diff --git a/backend/static/filter.js b/backend/static/filter.js
index 2902d02..0bf9d8a 100644
--- a/backend/static/filter.js
+++ b/backend/static/filter.js
@@ -20,8 +20,11 @@
 })();
 
 function setActiveTab(el) {
-  el.parentElement.querySelectorAll("[role=tab]").forEach(function (t) {
-    t.classList.toggle("active", t === el);
+  el.parentElement.querySelectorAll("a").forEach(function (t) {
+    var on = t === el;
+    t.classList.toggle("active", on);
+    if (on) t.setAttribute("aria-current", "page");
+    else t.removeAttribute("aria-current");
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/backend/static/style.css b/backend/static/style.css
index d5477fa..9d2ebaa 100644
--- a/backend/static/style.css
+++ b/backend/static/style.css
@@ -64,7 +64,9 @@
   --paper-hot: #f0d3cb;    /* title of a series with a new chapter */
   --paper-dim: #ddd5cb;    /* resting title */
   --mute: #8d857c;         /* secondary text, idle icons */
-  --mute-2: #5a5450;       /* labels, hints */
+  /* Every mute-2 use is 10px mono, so it has to clear 4.5:1 on --ink even
+     though it reads as the quietest step. */
+  --mute-2: #877f76;       /* labels, hints */
   --faint: #3a3733;        /* meta separators */
   --faint-2: #57504b;      /* cover monogram */
 
@@ -73,7 +75,11 @@
   --ember-ink: #150907;    /* text on solid ember */
   --ember-soft: #eda798;   /* text on ember wash */
   --brass: #b8912f;        /* favourite — a second, cooler metal */
-  --trash: #6b5450;        /* remove, resting */
+  --trash: #977671;        /* remove, resting — icons need 3:1, not 4.5:1 */
+
+  /* Desktop cell borders for the two coloured action states. */
+  --play-hot-line: #3a1d18;
+  --fav-line: #332b14;
 
   --asura: #7d93a5;
   --demonic: #a98a78;
@@ -106,7 +112,7 @@
     --paper-hot: #a33018;
     --paper-dim: #191715;
     --mute: #6b645d;
-    --mute-2: #857d75;
+    --mute-2: #6c655e;   /* clears 4.5:1 on --ash too, not just --ink */
     --faint: #c9c2ba;
     --faint-2: #a8a098;
 
@@ -115,7 +121,10 @@
     --ember-ink: #fff;
     --ember-soft: #8d2c17;
     --brass: #8a681c;
-    --trash: #a98276;
+    --trash: #8c6558;
+
+    --play-hot-line: #f0cfc6;
+    --fav-line: #e3d3a4;
 
     --asura: #4f6b80;
     --demonic: #8a6a55;
@@ -180,6 +189,7 @@ button { cursor: pointer; }
 .topbar form { margin: 0; }
 
 .ghost {
+  position: relative;
   padding: 0;
   border: none;
   border-bottom: 1px solid var(--field-line);
@@ -190,6 +200,8 @@ button { cursor: pointer; }
   text-transform: uppercase;
 }
 .ghost:hover { color: var(--paper); border-bottom-color: var(--paper); }
+/* The label is 15px tall by design; the thumb gets 44 without moving it. */
+.ghost::after { content: ""; position: absolute; inset: -15px -12px; }
 
 .chrome { display: flex; flex-direction: column; }
 
@@ -202,6 +214,9 @@ button { cursor: pointer; }
   border-bottom: 1px solid var(--rule);
   color: var(--mute-2);
 }
+/* The input drops its own outline, so the bar it sits in carries the focus
+   ring — same move the two other inputs make with their border. */
+.searchbar:focus-within { border-bottom-color: var(--paper); color: var(--paper); }
 .searchbar svg { width: 15px; height: 15px; flex: none; }
 .search {
   flex: 1;
@@ -226,7 +241,7 @@ button { cursor: pointer; }
   border-bottom: 1px solid var(--rule);
 }
 .tabs::-webkit-scrollbar { display: none; }
-.tabs [role="tab"] {
+.tabs a {
   flex: none;
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;
@@ -236,8 +251,8 @@ button { cursor: pointer; }
   font: 400 17px var(--font-display);
   white-space: nowrap;
 }
-.tabs [role="tab"]:hover { color: var(--paper-dim); }
-.tabs [role="tab"].active {
+.tabs a:hover { color: var(--paper-dim); }
+.tabs a.active {
   color: var(--paper);
   border-bottom: 2px solid var(--paper);
   margin-bottom: -1px;
@@ -661,7 +676,7 @@ button { cursor: pointer; }
     border-bottom: 1px solid var(--rule);
   }
   .tabs { order: 1; flex: none; gap: 20px; padding: 0; border-bottom: none; }
-  .tabs [role="tab"] { padding: 10px 0 14px; font-size: 18px; }
+  .tabs a { padding: 10px 0 14px; font-size: 18px; }
   .searchbar { order: 2; flex: 1; margin: 0; border-bottom: none; }
   .recent h2, .recent-strip { padding-left: 32px; padding-right: 32px; }
   .recent-card, .recent-cover { width: 100px; }
@@ -683,8 +698,8 @@ button { cursor: pointer; }
      than by the hairline the phone layout uses. */
   .actions > .play + *,
   .actions > *:not(.lifecycle) + .lifecycle { margin-left: 10px; box-shadow: none; }
-  .is-new .actions .play { border-color: #3a1d18; }
-  .actions .on { border-color: #332b14; }
+  .is-new .actions .play { border-color: var(--play-hot-line); }
+  .actions .on { border-color: var(--fav-line); }
 
