# Skeleton

The shape of a page before its data arrives, drawn as the unprinted plate: blank engraved bars where the words will print. Nothing on it moves. One amber lamp beside “Loading” is the only sign of work.

Kit part · With the Kit · https://tactileui.dev/parts/skeleton

> The code and styling for this part come with the Tactile UI Kit, which is in the Founder Pass. Sign in if you have it. Sign in: https://tactileui.dev/auth/sign-in The price: https://tactileui.dev/pricing

## Anatomy

There is no script and no animation. The cut is drawn with a tight shadow under its upper wall and a one pixel catch light on its lower lip, through the well depth token, so Quiet flattens it to a hairline and Printed draws it as an outline. Blocks and circles take the deeper recess the fields use.

## Variants

- The panel · lamp, lines, a block
- A list row, beside the real one
- A readout, beside the real one
- A table row, beside the real one
- Lines
- Shapes · circle, block

## States

- Loading
- Loaded

## Usage notes

Switch the finish: each bar is a shallow cut in the plate, lit on its lower lip. Beside each skeleton is the real thing it stands in for, so the shapes can be checked against each other.

## Accessibility

- The bars are hidden from assistive technology.
- Nothing moves, so there is nothing to stop under reduced motion; the amber lamp is steady, not blinking.
- The lamp sits beside the word “Loading”, so the colour is never the only signal.
- Bars are drawn as recesses in the plate’s own tokens, so they keep their contrast against the plate in every finish without a colour of their own.

## Related parts

- [Panel](https://tactileui.dev/parts/panel): A face plate that groups what belongs together: a head, a rule, then the parts. Screws only on device-like panels.
- [List](https://tactileui.dev/parts/list): Rows in a rack: a mark, a title, a second line and a fact or a key at the end. Chosen rows sink into a recess with their check key latched; in a running order, a row lifts out of the rack on its skirt and slides past the others, from the keyboard or by its grip.
- [Lamp](https://tactileui.dev/parts/lamp): The only colour in the kit: a lamp that is on. Green is on, amber is waiting, red is recording or failing, blue is linked, white is standing by. Always next to words.