background-color Attribute | backgroundColor Property

Sets or retrieves the color behind the content of the object.

Syntax

HTML	{ background-color: sColor }
Scripting	object.style.backgroundColor [ = sColor ]

Possible Values

sColor

String that specifies one of the following values: transparent Color of the next parent object through which the background is visible. color Any color value, including those specified in the Color Table.

The property is read/write with a default value of transparent; the cascading style sheets (CSS) attribute is not inherited.

Expressions can be used in place of the preceding value(s), as of Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5. For more information, see Dynamic Properties.

Remarks

This property can be set with the other background properties by using the background composite property.

Internet Explorer 3.0 supports the background-color attribute, but only when it's set by using the background attribute.

Example

The following examples use the background-color attribute and the backgroundColor property to specify the background color.

This example uses an inline style sheet to set the background color to beige.

Sample Code

<SPAN STYLE="font-size:14; background-color:beige">
. . . </SPAN>

This feature requires Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. Click the icon below to install the latest version. Then reload this page to view the sample.

This example uses inline scripting to set the background color to beige.

<SPAN onmouseover="this.style.backgroundColor='beige'">
. . . </SPAN>

This feature requires Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. Click the icon below to install the latest version. Then reload this page to view the sample.

Applies To

A, ADDRESS, B, BIG, BLOCKQUOTE, BODY, BUTTON, CAPTION, CENTER, CITE, CODE, COL, COLGROUP, currentStyle, custom, DD, defaults, DFN, DIR, DIV, DL, DT, EM, FIELDSET, FORM, Hn, HTML, I, IFRAME, IMG, INPUT type=button, INPUT type=checkbox, INPUT type=file, INPUT type=image, INPUT type=password, INPUT type=radio, INPUT type=reset, INPUT type=submit, INPUT type=text, ISINDEX, KBD, LABEL, LEGEND, LI, LISTING, MARQUEE, MENU, OL, OPTION, P, PLAINTEXT, PRE, runtimeStyle, S, SAMP, SELECT, SMALL, SPAN, STRIKE, STRONG, style, SUB, SUP, TABLE, TBODY, TD, TEXTAREA, TFOOT, TH, THEAD, TR, TT, U, UL, VAR, XMP