This was intentional. See https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1249755#c10

In httparchive chrome_jan_15_2016_* dataset of 470k pages, looking only at those in quirks mode (see https://github.com/HTTPArchive/httparchive/issues/40#issuecomment-187264991), I see 3362 resources using hashless colors, but only 60 using scientific notation colors. Those are listed below.

Since Gecko/WebKit/Blink have had "broken" behavior for a long time, and it has worked out OK, I'm reluctant to change this. But if you still think we should, I think it would be a good idea to check the pages below and see if they have better rendering in Chrome, Gecko, or IE.


quirk_pages_url	requests_url	scinot_color
http://www.folhape.com.br/	http://www.folhape.com.br/css/terra-estilo.css	color:3e3e3e
http://www.biggolf.co.kr/	http://www.biggolf.co.kr/shop/data/skin/season2/style.css	color:0e9f7f
http://www.bookoa.com/	http://www.bookoa.com/style/css/style.css	color:0005e0
http://www.polartour.ru/	http://www.polartour.ru/	color: 3567e7
http://www.csrdn.qc.ca/	http://www.csrdn.qc.ca/2csrdn.css	color:172e68
http://www.popculturemadness.com/	http://popculturemadness.com/CSS.css	color: 37e1f0
http://www.pickupphone.biz/	http://n.pickupphone.biz/web/css/style.css	color:2e7acc
http://www.adpanchok.co.kr/	http://www.adpanchok.co.kr/ez/index.php	color:4e4e4e
http://www.respaper.com/	http://www.respaper.com/	color:0e774a
http://www.crazyprofile.com/	http://www.crazyprofile.com/	color:175e70
http://www.mtv123.com/	http://www.mtv123.com/CSS/pubic.css	color:077e9a
http://www.superbex.co.kr/	http://hostinfo.cafe24.com/index.php?hostname=uws64-109.cafe24.com	color: 9e3264
http://www.smautomall.com/	http://www.smautomall.com/html/mainm.html?ref=	color:2e3b43
http://www.wedoor.com/	http://www.wedoor.com/	color:5e5e5e
http://www.wineaudio.com/	http://www.wineaudio.com/shop/data/skin/apple_tree/style.css	color:7e7e7e
http://www.hoinaru.ro/	http://www.hoinaru.ro/	color:3e3e3e
http://www.avmagazine.com.hk/	http://www.avmagazine.com.hk/common/style.css	color: 1e3282
http://www.hanafax.com/	http://www.hanafax.com/include/css/hfax_css.css	color:4e7e28
http://www.itq.or.kr/	http://www.itq.or.kr/include/css/intro.css	color: 7e7e7e
http://www.gomsee.com/	http://www.gomsee.com/css/orbit.css	color:9e7147
http://www.ledist.co.kr/	http://www.ledist.co.kr/style/common.css	color:3e760c
http://www.byus.net/	http://www.byus.net/	color:2e77ac
http://www.faithstreet.com/	http://www.faithstreet.com/assets/application-8332573036cc06f35cc29acafb405bd6164b22823ee1fa3951d65ba3d7ee1fb9.css	color:3e8eeeb
http://www.mysql.ru/	http://www.mysql.ru/style.css	color:3e608d
http://www.zone-url.com/	http://zonurl.com/css/styles.css	color:898e91
http://www.koban.co.kr/	http://www.koban.co.kr/default/inc/company.css	color:0e3d72
http://www.omypc.co.kr/	http://www.omypc.co.kr/style/common.css	color:3e760c
http://www.omypc.co.kr/	http://www.omypc.co.kr/config/user.css	color:3e760c
http://www.ilhak.co.kr/	http://www.ilhak.co.kr/css/style.css	color:5e5e5e
http://www.affilcenter.com/	http://www.affilcenter.com/	color:5e83ff
http://www.boonty.com/	http://us.boonty.com/css/styles.css	color:6e6e6e
http://www.mayblue.co.kr/	http://www.mayblue.co.kr/	color:5e5e5e
http://www.luckyplanet.co.kr/	http://www.luckyplanet.co.kr/	color:6e6e6e
http://www.cox.kr/	http://www.cox.kr/css/main.css	color:0e4392
http://www.chicfox.co.kr/	http://www.chicfox.co.kr/	color:6e6e6e
http://www.mathhelpforum.com/	http://mathhelpforum.com/clientscript/vbulletin_css/style00026l/main-rollup.css?d=1429110780	color:3e3e3e
http://www.vipclips.net/	http://vipclips.net/_st/my.css	color:8e8e8e
http://www.artkultr.com/	http://www.artkultr.com/	color: 3e3e3e
http://www.artkultr.com/	http://www.artkultr.com/	color: 3e3e3e
http://www.telerehber.com/	http://www.telerehber.com/css.css	color: 2e62b1
http://www.interpunk.com/	http://www.interpunk.com/	color: 2749e9
http://www.tax-brackets.org/	http://www.tax-brackets.org/	color: 715e00
http://www.webdelcule.com/	http://www.webdelcule.com/diario.htm	color: 0000e8
http://www.lynxmotion.com/	http://www.lynxmotion.com/skins/Skin_1/style.css	color: 1e1e1e
http://www.islamicity.com/	http://www.islamicity.com/global/islamicity.css	color: 1e3d70
http://www.sachal.net/	http://www.sachal.net/imgs/text.css	color:5e91bf
http://www.61ic.com/	http://www.61ic.com/Skin/DefaultSkin.css	color: 1e50a2
http://www.newkadia.com/	http://www.newkadia.com/NKcss.php	color:8e236b
http://www.scanboat.com/	http://www.scanboat.com/css.css?1	color:1e3853
http://www.lizardpoint.com/	http://lizardpoint.com/	color:5e5c1c
http://www.radiosargentina.com.ar/	http://www.radiosargentina.com.ar/arindice.css	color: 0e065c
http://www.al-eman.com/	http://www.al-eman.com/css/alemanStyles-min.css	color:495e13
http://www.forumtransportu.pl/	http://www.forumtransportu.pl/	color:033e82
http://www.trainingpro.com/	http://www.trainingpro.com/includes/style_ie.css	color : 2e6ade
http://www.lapreferente.com/	http://www.lapreferente.com/estilos.css?f=20151125	color:190e7f
http://www.greekshares.com/	http://www.greekshares.com/css/css.css	color: 9e0314
http://www.catholicgiftshop.co.uk/	http://r.b5z.net/zirw/120/i/u/8100167/i/menu/s.css	color:0073e5
http://www.porart.com/	http://www.porart.com/css/style.css	color:2e2e2e
http://www.directfromlourdes.com/	http://m.b5z.net/zirw/265/i/u/6128774/i/menu/s.css	color:0073e5
http://www.parstradeshow.com/	http://www.parstradeshow.com/css/pts.css	color: 004e9e

