Tally Marks Loader
Four slightly crooked strokes are drawn one by one, a fifth slashes across them, then the group fades and starts over. A hand drawn way to say counting, good for queues and batch jobs.
Also known as: tally count animation, counting lines loader, hand drawn tally.
HTML
<div class="ldr-tally-marks" role="status" aria-label="Loading"> <span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span> </div>
CSS
.ldr-tally-marks {
--s: var(--ldr-size, 48px);
--c: var(--ldr-color, #3b82f6);
position: relative;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
gap: calc(var(--s) / 7);
width: calc(var(--s) * 1.2);
height: var(--s);
animation: ldr-tally-marks-fade 3s -0.9s infinite;
}
.ldr-tally-marks span {
width: calc(var(--s) / 11);
height: var(--h);
border-radius: var(--s);
background: var(--c);
transform: rotate(var(--r)) scaleY(0);
transform-origin: 50% 0;
animation: ldr-tally-marks-stroke 3s -0.9s infinite;
}
.ldr-tally-marks span:nth-child(1) { --r: 4deg; --h: 78%; }
.ldr-tally-marks span:nth-child(2) { --r: -2deg; --h: 84%; animation-delay: -0.75s; }
.ldr-tally-marks span:nth-child(3) { --r: 3deg; --h: 80%; animation-delay: -0.6s; }
.ldr-tally-marks span:nth-child(4) { --r: -3deg; --h: 86%; animation-delay: -0.45s; }
.ldr-tally-marks span:nth-child(5) {
position: absolute;
top: calc(var(--s) * 0.74);
left: calc(var(--s) * 0.05);
width: calc(var(--s) * 1.2);
height: calc(var(--s) / 11);
transform: rotate(-26deg) scaleX(0);
transform-origin: 0 50%;
animation-name: ldr-tally-marks-slash;
}
@keyframes ldr-tally-marks-fade {
0%, 16% { opacity: 0; }
18%, 88% { opacity: 1; }
95%, 100% { opacity: 0; }
}
@keyframes ldr-tally-marks-stroke {
0%, 19% { transform: rotate(var(--r)) scaleY(0); animation-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.3, 0.7, 0.4, 1); }
25%, 100% { transform: rotate(var(--r)) scaleY(1); }
}
@keyframes ldr-tally-marks-slash {
0%, 42% { transform: rotate(-26deg) scaleX(0); animation-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.3, 0.7, 0.4, 1); }
49%, 100% { transform: rotate(-26deg) scaleX(1); }
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.ldr-tally-marks, .ldr-tally-marks *, .ldr-tally-marks::before, .ldr-tally-marks::after, .ldr-tally-marks *::before, .ldr-tally-marks *::after {
animation-duration: 3s;
}
}Customizing this loader
- Color: set
--ldr-coloron the element or a parent. Currently previewing#3b82f6. - Size: set
--ldr-size. Every dimension in the snippet is derived from it. Currently previewing64px. - Speed: change the duration on the
animationshorthand. Delays on the children are relative, so they keep their rhythm. - Accessibility: the root carries
role="status"and anaria-labelso screen readers announce the wait. The reduced-motion rule at the end slows the animation for users who asked for less motion.