NIST Time Widget

NIST Time Widget to link to an HTML5 (no Flash), widget-only page, go to: http://time.gov/widget.html

This widget is a public service provided by the Time and Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It is a web clock showing the official time of day from NIST, displayed as a 12 or 24-hour clock, in a user-selectable time zone.

The time reference for the widget is the output of the national time scale called UTC(NIST). It starts with a zero-offset time zone called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and it is adjusted to the local time based on the client's computer time zone settings.

It is not continuously linked to NIST - it re-synchronizes with NIST every 10 minutes. Therefore. this widget is intended as a time-of-day service only. It should not be used to make measurements, nor should it be used to establish traceability to NIST.

The widget utilizes the client's computer clock as a timer to measure the round-trip network delay, which is the interval of time starting when the widget sends a time request to the server and ending when the time is displayed in the browser. The accuracy of the time shown will always be better than this round-trip delay.

The widget can be added to your own web pages and blogs by inserting this code:

<object codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0"
    style="WIDTH: 177px; HEIGHT: 125px;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://time.gov/widget/NISTtimewidget.swf">
    <param name="movie" value="http://time.gov/widget/NISTtimewidget.swf">
    <embed src="http://time.gov/widget/NISTtimewidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
    </embed>
</object>

If your web page has a solid color background, add the background color after the .swf using a tag like this: ?setcolor=[color code]
(It should be included all three times the .swf is referenced, in order to ensure compatability with multiple browsers.)

To force the default time zone to a particular zone (rather than the client's settings) enter: ?setzone=[sign and 2-digit hour offset]
For example, for Mountain Time, enter ?setzone=-07 for UTC enter ?setzone=-00

To force the default to be a 24-hour clock enter: ?set24=true

If multiple constraints are passed to the widget, use a & character instead of the ? after the first constraint.

For example:
for a light blue background (color code= #00FFFF), Eastern Time Zone (-5 hours from UTC) and a 24-hour clock, use:
?setcolor=#00FFFF&setzone=-05&set24=true in all three places in the code (make sure the tags are inside the quotes).

Here it is in the code:

This code requires the client to have Adobe Flash Player.
We have an HTML5 (non-Flash) page with the widget: http://time.gov/widget.html
We do not have a widget/gadget application for your desktop.

Please send us a link to your page using the NIST time widget. We will inform you of any changes or additional widgets.
Send any comments or questions to: [email protected]

Please refer to our Time and Frequency Division FAQ with questions about time zones, daylight saving time, atomic clocks and more!