I looked through all of them. I found 13 where there was *some* visual difference, but none of them are actually broken.

So it's 0.0027% of pages in this dataset where this bug affects pages at all. I suggest keeping the spec as is.


Analysis follows:

http://www.csrdn.qc.ca/template.asp?p=rh
Table.Menu2 td.menu2
background-color is ignored, but it also has a background-image, so not really noticeable.

http://www.adpanchok.co.kr/ez/index.php
<a href='./mall.php?cat=001001000' style='color:4e4e4e;font-weight:bold;padding:0 0 0 10px;'>점착메모(포스트잇)</a>
The color is black instead of dark gray. Not noticeable unless you toggle the style in inspector.

http://www.respaper.com/
<a href="/batman247/about" style="color:0E774A;">batman247</a> 1 sec ago
The text is black instead of green. Noticeable if you know it should be green, but it's not broken.

http://hostinfo.cafe24.com/index.php?hostname=uws64-109.cafe24.com
.unnamed4
Some text is black instead of pink. Noticeable if you know it should be pink, but it's not broken.

http://www.wedoor.com/
<span style="color:5e5e5e;font-size:11px">|</span>
A vertical bar in the footer is black instead of gray. Not noticeable.

http://www.mysql.ru/
a:hover
The link doesn't get a slightly darker color on hover. Noticeable if you know it should, but it's not broken.

http://www.affilcenter.com/
<a ... style="font-size:11px;color:5E83FF;"> Mot de passe oublié </a>
The link is the default blue instead of a lighter blue. Since the background is dark blue, it's hard to read. But you can guess what the link is based on context ("forgot password")

http://www.luckyplanet.co.kr/
.mainbrandname
Some text has a slightly different shade of gray. Not noticeable.

http://www.cox.kr/
A:hover
Links don't get a blue hover. Noticeable if you know they should, but it's not broken.

http://vipclips.net/load/kategorija_klipa/videoklip/rihanna_work/80-1-0-17475
.entryTitle
The heading is black instead of gray. Noticeable if you know it should be, but it's not broken.

http://www.tax-brackets.org/
<td class='taxAmount' style='color: 715e00'><b>6.12%</b></td>
The text is black instead of fitting in the gradient of colors in the column. Noticeable but not broken.

http://lizardpoint.com/
A:link, A:visited
Links are default colors instead of greenish. Noticeable if you know it should be greenish, but not broken.

http://www.lapreferente.com/
.link190e7fInside:link
The social media links are default link colors instead of a different shade of blue. Not really noticeable.

(Added a note in https://github.com/whatwg/quirks/commit/4d3fab3b2481d94b95bc8a66cb0959a7bfdc8946 )