   /* Panels line up with the body text, i.e. past the cover and its gap. */
   .chapter-form, .confirm-row, .error-inline {
@@ -693,5 +708,8 @@ button { cursor: pointer; }
 }
 
 @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
-  * { animation: none !important; transition: none !important; }
+  /* Pseudo-elements need naming explicitly — `*` does not match them, and the
+     busy bar and error dot are both ::before. Their static form still reads:
+     the bar stays drawn and .actions stays dimmed. */
+  *, *::before, *::after { animation: none !important; transition: none !important; }
 }
diff --git a/backend/templates/app.html b/backend/templates/app.html
index a5df111..e4e9b80 100644
--- a/backend/templates/app.html
+++ b/backend/templates/app.html
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
   <title>mangaBookmark</title>
   <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/style.css">
   <link rel="preload" href="/static/fonts/instrument-serif-400-latin.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin>
-  <link rel="preload" href="/static/fonts/ibm-plex-mono-500-latin.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin>
+  {{/* Body text before meta lines: DM Sans is the biggest face and the one
+       most of the page is set in; the mono is small and arrives from CSS. */}}
+  <link rel="preload" href="/static/fonts/dm-sans-var-latin.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin>
   <script src="/static/htmx.min.js" defer></script>
   <script src="/static/filter.js" defer></script>
 </head>
@@ -31,21 +33,29 @@
            autocomplete="off" aria-label="Search titles">
   </div>
 
-  <nav class="tabs" role="tablist">
-    <a role="tab" href="/?tab=all" class="{{if eq .Tab "all"}}active{{end}}"
+  {{/* These are real links with real hrefs that change the URL, so they are
+       navigation, not an ARIA tablist — aria-current carries "which bucket am
+       I in" without owing a tabpanel contract we do not implement. */}}
+  <nav class="tabs" aria-label="Bookmark buckets">
+    <a href="/?tab=all" class="{{if eq .Tab "all"}}active{{end}}"
+       {{if eq .Tab "all"}}aria-current="page"{{end}}
        hx-get="/ui/list?tab=all" hx-target="#list" hx-swap="innerHTML"
        hx-push-url="/?tab=all" hx-on::after-request="setActiveTab(this)">All</a>
-    <a role="tab" href="/?tab=new" class="tab-new {{if eq .Tab "new"}}active{{end}}"
+    <a href="/?tab=new" class="tab-new {{if eq .Tab "new"}}active{{end}}"
+       {{if eq .Tab "new"}}aria-current="page"{{end}}
        hx-get="/ui/list?tab=new" hx-target="#list" hx-swap="innerHTML"
        hx-push-url="/?tab=new" hx-on::after-request="setActiveTab(this)">Updated{{if .NewCount}}
       <span class="count">{{.NewCount}}</span>{{end}}</a>
-    <a role="tab" href="/?tab=fav" class="{{if eq .Tab "fav"}}active{{end}}"
+    <a href="/?tab=fav" class="{{if eq .Tab "fav"}}active{{end}}"
+       {{if eq .Tab "fav"}}aria-current="page"{{end}}
        hx-get="/ui/list?tab=fav" hx-target="#list" hx-swap="innerHTML"
        hx-push-url="/?tab=fav" hx-on::after-request="setActiveTab(this)">Favourites</a>
-    <a role="tab" href="/?tab=archived" class="{{if eq .Tab "archived"}}active{{end}}"
+    <a href="/?tab=archived" class="{{if eq .Tab "archived"}}active{{end}}"
+       {{if eq .Tab "archived"}}aria-current="page"{{end}}
        hx-get="/ui/list?tab=archived" hx-target="#list" hx-swap="innerHTML"
        hx-push-url="/?tab=archived" hx-on::after-request="setActiveTab(this)">Archived</a>
-    <a role="tab" href="/?tab=finished" class="{{if eq .Tab "finished"}}active{{end}}"
+    <a href="/?tab=finished" class="{{if eq .Tab "finished"}}active{{end}}"
+       {{if eq .Tab "finished"}}aria-current="page"{{end}}
        hx-get="/ui/list?tab=finished" hx-target="#list" hx-swap="innerHTML"
        hx-push-url="/?tab=finished" hx-on::after-request="setActiveTab(this)">Finished</a>
   </nav>
diff --git a/backend/templates/card.html b/backend/templates/card.html
index 6f02b20..5ab8dee 100644
--- a/backend/templates/card.html
+++ b/backend/templates/card.html
@@ -131,6 +131,8 @@
       <button type="button" onclick="toggleConfirmRow('{{.Key}}', 'remove')">Cancel</button>
     </div>
   </div>
-  <p class="error-inline" hidden></p>
+  {{/* role=status announces a failed write; without it the tap just looks
+       ignored to a screen reader. */}}
+  <p class="error-inline" role="status" hidden></p>
 </article>
 {{end}}