Meeting Speaker Timer

Features

• The list is the input: one per line, minutes after the name (`5`, `5min`, `5 minutes`, `90s`)
• A large current speaker plus time remaining readout — amber for the last 30 seconds, red with a `+` overtime count once past
• The agenda shows each quota and running start time; click a row to jump there
• Overtime never auto-advances — cutting in is the chair’s call
• Previous follows the player convention: first press returns to the start of this speaker, second steps back
• The alert tone is synthesised in the browser — no audio files, no requests
• Edit the list mid-meeting: it re-reads immediately and does not reset the elapsed clock
• Parsing problems (unreadable durations, quotas over two hours) are reported line by line rather than silently adjusted
• Runs entirely on your machine; the list never leaves the page

How to use

1. Paste the list into the box on the left (one per line, minutes optional)
2. Adjust the default length, or turn the beep off
3. Press Start; the current speaker’s countdown and the agenda appear
4. It beeps when time is up; press Next when they finish, or click a row in the agenda

FAQ

Why does it not move on when someone goes over?

Because cutting in is the chair’s decision, not the timer’s. The usual scene is a speaker running long while the chair weighs giving them another minute against stopping them — a timer that turns the page itself has made that call for them. Worse, the screen would claim the next speaker has started, which is false: the next speaker has not started, the current one has not finished. So overtime is a displayed state here (a red reading with the `+` amount), and skipping is a user action.

Why does Previous sometimes go back one and sometimes to the start?

It is the player convention, and it is deliberate: within the first three seconds of a speaker, Previous steps back one; after that, it returns to the start of the current speaker. Otherwise, two minutes into someone’s turn, wanting to replay their opening would drop you onto the previous speaker and need another Next press — two actions for one common wish. The three-second boundary is what separates “I hit it by mistake” from “I want to hear that again”.

Where does the beep come from? Does it make a network request?

No requests at all. It is a sine oscillator synthesised on the spot with Web Audio (880 Hz, two short beeps); there is no audio file on the page. Shipping an mp3 for one beep is not worth it, and it would be the only outgoing request this site ever made — a tool that claims your data stays on your machine should not break that rule for a beep. Browsers also require audio to be triggered by a user gesture, so it only becomes possible after you press Start.

Will “Lee 3” be read as “Lee, three minutes”?

Yes. A number at the end of the line is the duration — that is a convention, not a guess: there is no way to tell “Lee 3 is the name” from “Lee gets three minutes” in a line of text. If a name really does end in digits, write them in full-width form or add something after the name. The parser does not guess because guessing wrong (someone’s quota silently becoming three minutes) costs more than asking you to change one line.