# HTML question: In what context are non-'web-safe' colours not actually safe any more?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/html-question-in-what-context-are-non-web-safe-colours-not-actually-safe-any-more/402437
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 2, 2007, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/html-question-in-what-context-are-non-web-safe-colours-not-actually-safe-any-more/402437 "2007-05-02T09:44:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/html-question-in-what-context-are-non-web-safe-colours-not-actually-safe-any-more/402437/1 "2007-05-02T09:44:51Z")
The term ‘Web-Safe (or ‘browser-safe’) palette’ seems to still be in active use, but is there today any significant portion of the web-accessing world that would actually have problems with non-standard colours?
ETA: NB: I’m talking about colours specified by their hex values, obviously I wouldn’t expect browsers to properly render non-standard colours referred to by made up names such as ‘sort of purply-blueish mauve’
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/html-question-in-what-context-are-non-web-safe-colours-not-actually-safe-any-more/402437/2 "2007-05-02T10:44:21Z")
Only ever an issue with rendering web pages for 256-colour monitors AFAIK. There used to be some differential between colour rendering between Mac and PC, but that’s been sorted too.
In my professional opinion, then, fuggedaboudit.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/html-question-in-what-context-are-non-web-safe-colours-not-actually-safe-any-more/402437/3 "2007-05-02T11:57:24Z")
I often still use websafe colours, only because they’re nice “round” hexadecimals to use when you need a given colour of any shade, and they complement each other when they share similar hex values across RGB. But aside from that the websafe colours are meaningless, and you can use anything. In this day and age where cross-browser compatibility and 16 million colours are the default, it’s long past its usefulness.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2007, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/html-question-in-what-context-are-non-web-safe-colours-not-actually-safe-any-more/402437/4 "2007-05-03T08:37:22Z")
Useful resources (if you weren’t aware of them already): [256 color webmaster’s palette](http://www.visibone.com/color/poster2x.html) from 1997/8, and then the newer [1000-something webmaster’s palette](http://www.visibone.com/color/kilochart_900.jpg), that reflects the development in monitors and is based more around aesthetics.