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Shimmer text

A headline with a band of light sweeping across it, using background-clip text. Pure CSS, a few lines.

CSSUI Widgets Updated Oct 23, 2026
Live demo Reduced motion is on, so effects are toned down
<h2 class="shimmer">Ship something today</h2>

The letters are filled with a gradient instead of a color: background-clip: text paints the background only inside the glyphs, and color: transparent lets it show. The gradient is two and a half times wider than the text, with a bright band in the middle, and animating background-position slides that band across.

The text stays real, selectable text, so it's fully readable by screen readers and search engines. Keep it for short headlines: on long paragraphs a sweeping band is distracting.

With reduced motion on, the sweep slows to once every nine seconds.

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