Why do lists have "(empty)" instead of blank cells for reference fields without a value - Support and Troubleshooting

Why do lists have "(empty)" instead of blank cells for reference fields without a value Issue  Symptoms The word " (empty) " is seen in reference fields without a value on lists where the cell was previously blank.

Release This behavior change is made in versions: KP10, LP2, M

Cause This intentional change was made to resolve a Known Problem (see KB0696733 for more information), which was a longstanding bug that was preventing the text from rendering. The addition of "(empty)" was to help make it clear that the cell is actually empty/valueless rather than just an empty string value.

This is helpful in general but it's especially valuable for accessibility purposes since screenreader users used to get silence about the cell's value instead of being told explicitly that it is empty.