Re: color names - CSS techniques for WCAG

As I recall, Netscape borrowed its settings from the X Window System's
rgb.txt file, which has a zillion and one settings (including things like
"aliceblue" and percentages of gray), while IE 3 only knew of the 16 color
names in the HTML spec. So if you chose a color outside of the range of
known names, you got the default, whereas sRGB values stayed constant
(relative to OS color-matching). The problem was that no user agent provides
the kind of facility you're talking about (user-controlled name-value
pairs).

I know that newer versions of IE support the range of color names (mostly
because I use "aliceblue" to test elements...), but outside of the major
browsers (and devices), they're prone to failure outside the sixteen sRGB
values specified in the HTML 4.01 spec:
http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/types.html#h-6.5

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sean B. Palmer" <sean@mysterylights.com>
To: <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
Cc: "Wendy A Chisholm" <wendy@w3.org>; "Karl Dubost" <karl@w3.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 8:34 AM
Subject: Re: color names - CSS techniques for WCAG


> > There seems to have no writtent rationale for the use of
> > color numbers
>
> I was asked the same question a little while ago. I think the
> rationale is that "names" are ambiguous, and may not even be set on
> some UAs, whereas numbers are exact and should always be interpreted
> properly on UAs. *However*, I thought that using names of colors may
> allow a user to set the value that they wish for those names ("red at
> #a00000" etc.), acutally providing the user with more control, so I've
> never been too happy with that section in the TECHS document.
>
> --
> Kindest Regards,
> Sean B. Palmer
> @prefix : <http://webns.net/roughterms/> .
> :Sean :hasHomepage <http://infomesh.net/sbp/> .
>
>

Received on Wednesday, 7 March 2001 13:32:23 UTC