diff --git a/verse/static/css/editor.css b/verse/static/css/editor.css
index 4681daa..d087622 100644
--- a/verse/static/css/editor.css
+++ b/verse/static/css/editor.css
@@ -44,3 +44,7 @@ iframe {
   width: 100%;
   height: 30em;
 }
+#html {
+  background-color: #60337F;
+  color: lightgrey;
+}
diff --git a/verse/templates/editor.html b/verse/templates/editor.html
index 1a9288c..69fc8e8 100644
--- a/verse/templates/editor.html
+++ b/verse/templates/editor.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <div class="editareas">
       <div class="editarea editor">
         <fieldset class="required">
-          <textarea id="html" placeholder="Write some test HTML here">
+          <textarea id="html" placeholder="Write some test HTML here" readonly>
             {{htmlplaceholder}}
           </textarea>
         </fieldset>