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 When a business or organization decides to create a web site, most of the time they will do due diligence prior to either selecting a company to develop the site, or developing it themselves. While studying all the aspects involved in web site development, one of them items often discussed is the browser-safe web palette. A decade ago it was imperative that code-based colors include only those found in the browser-safe web palette. Before discussing whether that it still the case, it will be helpful to explain exactly what this web palette is.
The browser-safe web palette, shown at right, includes the 256 colors that older monitors were able to view. It was developed in the mid-90s because many computers came with 8-bit monitors that could only support those colors. This meant that if you wanted a color scheme that used colors that were not browser safe, they would not be viewed properly, which looked horrible on the older screens.
The good news is that the square 17" monitor is almost obsolete, replaced by widescreen models which generally view in "Truecolor," which mimics far more of the colors found in the real world, producing over 16.7 million distinct colors. Even though you can't know for sure who will be viewing your site, chances are very small that a visitor will be using the old version monitor, making the need for browser safe color obsolete.
So, in short, the answer to the question as to whether the browser-safe colors necessary for web development anymore is no, they are not. Since our eyes can see millions of colors, it's good to know that technology has brought us to a place where we can create web sites using a vast array of hues as well.
Now that the use of any color in a web site is possible, just remember that the most important thing to be aware of when choosing a color palette is color theory (knowing which colors go together) to ensure that the palette is harmonious.
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