prefers-reduced-transparency

Limited availability

This feature is not Baseline because it does not work in some of the most widely-used browsers.

Experimental: This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The prefers-reduced-transparency CSS media feature is used to detect if a user has enabled a setting on their device to reduce the transparent or translucent layer effects used on the device. Switching on such a setting can help improve contrast and readability for some users.

Syntax

no-preference: Indicates that a user has made no preference known on the device. This keyword value evaluates as false in the boolean context.
reduce: Indicates that a user has enabled the setting on their device to minimize the amount of transparent or translucent layer effects.

User preferences

Various operating systems provide a preference for reducing transparency, and user agents are likely to rely on these system settings. They may also rely on less explicit signals on platforms which don't offer a specific setting.

In Windows 10/11: Settings > Personalization > Colors > Transparency effects.
In macOS: System Preferences > Accessibility > Display > Reduce transparency.
In iOS: Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency.

Examples

This example has a translucent box by default. If the setting to reduce transparency is enabled in the accessibility preferences on your device, the translucent box becomes more opaque.

HTML

html

translucent box

CSS

css

.translucent {
  opacity: 0.4;
}

@media (prefers-reduced-transparency) {
  .translucent {
    opacity: 0.8;
  }
}

Specifications

Specification
Media Queries Level 5 # prefers-reduced-transparency