Should Headings and Body Text Use Different Colors? Color Schemes for Readable Web Articles

TIPS

Do headings and body paragraphs in a web article always need different text colors? A colored heading may help readers find a new section, but adding colors does not automatically make an article easier to read. Font size, weight, and spacing can also communicate structure. Using a fictional walking-guide article, we will compare keeping headings and body text the same color with changing the color of major headings only.

Headings and Body Text Can Share a Color: Decide What Needs to Be Distinguished

If an article is short and contains only a few headings, using the same text color for headings and paragraphs is a reasonable choice. Make headings larger and bolder than the body text, and use sufficient spacing around them. The content hierarchy can remain apparent without another color, which is useful when you want to keep the palette restrained.

In a longer article covering several topics, a different dark color for the major section headings may make the beginning of each section easier to find. For example, dark gray body text and deep blue-green headings can give readers two consistent text roles. There is no need to make every heading red, blue, or green, or to communicate heading levels through color alone.

Compare both arrangements using exactly the same article. If the headings are easy to locate without a color change, you do not need to introduce one. If the sections still blend together, review font weight and spacing along with the heading color rather than relying on a color change by itself.

Compare Two Text-Color Approaches for the Same Walking Article

Imagine a fictional article titled “Visiting the Old Bridges Along the River.” Both options use warm off-white #F8F6F1 for the page background and deep blue-gray #273641 for the body text. These are HEX color codes, written as a hash sign followed by six hexadecimal characters from 0–9 and A–F. The contrast ratio, which describes the difference in relative luminance between text and background, is approximately 11.50:1 for this body text against the page background.

Option A: Keep Headings and Paragraphs the Same Dark Color

For a short walking guide, use deep blue-gray #273641 for headings such as “Bridge History,” “Walking Route,” and “Places to Stop.” Against the off-white #F8F6F1 background, the contrast ratio is approximately 11.50:1, just as it is for the paragraphs. Instead of changing colors, distinguish the text through typography and spacing.

Start with body text around 16px and major section headings around 26px, with a heavier font weight for the headings. Here, px means pixels, a unit used to specify sizes and spacing in web layouts.
Try around 20px for smaller subheadings so that the heading hierarchy remains recognizable from size and weight. These values are design examples, not universal requirements.
Leave more space above a major heading than between ordinary paragraphs, then adjust the space below it so the heading feels connected to its section.

In this option, size, weight, and placement do the work of distinguishing headings from paragraphs. Check the layout before introducing another color; the distinction may already be sufficient for this article.

Option B: Change Only the Major Headings to Deep Blue-Green

For a longer article with detailed history and several stops along the route, change the major section headings to deep blue-green #1E5961. Against warm off-white #F8F6F1, this gives an approximate contrast ratio of 7.32:1. Keep the paragraphs deep blue-gray #273641, maintaining approximately 11.50:1 against the page background #F8F6F1. Smaller subheadings can remain in the body text color, differentiated through size and weight instead of another hue.

If the article includes a short “Before You Go” note on a pale green-gray #EAF2EF surface, deep blue-gray body text #273641 has approximately 10.91:1 contrast on that surface, and a deep blue-green heading #1E5961 has approximately 6.94:1. The note surface differs from the page background #F8F6F1 by only about 1.05:1, so keep a descriptive heading and enough surrounding space instead of relying on that subtle color boundary alone.

Check Readability Before and After Changing Heading Colors

Even when major headings use a separate color, maintain meaningful differences in heading size and weight. Rather than giving every heading the same blue-green treatment, reserve it for major sections and keep smaller headings closer to the body text. If colored headings could be mistaken for links, distinguish actual links with an underline as well as their color.

For instance, blue #185E82 links on warm off-white #F8F6F1 have approximately 6.56:1 contrast. Use an underline so readers can identify clickable text without relying only on the color difference. On phones, headings may wrap onto multiple lines, so also check line breaks, spacing, and the relationship between each heading and the paragraph that follows it.

Under WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) Level AA, normal-sized text generally needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background, while large text needs at least 3:1. All ratios in this example were calculated for solid, opaque color pairs. On the finished page, also review font weight, link appearance, and any places where a photograph replaces the plain background. The decision to change heading colors should follow whether readers can recognize the article’s sections—not a target number of colors.