Are web-safe colors still relevant?

Question

Since the vast majority of monitors are 16-bit color or more, including mobile devices, does it make sense to even consider web-safe colors when choosing color schemes? Or is i

Answer 1

In my opinion, its history.

Answer 2

For me web safe color palette is no longer primary concern. Optimize for the largest target audience.

According to w3schools site visitors:

• In January 2009 1% of site visitors had 256 color displays, 95% of users had 24 or 32 bit.
• [Update] In January 2015 0.5% had 256 colours, 0.5% had 24 bit and 99% had 32 bit

I found similar numbers from a business app site that I look after:

32-bit  79.01%  

24-bit  15.64%  

16-bit  5.27%   

8-bit   0.08%

Answer 3

IMHO the point is really moot. Colors that aren't web safe are dithered anyway. It may not look the best in 256-color modes but as long as functional elements of the page/applications are not dependent on those colors it will not disturb the user experience that much.

Also most users surfing in 256-color modes will be aware of the fact colors will be dithered as I don't think that a lot of sites adhere to the web-safe colorschemes anymore.

Answer 4

Some colors do not display on some mobile devices. (trying to make a list)

The title bars are supposed to be a blue fade from CSS:

background: linear-gradient(to bottom, #0099CC1, #0033CC) repeat-x scroll 0 0 #006DCC;

On many devices the background is not visible, and the header looks like white-on-white.

Answer 5

It depends what you mean by web safe colours.

In terms of 16bit colour it's probably not worth worrying about. However Colours do not appear the same across devices. This can lead to all sorts of problems particularly if a designers gamma settings are different to your particular monitor set up.

So you still need to test your design across multiple set ups.

Answer 6

According to research, even the web safe colors were not web safe. It was an interesting idea while it was relevant, thankfully that's over now.