Traffic Light Timer
Green while there is plenty of time, amber at 60%, red for the last 10%.
The most legible countdown there is: three lamps and no numbers. Green means carry on, amber means start wrapping up, red means finish now. Speakers respond to it without breaking their flow, which is why conference stage managers have used the same signal for decades.
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Paste this into any page — a class blog, a lesson plan, a meeting agenda — and visitors get a working traffic light timer with no script tag, no account and no tracking. Please keep the credit link.
About the Traffic Light Timer
A free traffic light timer for classrooms, meetings and presentations. Green while there is time, amber when 60% has gone, red for the final tenth — readable from the back of any room without anyone reading a number.
TimerHub calculates remaining time from an absolute finish timestamp, so missed browser callbacks do not create drift. Read the timing accuracy methodology and reproducible tests.
Common Uses
- Conference and lightning talks
- Classroom transitions
- Meeting time-boxing
- Show-and-tell turns
- Debate and pitch practice
How to Use the Traffic Light Timer
- Click Start (or press Space) to begin your 5 minute countdown
- Press Space again to pause and resume, or R to reset the timer
- Tap a duration chip, or click the countdown to type any time you need
- Use the Fullscreen control below the timer for a large full-screen countdown (Esc to exit)
- Choose or mute the alarm sound from the sound settings in the header
- Add
?autostart=1to the link to start the countdown on load - Enable notifications for alerts when your traffic light timer finishes, even in a background tab
Frequently Asked Questions
When does it change colour?▾
Green runs until 60% of the time has gone, amber covers 60% to 90%, and red is the final 10%. On a five minute timer that is three minutes green, ninety seconds amber, thirty seconds red.
Can the speaker still see the exact time?▾
Yes — the digital readout sits under the lights. Fullscreen it on a confidence monitor and the presenter gets both the signal and the seconds.
Can I put this on a projector or smart board?▾
Yes. Press Fullscreen under the timer and the drawing fills the display at whatever size the screen allows. Esc exits. For a Chromecast or AirPlay setup, cast the browser tab and then go fullscreen on the source machine.
Can I embed this timer in my own page?▾
Yes. Every timer here has a copy-and-paste embed code that drops a working countdown into a class blog, a lesson page or a school site, with no account and no script tag.
Does it need an account or an app?▾
No. It runs in the browser with no signup, no install and no ads, which is what makes it usable on a locked-down school machine.