Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility/Colors

"MOS:COLORS" redirects here. For the MOS guideline, see MOS:COLOR.

These color tables should help editors choose accessible backgrounds matching various color schemes. The first table contains WCAG AAA compatible for 14 different hues, plus grey and brown. In each row, the "base color" is the simplest representation of the hue. The other colors are derived from the base color by varying its lightness in HSL to achieve the necessary WCAG contrast ratio, which is defined as a ratio of slightly modified CIE relative luminance values.

It is best to choose background colors that offer sufficient contrast in relation to text and blue links, which is also the color of references, both of which are very common in most articles. Use the WCAG link contrast checker to ensure that the chosen background color offers the recommended WCAG AA level of contrast against normal text (#202122) and blue links (#3366CC for the default Vector 2022 skin). WCAG AA is required by various government bodies in the US, EU, UK and Canada.

When links and references are not present, extra contrast is possible by setting the text color to pure black (#000000). If a dark background is desired, it should be used against white text (#FFFFFF) without links or references.

Compatible WCAG AAA background colors against text and links

Base color				Darkest backgrounds for dark text			Lightest background for white text
Name	Hue	Hex	Color	Text and links (WCAG AA)	Text only	Pure black text (not default)
Red	0°	FF0000		FFE6E6	FF8888	FF6060	B60000
Orange	30°	FF8000		FFE8D0	FF8E1C	E97500	8C4600
Yellow	60°	FFFF00		F3F300	B1B100	9B9B00	5C5C00
Chartreuse	90°	80FF00		B9FF72	61C100	54A900	326500
Green	120°	00FF00		ABFFAB	00C700	00AE00	006800
Spring green	150°	00FF80		9DFFCE	00C563	#00AC56	006733
Cyan	180°	00FFFF		7DFFFF	00BFBF	00A6A6	006363
Azure	210°	0080FF		DCEEFF	60B0FF	3098FF	0057AF
Blue	240°	0000FF		EAEAFF	A2A2FF	8888FF	3030FF
Violet	270°	8000FF		F3E7FF	C994FF	B974FF	7600EC
Magenta	300°	FF00FF		FFE3FF	FF73FF	FF29FF	9F009F
Rose	330°	FF0080		FFE4F1	FF81C0	FF52A8	B00058
Grey	—	808080		EBEBEB	ABABAB	959595	595959

Web colors

Named web colors

The following web colors are supported by all major browsers since 2005.

WCAG AA with text and blue links:

• White
• Ivory
• MintCream
• Azure
• Snow
• Honeydew
• FloralWhite
• GhostWhite
• AliceBlue
• Seashell
• OldLace
• WhiteSmoke
• LavenderBlush
• Beige
• Linen
• AntiqueWhite
• LightYellow
• LemonChiffon
• LightGoldenrodYellow
• PapayaWhip
• Cornsilk
• BlanchedAlmond
• LightCyan
• Yellow

WCAG AAA with white text

• Black
• DarkSlateGray
• Navy
• DarkBlue
• MidnightBlue
• MediumBlue
• Blue
• Indigo
• Purple
• DarkSlateBlue
• DarkMagenta
• DarkRed
• Maroon
• SaddleBrown
• Brown
• DarkGreen

WCAG AA with white text

• DimGray
• MediumVioletRed
• Firebrick
• Crimson
• DarkOliveGreen
• Green
• Teal

Shorthand web colors

Many of these web colors are used as background colors for table cell templates, particularly in the yellow-green-cyan hue range. For the blue-magenta-red range, some of these templates use slightly darker colors to achieve slightly more intense colorfulness in specific cases.

WCAG AAA with unvisited links

FEF	FFE	EFD		EFE		DFE	EFF
	FFD					CFE	DFF
	FFC	EFC		DFC	DFD	BFE	CFF
	FFB	EFB	DFB	CFB	CFC	CFD	BFF
	FFA	EFA	DFA	CFA		BFD	AFF
FEE	FF9	EF9	DF9	CF9	BFB	BFC	9FF
FED	FF8	EF8	DF8	CF8		AFC
FEC	FF7	EF7	DF7	CF7
FEB	FF6	EF6	DF6	CF6
FEA	FF5	EF5	DF5	CF5
FE9	FF4	EF4	DF4	CF4
FE8	FF3	EF3	DF3	CF3	BFA	AFD
FE7	FF2	EF2	DF2	CF2	BF9	AFE
FE6	FF1	EF1	DF1	CF1	BF8	9FE
FE5	FF0	EF0	DF0	CF0	BF7	9FD	8FF
EEC	EED	EEE				EEF	DEF

Categorical palettes

The pastel 2 Brewer qualitative palette can be slightly lightened (in HSL color space) to become WCAG AAA compatible with unvisited links, resulting in the following colors:

• D9F1E6
• FEE7D6
• E7ECF4
• FAE6F2
• E6F5C9
• FFF2AE
• F5EAD9
• EBEBEB

To use this palette easily, see {{CellCategory}} and {{CategoryBgColor}}.

See also

• Lists of colors
• Help:Using colours
• Web colors