Text

Body and inline typography with size and line-height tokens.

Status: stable. Group: display. Markdown version: /design-system/components/text.md

When to use

Text owns body and inline typography: paragraphs by default, with a polymorphic as prop for span, strong, em, cite, div and the heading tags when you need a heading shape at body weight. It shares the size and lineHeight ladder with Title, so editorial rhythm stays consistent across the site.

When not to use

Do not nest a <Text as="p"> inside another <p>. HTML rejects nested paragraphs; use as="span" for inline positions.
Do not override font-size via inline style. The ladder is the contract; drift in consumer code is invisible until someone audits typography.
Do not use Text for section headings; headings carry outline semantics Text does not, use Title.

Look-alikes

Display: Do not stack Display lines to fake a type ladder; hierarchy below the hero belongs to Title and Text.
HelperText: Do not label form fields with Text; use Label (htmlFor) and HelperText (aria-describedby).
Label: Do not label form fields with Text; use Label (htmlFor) and HelperText (aria-describedby).
Title: Do not use Text for section headings; headings carry outline semantics Text does not, use Title.

Props

Text props
Prop	Type	Default	Description	Required
`children`	`React.ReactNode \| ReactI18NextChildren \| Iterable<ReactI18NextChildren>`	none	No description in the contract.	Yes
`as`	`"div" \| "cite" \| "em" \| "h1" \| "h2" \| "h3" \| "h4" \| "h5" \| "h6" \| "p" \| "span" \| "strong"`	`p`	No description in the contract.	No
`size`	`"xl" \| "xs" \| "s" \| "xxs" \| "m" \| "l" \| "xxl"`	`m`	No description in the contract.	No
`lineHeight`	`"normal" \| "tight" \| "snug" \| "relaxed" \| "loose"`	none	No description in the contract.	No
`flush`	`boolean`	`false`	Drop the block margins. Use when the parent owns spacing: a row, a cell, a card or a flex/grid gap.	No

Variants

Available sizes: xxs, xs, s, m, l, xl, xxl (default m).
Allowed as values: div, cite, em, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, span, strong (default p).
Allowed lineHeight values: normal, tight, snug, relaxed, loose.

Invalid combinations

The contract records no invalid combinations.

Keyboard

The contract records no keyboard interaction.

Rules

Every item under When not to use is a MUST NOT. MUST and SHOULD follow RFC 2119.

Text rules
Level	Rule	How it is checked
MUST	ARIA: Semantic element via as prop.	Not yet verified: no evidence record. WCAG 4.1.2.
MUST	The accessibility tree (role, name, state) matches the committed snapshot for every required story.	Automated by `npm run test:stories:matrix:ci`. WCAG 1.3.1, 4.1.2.
MUST	The component remains legible and operable under a real browser forced-colors: active pass.	Manual review, last on 2026-11-04.
MUST	A human completed an end-to-end accessibility review of this component.	Manual review, last on 2026-11-04.
SHOULD	Default to the p element for body copy; switch to as=span for inline positions so paragraphs never nest.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD	Set a lede with size=l and lineHeight=snug directly under a hero Title.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD	Use as=strong or as=em for inline emphasis so screen readers announce the semantics.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD	Use size=xs for captions and metadata.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD NOT	Do not label form fields with Text; use Label (htmlFor) and HelperText (aria-describedby).	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD NOT	Do not render code with Text; CodeSnippet and CodeBlockWindow own the monospace ramp.	Not stated in the contract.

Install and import

Install: npm install @digitaltableteur/react (version 0.9.1, restricted access on npm).
Import: import { Text } from "@digitaltableteur/react";
Entry point: @digitaltableteur/react/typography exports it too.
Styles: import @digitaltableteur/react/style.css once at the app boundary.
Also available as the custom element <dt-text>; see the custom elements manifest.