(--hue)) — soft near-black, hue-aware
• oklch(20% 0.02 250) — neutral cool near-black
• #1a1a1a / #1c1c1e — Apple system label (dark)
• #171717 — Tailwind neutral-900

Enforcement

Stylelint custom rule rejecting color: #000 / color: black on prose selectors (p, article *, [role=main], .prose *). PR review checks tokens for --text resolving to pure black.

NoPureBlackText [constraint] v1.0.0

Body and paragraph text must never use pure black (#000000 / oklch(0% 0 0)). Pure black on near-white induces excessive contrast and visual fatigue; use a soft near-black such as oklch(18% 0.04 var(--hue)).

Target

• body text
• paragraph color
• default foreground in long-form reading contexts

Severity

high

Values

• • Forbidden: #000000
  • Forbidden Equivalent: oklch(0% 0 0)
• • Forbidden: rgb(0, 0, 0)
  • Forbidden Equivalent: hsl(0 0% 0%)

Exceptions

• Logos and brand marks where pure black is part of the identity.
• Pure-data UI tokens (e.g., terminal text on a black-themed code editor where intent is high-contrast monospace).
• Print stylesheets (where reflectance, not emission, governs perception).

Approved Alternatives

• oklch(18% 0.04 var(--hue)) — soft near-black, hue-aware
• oklch(20% 0.02 250) — neutral cool near-black
• #1a1a1a / #1c1c1e — Apple system label (dark)
• #171717 — Tailwind neutral-900

Enforcement

Stylelint custom rule rejecting color: #000 / color: black on prose selectors (p, article *, [role=main], .prose *). PR review checks tokens for --text resolving to pure black.

Rationale

Pure black against pure white is a halation pattern: the eye over-adjusts to the maximum-contrast edge, causing chromatic blur and reading fatigue. Editorial publications (NYT, Atlantic, FT) all use a desaturated near-black around L=15–20 to soften the glare while preserving WCAG AA contrast against off-white backgrounds.