diff --git a/frontend/src/components/AddToPlaylist.tsx b/frontend/src/components/AddToPlaylist.tsx
index db0f5137..d3335ab6 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/AddToPlaylist.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/AddToPlaylist.tsx
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ export default function AddToPlaylist({
                 // the floating element only). `toggle()` already no-ops while busy, so re-entrancy is
                 // guarded without touching focus; `aria-busy` on the list conveys the pending state.
                 label={playlistName(pl, t)}
-                className="w-full flex items-center gap-2 text-sm px-1.5 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-fg outline-hidden transition hover:bg-card/60 data-active:bg-[color-mix(in_srgb,var(--accent)_24%,transparent)]"
+                className="w-full flex items-center gap-2 text-sm px-1.5 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-fg outline-hidden transition hover:bg-card/60"
               >
                 <span
                   className={`grid place-items-center w-4 h-4 rounded border ${
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/AnchoredPopover.tsx b/frontend/src/components/AnchoredPopover.tsx
index 44050931..784325ba 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/AnchoredPopover.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/AnchoredPopover.tsx
@@ -223,13 +223,18 @@ type ItemRole = "menuitem" | "menuitemradio" | "menuitemcheckbox" | "option";
  *  one exclusive choice, `menuitemcheckbox`+`checked` when several can be on at once,
  *  `option`+`selected` for a listbox choice, plain `menuitem` for an action.
  *
- *  The active (roving) item carries `data-active` — style the highlight off THAT, not `:focus-visible`:
+ *  The active (roving) item carries `data-active`, and the highlight is applied HERE for every item
+ *  (see ACTIVE_HIGHLIGHT) — consumers don't add it. It's driven off `data-active`, not `:focus-visible`:
  *  a click-opened menu focuses the first item programmatically, which does NOT reliably trip the
  *  focus-visible heuristic, so a `:focus-visible` highlight can stay invisible until the first arrow
- *  key. The recommended recipe is an accent tint — and note `bg-accent/NN` does NOT work here (the
- *  theme's `--accent` is a hex var, and Tailwind v3 can't inject alpha into it), so use a color-mix
- *  arbitrary value like the app's own glass idiom:
- *  `data-active:bg-[color-mix(in_srgb,var(--accent)_24%,transparent)] data-active:text-fg`. */
+ *  key. (Since the Tailwind v4 migration `bg-accent/NN` works — v4 does the opacity modifier via
+ *  color-mix — so the recipe no longer needs a hand-written color-mix arbitrary value.) */
+// Applied to EVERY PopoverItem so the roving-focus row is clearly visible across all schemes: an
+// accent fill plus a 1px inset accent ring for a defined edge. (The previous per-consumer 24% fill
+// alone read as barely-there — a real UAT finding, 2026-08-08.)
+const ACTIVE_HIGHLIGHT =
+  "data-active:bg-accent/35 data-active:text-fg data-active:ring-1 data-active:ring-inset data-active:ring-accent/60";
+
 export function PopoverItem({
   children,
   onSelect,
@@ -286,7 +291,7 @@ export function PopoverItem({
       tabIndex={active ? 0 : -1}
       data-active={active ? "true" : undefined}
       disabled={disabled}
-      className={className}
+      className={`${ACTIVE_HIGHLIGHT}${className ? ` ${className}` : ""}`}
     >
       {children}
     </button>
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ChannelTags.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ChannelTags.tsx
index 17b102ed..36f8875b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ChannelTags.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ChannelTags.tsx
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ function TagEditorMenu({
               checked={on}
               onSelect={() => onToggle(tg.id)}
               label={tg.name}
-              className={`w-full flex items-center gap-2 text-left text-xs px-2 py-1.5 rounded-md outline-hidden transition hover:bg-card data-active:bg-[color-mix(in_srgb,var(--accent)_24%,transparent)] data-active:text-fg ${
+              className={`w-full flex items-center gap-2 text-left text-xs px-2 py-1.5 rounded-md outline-hidden transition hover:bg-card ${
                 on ? "text-fg" : "text-muted"
               }`}
             >
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/LanguageSwitcher.tsx b/frontend/src/components/LanguageSwitcher.tsx
index 7d861319..62b9f214 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/LanguageSwitcher.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/LanguageSwitcher.tsx
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ export default function LanguageSwitcher({
               setOpen(false);
             }}
             label={l.label}
-            className="w-full flex items-center justify-between gap-2 text-sm px-2 py-2 rounded-lg text-muted outline-hidden transition hover:text-fg hover:bg-card data-active:bg-[color-mix(in_srgb,var(--accent)_24%,transparent)] data-active:text-fg"
+            className="w-full flex items-center justify-between gap-2 text-sm px-2 py-2 rounded-lg text-muted outline-hidden transition hover:text-fg hover:bg-card"
           >
             <span>{l.label}</span>
             {l.code === value && <Check className="w-4 h-4 text-accent" />}
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ViewSwitcher.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ViewSwitcher.tsx
index 14c14ac5..bb721f54 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ViewSwitcher.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ViewSwitcher.tsx
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ export default function ViewSwitcher<T extends string>({
                   setOpen(false);
                 }}
                 label={o.label}
-                className={`w-full flex items-center gap-2 px-2 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm text-left outline-hidden transition data-active:bg-[color-mix(in_srgb,var(--accent)_24%,transparent)] ${
+                className={`w-full flex items-center gap-2 px-2 py-1.5 rounded-lg text-sm text-left outline-hidden transition ${
                   on ? "text-accent" : "text-fg hover:bg-card"
                 }`}
               >
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/tableHeader.tsx b/frontend/src/components/tableHeader.tsx
index a3744953..9db87ad5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/tableHeader.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/tableHeader.tsx
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ function FilterFunnel<T>({
                     onApply(col.key, on ? arr.filter((x) => x !== o.value) : [...arr, o.value])
                   }
                   label={o.label}
-                  className={`flex w-full items-center gap-2 text-left text-xs px-2 py-1.5 rounded-md outline-hidden transition data-active:bg-[color-mix(in_srgb,var(--accent)_24%,transparent)] ${
+                  className={`flex w-full items-center gap-2 text-left text-xs px-2 py-1.5 rounded-md outline-hidden transition ${
                     on ? "text-fg" : "text-muted hover:bg-card"
                   }`}
                 >