diff --git a/shared/toast.js b/shared/toast.js
index 6f2a7d6..6e32da1 100644
--- a/shared/toast.js
+++ b/shared/toast.js
@@ -60,4 +60,17 @@
     }
 
     window.zddc.toast = toast;
+
+    // Route window.alert() calls into the toast helper. Every tool has
+    // accumulated some `alert(...)` sites for error reporting; rather
+    // than touch each one, intercept globally so they're non-blocking
+    // and ARIA-announced consistently. Native alert is preserved on
+    // window.alertNative for the rare case where a truly modal block
+    // is needed (e.g. before navigating away with unsaved changes).
+    if (typeof window.alert === 'function' && !window.alertNative) {
+        window.alertNative = window.alert.bind(window);
+        window.alert = function (msg) {
+            toast(String(msg == null ? '' : msg), 'error');
+        };
+    }
 })();
diff --git a/zddc/internal/handler/tables.html b/zddc/internal/handler/tables.html
index 802ece8..a0eebe5 100644
--- a/zddc/internal/handler/tables.html
+++ b/zddc/internal/handler/tables.html
@@ -1155,7 +1155,7 @@ body.help-open .app-header {
             </svg>
             <div class="header-title-group">
                 <span class="app-header__title" id="table-title">ZDDC Table</span>
-                <span class="build-timestamp"><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">v0.0.17-beta · 2026-05-11 · crescent-coast-beam</span></span>
+                <span class="build-timestamp"><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">v0.0.17-alpha · 2026-05-11 00:27:49 · f2af379-dirty</span></span>
             </div>
         </div>
         <div class="header-right">
@@ -2232,6 +2232,19 @@ body.help-open .app-header {
     }
 
     window.zddc.toast = toast;
+
+    // Route window.alert() calls into the toast helper. Every tool has
+    // accumulated some `alert(...)` sites for error reporting; rather
+    // than touch each one, intercept globally so they're non-blocking
+    // and ARIA-announced consistently. Native alert is preserved on
+    // window.alertNative for the rare case where a truly modal block
+    // is needed (e.g. before navigating away with unsaved changes).
+    if (typeof window.alert === 'function' && !window.alertNative) {
+        window.alertNative = window.alert.bind(window);
+        window.alert = function (msg) {
+            toast(String(msg == null ? '' : msg), 'error');
+        };
+    }
 })();
 
 // shared/nav.js — lateral navigation strip across the four canonical