Black text on a repeating linear gradient Black text on a repeating radial gradient
No gradient Linear gradient with transparency

Here is the CSS used for this example:

      #table  { background:url('sunset.jpg');                           }
      .linear { background:repeating-linear-gradient(yellow, lime 20%); }
      .radial { background:repeating-radial-gradient(blue, violet 20%); }
      .alpha  { height:200px; background:linear-gradient(
                rgba(255, 255, 255, 1), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0));              }

And here is the HTML: