W3C

CSS Color Module Level 3

W3C Recommendation

More details about this document
This version:
https://www.w3.org/TR/2022/REC-css-color-3-20220118/
Latest version:
https://www.w3.org/TR/css-color-3/
Previous version:
History
https://www.w3.org/standards/history/css-color-3
Editor's Draft:
https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color-3/
Implementation Report:
https://test.csswg.org/harness/results/css-color-3_dev/grouped/
Feedback:
GitHub Issues are preferred for discussion of this specification. When filing an issue, please put the text “css-color-3” in the title, preferably like this: “[css-color-3] …summary of comment…”. All issues and comments are archived, and there is also a historical archive.
Editors:
Tantek Çelik (Mozilla Corporation, and before at Microsoft Corporation) <>
Chris Lilley (W3C) <https://svgees.us/>
L. David Baron (W3C Invited Experts) <>
Test Suite:
http://test.csswg.org/suites/css3-color/nightly-unstable/
Errata:
https://www.w3.org/Style/2022/REC-css-color-3-20220118-errata.html

Abstract

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a language for describing the rendering of HTML and XML documents on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. It uses color-related properties and values to color the text, backgrounds, borders, and other parts of elements in a document. This specification describes color values and properties for foreground color and group opacity. These include properties and values from CSS level 2 and new values.

Status of This Document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C standards and drafts index.

This document was published by the CSS Working Group as a Recommendation using the Recommendation track.

A W3C Recommendation is a specification that, after extensive consensus-building, is endorsed by W3C and its Members, and has commitments from Working Group members to royalty-free licensing for implementations.

W3C recommends the wide deployment of this specification as a standard for the Web.

This document was produced by a group operating under the W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.

This document is governed by the 18 August 2025 W3C Process Document.

A separate implementation report shows that each test in the test suite was passed by at least two independent implementations. However, most tests have now been updated for CSS Color 4 (see implementation report).

A complete list of changes to this document is available.


1. Introduction

This section is non-normative.

CSS beyond level 2 is a set of modules, divided up to allow the specifications to develop incrementally, along with their implementations. This specification is one of those modules.