My experience level with vector graphics and Inkscape = zero. I have done some image rendering in photoshop in the past. Get ready for a newb problem:

I'm starting with a new, blank file. I go to Document Properties, make my image the size I need, then click on the background button. The sliders in the RGB screen are all up as high as possible, making for white, if I'm not mistaken. The "A" slider is down to zero, and ... I guess that is supposed to mean that the background is invisible..?

Forgoing that, I have completed the file - all I did was add black text to it. The end result I need is for the background to be completely transparent and the text to be white. Until I get the background invisibility problem solved, the text will stay white. I'm making up an image for vinyl lettering to be applied to my car.

In effort to check if my background was actually invisible, I made a small html file bring the image up on page with a red background. Unfortunately, the background is white and persists as such. I found Path > Trace Bitmap... thinking it would trace the letters for me and then I could play with Difference or Clipping, but I can't get it ti do what I want it to do.

Halp.

Welcome to InkscapeForum.com!

The "A" slider is down to zero, and ... I guess that is supposed to mean that the background is invisible..?

Yes, backgrounds are transparent in Inkscape by default.

After you completed your file and before you put it on an.html"uncited">

Well PNG would have maintained the transparency. And since you exported to PNG, the browser question doesn't matter now.

I can't remember for sure, and this is probably beyond my knowledge of html. I was going to guess that the body tag calling for red background was the problem, until I looked at the image. But the red does not extend behind your image. I know <br> means break, and I'm pretty sure it means line break. It may be that you need to use some sort of frame for the image, and I definitely do not know anything about using frames. I notice that the body tag is not closed, but I'm not sure if that's the problem.

Hopefully someone else will chime in, and let us know about the html. Because everything else you've done is proper -- leaving the background transparent in Inkscape, exporting to PNG, which supports transparency -- exactly what should be done. The browser is irrelevant, since you exported to PNG.

Well, here's one test you can do, until someone knowledgeable about webpage creation responds. Just open the PNG using your computer's image viewer. The background should show up as transparent there. If it does not, then something went wrong in Inkscape.