- background
- Try it
- Constituent properties
- Syntax
- Values
- Accessibility concerns
- Formal definition
- Formal syntax
- Examples
- Setting backgrounds with color keywords and images
- HTML
- CSS
- Result
- Specifications
- Browser compatibility
- See also
- Found a content problem with this page?
- MDN
- Support
- Our communities
- Developers
- HTML Background Color Tutorial – How to Change a Div Background Color, Explained with Code Examples
- Default Background Color of an Element
- Changing the Background Color of a Div
- Background Color and the CSS Box Model
- Background-color Values
- Extra Note
- Conclusion
- background-color
- Try it
- Syntax
- Values
- Accessibility concerns
- Formal definition
- Formal syntax
- Examples
- HTML
- CSS
- Result
- Specifications
- Browser compatibility
- See also
- Found a content problem with this page?
- MDN
- Support
- Our communities
- Developers
background
The background shorthand CSS property sets all background style properties at once, such as color, image, origin and size, or repeat method. Component properties not set in the background shorthand property value declaration are set to their default values.
Try it
Constituent properties
This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:
Syntax
/* Using a */ background: green; /* Using a and */ background: url("test.jpg") repeat-y; /* Using a and */ background: border-box red; /* A single image, centered and scaled */ background: no-repeat center/80% url("../img/image.png"); /* Global values */ background: inherit; background: initial; background: revert; background: revert-layer; background: unset;
The background property is specified as one or more background layers, separated by commas.
The syntax of each layer is as follows:
- Each layer may include zero or one occurrences of any of the following values:
- The value may only be included immediately after , separated with the ‘/’ character, like this: » center/80% «.
- The value may be included zero, one, or two times. If included once, it sets both background-origin and background-clip . If it is included twice, the first occurrence sets background-origin , and the second sets background-clip .
- The value may only be included in the last layer specified.
Values
See background-clip and background-origin . Default: border-box and padding-box respectively.
See background-color . Default: transparent .
The following three lines of CSS are equivalent:
background: none; background: transparent; background: repeat scroll 0% 0% / auto padding-box border-box none transparent;
Accessibility concerns
Browsers do not provide any special information on background images to assistive technology. This is important primarily for screen readers, as a screen reader will not announce its presence and therefore convey nothing to its users. If the image contains information critical to understanding the page’s overall purpose, it is better to describe it semantically in the document.
Formal definition
- background-image : none
- background-position : 0% 0%
- background-size : auto auto
- background-repeat : repeat
- background-origin : padding-box
- background-clip : border-box
- background-attachment : scroll
- background-color : transparent
- background-position : refer to the size of the background positioning area minus size of background image; size refers to the width for horizontal offsets and to the height for vertical offsets
- background-size : relative to the background positioning area
- background-image : as specified, but with url() values made absolute
- background-position : as each of the properties of the shorthand:
- background-position-x : A list, each item consisting of: an offset given as a combination of an absolute length and a percentage, plus an origin keyword
- background-position-y : A list, each item consisting of: an offset given as a combination of an absolute length and a percentage, plus an origin keyword
- background-color : a color
- background-image : discrete
- background-clip : a repeatable list of
- background-position : a repeatable list of
- background-size : a repeatable list of
- background-repeat : discrete
- background-attachment : discrete
Formal syntax
background =
[ # , ]?=
||
[ / ]? ||
||
||
||
=
||
||
[ / ]? ||
||
||
||
=
|
none=
[ left | center | right | top | bottom | ] |
[ left | center | right | ] [ top | center | bottom | ] |
[ center | [ left | right ] ? ] && [ center | [ top | bottom ] ? ]=
[ | auto ] |
cover |
contain=
repeat-x |
repeat-y |
[ repeat | space | round | no-repeat ]=
scroll |
fixed |
local=
border-box |
padding-box |
content-box=
|=
|=
url( * ) |
src( * )Examples
Setting backgrounds with color keywords and images
HTML
p class="topbanner"> Starry skybr /> Twinkle twinklebr /> Starry sky p> p class="warning">Here is a paragraphp> p>p>
CSS
.warning background: pink; > .topbanner background: url("starsolid.gif") #99f repeat-y fixed; >
Result
Specifications
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
Found a content problem with this page?
This page was last modified on Jul 18, 2023 by MDN contributors.
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Portions of this content are ©1998– 2023 by individual mozilla.org contributors. Content available under a Creative Commons license.HTML Background Color Tutorial – How to Change a Div Background Color, Explained with Code Examples
One of the most common things you may have to do as a web developer is to change the background-color of an HTML element. But it may be confusing to do if you do not understand how to use the CSS background-color property.
In the article, we discuss
- the default background color value of an HTML element
- how to change the background color of a div, which is a very common element
- which parts of the CSS box model are affected by the background-color property, and
- the different values this property can take.
Default Background Color of an Element
The default background color of a div is transparent . So if you do not specify the background-color of a div, it will display that of its parent element.
Changing the Background Color of a Div
In this example, we will change the background colors of the following divs.
I love HTMLI love CSSI love JavaScriptWithout any styling, this will translate to the following visually.
Let’s change the background color of the divs by adding styles to the classes. You can follow along by trying the examples in an HTML file.
.div-1 < background-color: #EBEBEB; >.div-2 < background-color: #ABBAEA; >.div-3
I love HTMLI love CSSI love JavaScriptThis will result in the following:
Cool! We have successfully changed the background color of this div. Next, let’s get to know more about this property. Let’s see how the background-color property affects parts of the CSS-box model.
Background Color and the CSS Box Model
According to the CSS box model, all HTML elements can be modeled as rectangular boxes. Every box is composed of 4 parts as shown in the diagram below.
You can read up on the box model if you are not familiar with it. The question is, which part of the box model is affected when you change the background color of a div? The simple answer is the padding area and the content area. Let’s confirm this by using an example.
body < background-color: #ABBAEA; >.child
This is the parent div which contains the div we are testing
This example shows that changing the background color of a div does not affect the border and margin of the div.
From the example above, we can see that the margin area and the border area are not affected by the change in background color. We can change the color of the border using the border-color property. The margin area remains transparent and reflects the background color of the parent container.
Finally, let’s discuss the values the background-color property can take.
Background-color Values
Just like the color property, the background-color property can take six different values. Let’s consider the three most common values with an example. In the example, we set the background-color of the div to red with different values.
/* Keyword value/name of color */ .div-1 < background-color: red; >/* Hexadecimal value */ .div-2 < background-color: #FF0000; >/* RGB value */ .div-3
The background property can take six different values.
The background property can take six different values.
The background property can take six different values.
Notice that they all result with the same background color.
Other values the background-color property can take include HSL value, special keyword values and global values. Here are examples of each of them.
/* HSL value */ background-color: hsl(0, 100%, 25%; /* Special keyword values */ background-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; /* Global values */ background-color: inherit; background-color: initial; background-color: unset;
You can read more on each of these values here.
Extra Note
When setting the background color of an element, it is important to ensure that the contrast ratio of the background color and the color of the text it contains is high enough. This is to ensure that people with low vision can easily read the text.
The contrast between the background color of the first div and the color of the text is not high enough for everyone to see. So unless you are the only one using the website you are building and you have very good eyesight, you should avoid such color combinations.
The second div has a much better contrast ratio between the background color and the color of the text . Thus, it is more accessible and clearer for people to read.
Conclusion
In this article, we saw how you can change the background-color of a div. We also discussed which parts of the CSS box model are affected by the change in background-color. Finally, we discussed the values the background-color property can take.
I hope you found this article useful. Thanks for reading.
background-color
The background-color CSS property sets the background color of an element.
Try it
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: rgb(117 190 218 / 0.5); /* 50% transparent */ /* HSL value */ background-color: hsl(50 33% 25%); /* Fully opaque */ background-color: hsl(50 33% 25% / 0.75); /* 75% opaque, i.e. 25% transparent */ /* Special keyword values */ background-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; /* Global values */ background-color: inherit; background-color: initial; background-color: revert; background-color: revert-layer; background-color: unset;
The background-color property is specified as a single value.
Values
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.
Formal definition
Formal syntax
Examples
HTML
div class="exampleone">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuerdiv> div class="exampletwo">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuerdiv> div class="examplethree">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuerdiv>
CSS
.exampleone background-color: transparent; > .exampletwo background-color: rgb(153, 102, 153); color: rgb(255, 255, 204); > .examplethree background-color: #777799; color: #ffffff; >
Result
Specifications
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
Found a content problem with this page?
This page was last modified on Jul 18, 2023 by MDN contributors.
Your blueprint for a better internet.
MDN
Support
Our communities
Developers
Visit Mozilla Corporation’s not-for-profit parent, the Mozilla Foundation.
Portions of this content are ©1998– 2023 by individual mozilla.org contributors. Content available under a Creative Commons license.