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Text Effects

Typing, glitch, reveal and other text animations.

3 component(s)

Glitch Text Effect โ€“ Pure CSS text effects preview

Glitch Text Effect

Pure CSS glitch heading with sliced cyan and magenta copies, CRT scanlines, and subtle, hover-only and acid palette variants.

Animated Gradient Text โ€“ Pure CSS text effects preview

Animated Gradient Text

Pure CSS animated gradient text for headings using background-clip, with four palettes, a shine sweep variant, a CSS-only pause switch and a fallback color.

Typing Text Effect โ€“ Pure CSS text effects preview

Typing Text Effect

Pure CSS typewriter effect with a blinking caret, using steps() and ch units on a monospace headline and a retro terminal window with replay.

What are CSS text effects?

Text effects are animations and styles applied to headings and short phrases: typing and typewriter effects, glitch text, letter-by-letter reveals, gradient and shimmer text, neon glows, rotating words and split-text animations. They are used in hero sections, portfolios, landing pages, loading screens and anywhere a single line of text should draw attention.

When to use animated text

Use a text animation for one focal message, not for body copy. A typing effect in a hero or a subtle reveal on a section heading can add personality; animating every heading quickly becomes tiring and hurts readability.

Best practices for CSS and JavaScript text animations:

  • Keep the full text in the HTML. If a script splits it into letters, give the parent an aria-label with the full text and hide the individual pieces with aria-hidden="true".
  • Respect prefers-reduced-motion and show the final state immediately for users who prefer less motion.
  • Animate transform and opacity instead of layout properties for smooth performance.
  • Avoid rapid flashing in glitch effects; stay well below three flashes per second.
  • Check contrast for gradient and glowing text against every part of the background.
  • Do not loop typing effects forever on important content; let the message settle so it can be read.
  • Reserve space for changing words so surrounding layout does not jump.

Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS and pure CSS text effects

Each text effect comes with a live preview and code tabs for HTML, CSS and JS where needed. Many effects are pure CSS with @keyframes, so they drop into any project. Bootstrap 6 versions use the new alpha ES module build and theme-* colour roles, Bootstrap 5 versions combine the effect with typography utilities, and Tailwind CSS versions use utilities and arbitrary values. Use the framework filter, copy or download the snippet and replace the sample words with your own.