The background-color
CSS property sets the background color of an element.
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Syntax
/* Keyword values */ background-color: red; background-color: indigo; /* Hexadecimal value */ background-color: #bbff00; /* Fully opaque */ background-color: #bf0; /* Fully opaque shorthand */ background-color: #11ffee00; /* Fully transparent */ background-color: #1fe0; /* Fully transparent shorthand */ background-color: #11ffeeff; /* Fully opaque */ background-color: #1fef; /* Fully opaque shorthand */ /* RGB value */ background-color: rgb(255, 255, 128); /* Fully opaque */ background-color: rgba(117, 190, 218, 0.5); /* 50% transparent */ /* HSL value */ background-color: hsl(50, 33%, 25%); /* Fully opaque */ background-color: hsla(50, 33%, 25%, 0.75); /* 75% transparent */ /* Special keyword values */ background-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; /* Global values */ background-color: inherit; background-color: initial; background-color: unset;
The background-color
property is specified as a single <color>
value.
Values
<color>
- The uniform color of the background. It is rendered behind any
background-image
that is specified, although the color will still be visible through any transparency in the image.
Accessibility concerns
It is important to ensure that the contrast ratio between the background color and the color of the text placed over it is high enough that people experiencing low vision conditions will be able to read the content of the page.
Color contrast ratio is determined by comparing the luminance of the text and background color values. In order to meet current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a ratio of 4.5:1 is required for text content and 3:1 for larger text such as headings. Large text is defined as 18.66px and bold or larger, or 24px or larger.
- WebAIM: Color Contrast Checker
- MDN Understanding WCAG, Guideline 1.4 explanations
- Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0
Formal definition
Initial value | transparent |
---|---|
Applies to | all elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line . |
Inherited | no |
Computed value | computed color |
Animation type | a color |
Formal syntax
<color>where
<color> = <rgb()> | <rgba()> | <hsl()> | <hsla()> | <hex-color> | <named-color> | currentcolor | <deprecated-system-color>
where
<rgb()> = rgb( <percentage>{3} [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | rgb( <number>{3} [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | rgb( <percentage>#{3} , <alpha-value>? ) | rgb( <number>#{3} , <alpha-value>? )
<rgba()> = rgba( <percentage>{3} [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | rgba( <number>{3} [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | rgba( <percentage>#{3} , <alpha-value>? ) | rgba( <number>#{3} , <alpha-value>? )
<hsl()> = hsl( <hue> <percentage> <percentage> [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | hsl( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage>, <alpha-value>? )
<hsla()> = hsla( <hue> <percentage> <percentage> [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | hsla( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage>, <alpha-value>? )where
<alpha-value> = <number> | <percentage>
<hue> = <number> | <angle>
Examples
HTML
<div class="exampleone"> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer </div> <div class="exampletwo"> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer </div> <div class="examplethree"> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer </div>
CSS
.exampleone { background-color: teal; color: white; } .exampletwo { background-color: rgb(153,102,153); color: rgb(255,255,204); } .examplethree { background-color: #777799; color: #FFFFFF; }
Result
Specifications
Specification | Comment | Feedback |
---|---|---|
CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 3 The definition of 'background-color' in that specification. |
Though technically removing the transparent keyword, this doesn't change anything as it has been incorporated as a true <color> |
Backgrounds Level 3 GitHub issues |
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'background-color' in that specification. |
||
CSS Level 1 The definition of 'background-color' in that specification. |
Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
background-color | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE
Full support
4
| Opera Full support 3.5 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support ≤37 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 14 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- See implementation notes.
- See implementation notes.
See also
- Multiple backgrounds
- The
<color>
data type - Other color-related properties:
color
,border-color
,outline-color
,text-decoration-color
,text-emphasis-color
,text-shadow
,caret-color
, andcolumn-rule-color
- Applying color to HTML elements using CSS