Message box and safe default

GUI95

Widget index / Windows and dialogs · Download this HTML

Delete file

Permanently delete “Letter.txt” from this demonstration?

Ready — try the example.

States and behavior

Question, destructive action, safe initial focus/default and explicit outcome.

Keyboard

Enter initially cancels; Tab reaches Delete; Escape cancels; focus returns to the trigger.

Scope and adaptation

Action labels say what will happen. A destructive choice should not become the initial default merely because it is visually primary. Nothing on disk is removed.

Sources

Microsoft preliminary guide (1995), chapters 7–8 · Modern browser accessibility pattern

Original implementation; system colors are represented by CSS variables. The default 13 px system-font stack is a readable browser adaptation. The 1995 source is preliminary, not a final product specification. Test the target browser and native host before shipping.