Ticking times
A time that keeps itself current: how long a job has been running, how long ago a message came. The page writes the moment; the library writes the words and keeps them right.
Examples
A time whose datetime is the moment - ISO, with its zone. With data-elapsed it shows the time since then as a clock, m:ss under an hour and h:mm:ss after; with data-ago it says how long ago it was, or how soon it comes, in the page's language, and its title holds the full moment. One ticker serves every one on the page: each second while an elapsed time is there, else every 30 seconds, and none while the page is hidden. The page's own words stand inside until the library starts.
The backup has been running for .
The last message came ; the next tour leaves .
<p>The backup has been running for <time datetime="2026-11-04T08:00:00Z" data-elapsed data-docs-since="95">1:35</time>.</p>
<p>The last message came <time datetime="2026-11-04T08:00:00Z" data-ago data-docs-since="300">5 minutes ago</time>; the next tour leaves <time datetime="2026-11-04T08:00:00Z" data-ago data-docs-since="-7200">in 2 hours</time>.</p>Accessibility
- A ticking time is never read out as it ticks: a reader hears it where it is, as it is at that moment.
- Say a wait that matters in words once, where it starts - the time beside it is for the eye.