bcquality/microsoft/knowledge/ui/provide-text-meaning-for-semantic-styles.md
Jesper Schulz-Wedde 5bcdc55df9 Sync knowledge articles with review agent instructions
Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
2026-05-05 14:08:32 +02:00

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---
bc-version: [all]
domain: ui
keywords: [style, styleexpr, favorable, unfavorable, ambiguous, accessibility]
technologies: [al]
countries: [w1]
application-area: [all]
---
# Provide text meaning for semantic styles
## Description
Most Business Central page styles are cosmetic, but `Favorable`, `Unfavorable`, and `Ambiguous` communicate meaning through color. Color-only meaning is not accessible. A user who cannot perceive the style must still be able to determine whether the value is positive, negative, or uncertain from the caption, value, or nearby text.
## Best Practice
Use semantic styles only when the meaning is independently available: a caption such as "Error", a value such as "Failed", a signed number whose sign carries the meaning, or an adjacent status field. Cosmetic styles such as `Strong`, `Attention`, and `Subordinate` do not need this extra check. Cue tiles inside `cuegroup` are exempt because the client supplies accessible semantic labels.
See sample: `provide-text-meaning-for-semantic-styles.good.al`.
## Anti Pattern
Applying `Style = Favorable`, `Unfavorable`, or `Ambiguous` to a value whose text is neutral, such as "42" or "Open", without any caption or adjacent field explaining what the color means.
See sample: `provide-text-meaning-for-semantic-styles.bad.al`.