When is Firefox going to solve the "Text in certain web pages became invisible"?
When is Firefox going to solve the "Text in certain web pages became invisible"? I have a long list of webpages that I have been collecting for a couple of years that have text that is invisible unless one uses Ctl-A to select all the text on the page. It's probably over 20 items long. The last one I found is unfortunately all the pages of an ebook that I have to read online using the publisher's ebook app that is not downloadable. It's a medical book with a lot of illustrations and charts. I gave up and opened the "hated" MS browser Edge.
I have the latest version of Firefox--"117.0 (64-bit)".
All Replies (6)
Can you give an example of one of these certain web pages?
Make sure you are not overriding colors specified by the page.
Is the text still invisible in Troubleshoot Mode?
Also make sure that you haven't changed the default text and background colors for webpages as that can cause problems with websites that only specify one and assume that the other is the default (black text on light background).
I have never knowingly changed the default text or the default background color for any webpage. I don't remember ever seeing the option to change either or both.
I've never used the "troubleshoot mode". But I did read about that anomaly in "Text in certain web pages became invisible" at https://support.mozilla.org/fy-NL/questions/1344386 .
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Invisible text, unless selected (Cntl-A), problem webpages:
https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/self-supporting
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/06/28/best-vanilla-ice-cream-brands/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/interactive/2023/heat-waves-map-us-tracker/
https://hsus.cambridge.org/HSUSWeb/HSUSEntryServlet
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/keto
https://www.rabbitears.info/static.php?name=vhf_nightmares
https://www.rabbitears.info/search.php?request=network_search&network=Charge%21
https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/13_0390.htm#table2_down
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6426a1.htm
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4334950-Reality-Winner-Interrogation-Transcript
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3848398-Reality-Winner-Affidavit-for-Application-of.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/reality-winner-interview-prison-nsa-1261844/
https://www.sonoraquest.com/appointments/
https://accounts.theatlantic.com/products/free-trial/?source=gate_toast
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/foods-that-fight-inflammation
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/co-reg
https://app.writesonic.com/signup?feature=chatsonic
https://applynow.chase.com/FlexAppWeb/pricing.do?card=GZ5S&page_type=appterms
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/hate-music-spotify-hitler-radio-1234689239/
https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/
I left out the "the publisher's ebook app that is not downloadable" because you have to sign-in to get access to the example text.
You should provide a screenshot showing the issue.
You can select some text and check the font-family in the fonts inspector and possibly the color in the computed tab.
You can right-click and select "Inspect" to open the built-in Inspector with this element selected.
- https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/page_inspector/how_to/open_the_inspector/
- https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/page_inspector/how_to/examine_and_edit_html/
You can check in the Rules tab in the right panel in the Inspector what font-family is used for selected text. You can check in the Fonts tab in the right panel in the Inspector what font is actually used because Firefox might be using a different font than specified by the website. If the Fonts tab is hidden, click the down arrow at the right end.
I think the problem is solved for me at least. (I've only tested two of the webpages listed above.) It turned out to be a simple colors problem in the settings. Both "zeroknight 8/31/23, 4:41 AM" and "cor-el Top 10 Contributor Moderator 8/31/23, 10:07 AM" had mentioned this possibility.
Specifically, I had to change the selected answer to "Override the colors specified by the page with your selections above" question from "Never" to "Always". But, before the 'settings troll' would allow me to do that I had to change the "Text and Background" box colors to different colors (black for text and white for background). Both had been white before. So, the 'settings troll' was certainly right to require that as an "Always" override answer would have truly expanded the invisibility problem to almost all the text on Firefox.
But something is wrong with either these webpages I listed above, and/or Windows, and/or Firefox. Because my colors settings were not overriding anything on these webpages. And still, some or most of the text on these webpages was invisible without any help from my Firefox browser settings.
I hope that there are no more text invisibility problems remaining on my list. I made some changes to the "Fonts" settings before changing the "Colors" settings. One of the fonts used on the offending webpages was one I had never heard of. So, I hope that I did NOT cause any other problems for myself.
Thanks to everybody who responded. And I apologize for certainly taking my time in trying to solve the problem.