If you use a background graphic that is not white, off-white, or very light gray, then you might want to consider adding a default BGCOLOR background color that matches the background tile's color. Why do this, you may ask? If you have a lot of slow-loading graphics on your page (whoops!) or if the network conditions are slow, the background graphic may not appear until most of the text is visible on the page. The problem with this, for example, is that if your text is bright yellow and you are expecting a dark blue tiled background to appear, the text will be unreadable until the background appears. Reading bright yellow text on a gray or white background can be very difficult, so visitors may then leave your webpage! In this scenario, you should place a dark blue BGCOLOR background that will be visible before the tiled background appears. This way, visitors can read your text before the tiled background appears.

Print This Tip

Get E-Mail When New Tips are Online

Return to the Web Development - Images and Backgrounds page.