Should HN have a built-in spellcheck?

Question

A LOT of comments have misspellings, which may cause a reflexive reaction on the part of readers who notice such that the person isn't very intelligent and/or can't be bothered to go back and proofread their submission.I believe the first isn't true and the second is: people comment and move on.

codingdave · Accepted Answer

No, for a few reasons:1) Browsers have spell check. One of my general rules is not to make a web site more complicated by re-inventing features that exist in the browser.2) This is an international community, with varying English language abilities. People misspeak, misspell, and have incorrect grammar. We should be forgiving of such things in order to respect that we are not all native English speakers.

solardev · Answer

No, the browsers, operating systems, and keyboards (on mobile) can already do that.It's also a helpful form of meta-communication in that often you can tell who is or isn't a native English writer, and adjust your replies accordingly. (Not to be mean or anything, but just to limit reading level or vocabulary.)

beardyw · Answer

I agree. Americans have terrible (though consistent) bad spelling. I have tried using "colour" in CSS but it just doesn't seem to understand. Madness. Perhaps a spell checker would help them get it right;)

pwg · Answer

No. Spellchecking should be in the UI's (browsers), not part of HN.