How to Choose Website Navigation Menu Colors | Color Scheme Tips for Readability

A website navigation menu helps visitors find the pages they need. Making every link visually prominent can have the opposite effect: when every menu item competes for attention, choosing where to go becomes harder. Start with a readable menu background and text, then use labels, spacing, and a clear order to guide visitors. This example explores the navigation of a hypothetical mobile-library website that publishes its visiting schedule and borrowing information, including how the menu behaves on a smartphone.

Start with readable menu text, then separate navigation from actions

The first job of a menu is to communicate what visitors can find. A mobile-library site might use four simple links: “Visit schedule,” “Stop locations,” “How borrowing works,” and “Frequently asked questions.” These links do not need four different colors. Give ordinary navigation items a consistent text color and size, and use sufficient spacing to make the destinations easy to scan. An action such as starting library registration can instead appear as a clearly identified button in the page content.

With dark lettering on a light navigation surface, assess the contrast between the letters and their actual background rather than simply deciding that the hues look different. A contrast ratio measures the difference in relative luminance between two adjacent colors. The menu also does not need a radically different background from the page. A modest border and thoughtful spacing can establish the division where necessary.

Pointer hover, the marker for the page currently being viewed, and keyboard focus are three different states. Establish the readability of the ordinary navigation first; only then add visual treatments for those special states. This article concentrates on choosing colors for the navigation as a whole, rather than turning every state into a separate prominent accent.

Example palette for a mobile-library schedule and information website

Imagine a site offering a route calendar, locations where the library stops, borrowing instructions, frequently asked questions, and information about signing up. HEX refers to hexadecimal notation for specifying colors on the web. The menu uses a pale background and dark text, while an action button in the content has its own color role.

• Overall navigation background: Use pale sage ■#EAF0E9, distinct from the page’s warm off-white ■#F9F7F2. These two surfaces contrast by only about 1.08:1. Where the navigation needs a visible boundary, add a muted gray-green ■#70847A bottom line. The line contrasts by approximately 3.44:1 with the sage navigation background ■#EAF0E9.
• Four ordinary menu links: Use deep green ■#244E42 for “Visit schedule,” “Stop locations,” “How borrowing works,” and “Frequently asked questions.” Against the pale sage ■#EAF0E9 surface, the text has about 8.09:1 contrast. Keep link treatments consistent instead of giving each destination a new color.
• Pointer hover on a menu item: Temporarily change the surface to muted mint ■#D4E4DA while retaining deep green ■#244E42 lettering. Text contrast is approximately 7.09:1. The mint ■#D4E4DA and ordinary sage ■#EAF0E9 surfaces differ by only about 1.14:1, so add an underline or another visible cue as well. Hover is not the same as marking the current page.
• Mobile navigation toggle: On a narrow screen, pair the familiar three-line icon with the visible label “Menu.” Render both in deep green ■#244E42 on sage ■#EAF0E9 for about 8.09:1 contrast. Make the button actually open and close the link list rather than showing a decorative icon alone.
• Expanded mobile navigation: Use white ■#FFFFFF behind the opened link list with deep green ■#244E42 text, giving approximately 9.36:1 contrast. Where the white panel needs an outline, use muted gray-green ■#76867C, which contrasts by about 3.84:1 with white ■#FFFFFF. Keep the same link names and order as in the desktop navigation.
• Keyboard focus: When someone reaches a menu link with the Tab key, draw a visible deep blue ■#21475B outline. It contrasts about 8.57:1 against pale sage ■#EAF0E9 and about 9.92:1 against white ■#FFFFFF. Do not rely only on the hover treatment: visitors must be able to tell which link is receiving keyboard focus.
• Schedule headings and body copy: Present the content on off-white ■#F9F7F2 with dark charcoal ■#283638 text for approximately 11.71:1 contrast. Deep green headings ■#275A4C contrast by about 7.39:1 against the same background. Keeping headings in the menu’s color family gives the different parts of the site a consistent feel.
• Stop-location cards: Use charcoal ■#283638 for locations and times on white ■#FFFFFF cards, achieving about 12.54:1 text contrast. White cards ■#FFFFFF differ from the off-white page ■#F9F7F2 by only about 1.07:1, so add a gray-green ■#76867C border where needed. The outline contrasts by approximately 3.84:1 against white ■#FFFFFF.
• Borrowing-information panels: Place instructions in charcoal ■#283638 on pale green-gray ■#EDF3EE for about 11.14:1 contrast. The panel differs from the off-white page ■#F9F7F2 by only about 1.05:1, so a gray-green ■#76867C outline may help define the panel. The border has about 3.41:1 contrast against the panel ■#EDF3EE.
• Registration information button: Within the content, use a deep terracotta ■#93442F button labeled “Learn about registration,” with white ■#FFFFFF lettering. Text contrast is about 6.76:1, and the button differs from surrounding off-white ■#F9F7F2 by about 6.31:1. Keep this action distinct from ordinary navigation links. Supporting copy can use muted gray-green ■#53635F on the same off-white background for approximately 5.91:1 contrast.

Here, the navigation items share one predictable text color while the background and spacing organize the menu. The reading area, stop-location cards, and registration information have their own appropriate treatments. A readable navigation menu does not need to emphasize every link equally; its purpose is to help visitors quickly locate the right destination.

Test readability across screen widths and input methods

When a mobile menu opens or closes, check that long link labels do not wrap awkwardly and that no destinations become inaccessible off-screen. If the toggle uses an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) button, the aria-expanded attribute can communicate its open or closed state to assistive technology. ARIA stands for Accessible Rich Internet Applications, a set of attributes for conveying interface information. The announced state should agree with what the toggle actually does.

Under WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) Level AA, normal-sized text generally requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background, while large text requires at least 3:1. Essential non-text visual information used to identify controls or states generally needs at least 3:1 against adjacent colors. Keyboard focus also needs to remain visible. Check the default, hovered, and focused menu items, and make sure touch users can reach every destination without needing hover.

HueRoll can compare a selected color with white or black, but it cannot directly compare arbitrary pairs of custom colors or automatically determine WCAG AA or AAA compliance. The custom-pair contrast ratios in this example were calculated separately.