Class,
the <progress> and <meter> tags work well enough now in browsers that I encourage you to use them. The syntax is pretty easy: both require parameters for ‘min,’ ‘max’ and ‘value,’ and the meter will be assembled for you:
<progress min=”1″ max=”10″ value=’8′></progress>
To see the meter tag do the same thing, replace <progress> with <meter>.
The appearance of these bars cannot be totally controlled by CSS, as each browser/OS shows them slightly differently. Even whether the meter is animated depends largely on the browser.