1. Using hexadecimal codes. eg. color="#f0f8ff"
2. Using color names. eg. color="aliceblue"

Here's a chart of colornames, codes, and samples. If you want to see how a color looks in more detail, just click on the alphabet and -- pop -- the whole page background will change to that color. This does require a javascripted web browser. You should be fine if you are using Netscape Navigator 2.0+, Internet Explorer 3.0+ or any other web browser that supports javascript.

This chart can be very useful for determining if your color is readable against the background color you wish to use.