diff --git a/base.css b/base.css
index 8803585..1b2d0bb 100644
--- a/base.css
+++ b/base.css
@@ -227,6 +227,10 @@ a:hover {
   color: var(--accent-orange);
   text-shadow: var(--glow-orange);
 }
+a:focus-visible {
+  outline: 2px solid var(--accent-cyan);
+  outline-offset: 2px;
+}
 
 ul, ol  { list-style: none; }
 img, svg { display: block; max-width: 100%; }
@@ -543,6 +547,11 @@ hr {
   text-shadow: var(--glow-orange);
   padding-left: 1.1rem;
 }
+.lt-nav-dropdown-menu li a:focus-visible {
+  outline: 2px solid var(--accent-cyan);
+  outline-offset: -2px;
+  color: var(--accent-cyan);
+}
 
 /* Header user + admin badge */
 .lt-header-user {
@@ -5055,6 +5064,7 @@ body.lt-is-offline .lt-main { margin-top: 2rem; transition: margin-top 0.25s eas
 .lt-markdown hr  { border: none; border-top: 1px solid var(--border-dim); margin: 1rem 0; }
 .lt-markdown a   { color: var(--accent-cyan); text-decoration: none; }
 .lt-markdown a:hover { text-decoration: underline; }
+.lt-markdown a:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid var(--accent-cyan); outline-offset: 2px; }
 .lt-markdown strong { color: var(--text-primary); }
 .lt-markdown img { max-width: 100%; border: 1px solid var(--border-dim); }
 .lt-markdown table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 0.78rem; margin: 0.75rem 0; }
diff --git a/base.html b/base.html
index bcaae90..a40a896 100644
--- a/base.html
+++ b/base.html
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
   <div id="lt-nav-drawer" class="lt-nav-drawer" aria-hidden="true" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" aria-label="Navigation menu">
     <div class="lt-nav-drawer-header">
       <span class="lt-brand-title">MY APP</span>
-      <button class="lt-nav-drawer-close" id="lt-nav-drawer-close" aria-label="Close menu">✕</button>
+      <button type="button" class="lt-nav-drawer-close" id="lt-nav-drawer-close" aria-label="Close menu">✕</button>
     </div>
     <nav class="lt-nav-drawer-links" aria-label="Mobile navigation">
       <a href="/"        class="lt-nav-drawer-link active" aria-current="page">Dashboard</a>
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
     <div class="lt-header-left">
 
       <!-- Hamburger — visible only on tablet/mobile (CSS hides on desktop) -->
-      <button class="lt-menu-btn" id="lt-menu-btn" aria-label="Open navigation menu" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="lt-nav-drawer">
+      <button type="button" class="lt-menu-btn" id="lt-menu-btn" aria-label="Open navigation menu" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="lt-nav-drawer">
         <span></span><span></span><span></span>
       </button>
 
@@ -119,10 +119,10 @@
         <span class="lt-dot"></span><span>Offline</span>
       </div>
       <!-- Theme toggle -->
-      <button class="lt-theme-btn" id="lt-theme-btn" aria-label="Switch to light mode" title="Switch to light mode">☀</button>
+      <button type="button" class="lt-theme-btn" id="lt-theme-btn" aria-label="Switch to light mode" title="Switch to light mode">☀</button>
       <!-- Notifications with badge + dropdown -->
       <div class="lt-notif-dropdown-wrap" id="lt-notif-bell">
-        <button class="lt-btn lt-btn-sm lt-notif-bell-btn" id="lt-notif-bell-btn" aria-label="Open notifications" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" style="padding:0 0.6rem;">🔔</button>
+        <button type="button" class="lt-btn lt-btn-sm lt-notif-bell-btn" id="lt-notif-bell-btn" aria-label="Open notifications" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" style="padding:0 0.6rem;">🔔</button>
         <div class="lt-notif-panel" id="lt-notif-panel" role="region" aria-label="Notifications" aria-hidden="true">
           <div class="lt-notif-panel-header">
             <span>Notifications</span>
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@
   <div id="lt-detail-drawer" class="lt-drawer-right" aria-hidden="true" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" aria-label="Detail panel" data-overlay="lt-detail-overlay">
     <div class="lt-drawer-right-header">
       <span class="lt-drawer-right-title">// TICKET DETAIL</span>
-      <button class="lt-drawer-right-close" data-drawer-close aria-label="Close detail panel">✕</button>
+      <button type="button" class="lt-drawer-right-close" data-drawer-close aria-label="Close detail panel">✕</button>
     </div>
     <div class="lt-drawer-right-body">
       <!-- Read-only meta row -->
@@ -310,9 +310,9 @@
          TAB NAVIGATION
          ========================================================== -->
     <div class="lt-tabs" role="tablist" aria-label="Main views">
-      <button class="lt-tab active" role="tab" data-tab="tab-table"   aria-selected="true"  aria-controls="tab-table"   id="tab-btn-table">Table View</button>
-      <button class="lt-tab"        role="tab" data-tab="tab-kanban"  aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-kanban"  id="tab-btn-kanban">Kanban</button>
-      <button class="lt-tab"        role="tab" data-tab="tab-workers" aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-workers" id="tab-btn-workers">Workers</button>
+      <button type="button" class="lt-tab active" role="tab" data-tab="tab-table"   aria-selected="true"  aria-controls="tab-table"   id="tab-btn-table">Table View</button>
+      <button type="button" class="lt-tab"        role="tab" data-tab="tab-kanban"  aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-kanban"  id="tab-btn-kanban">Kanban</button>
+      <button type="button" class="lt-tab"        role="tab" data-tab="tab-workers" aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-workers" id="tab-btn-workers">Workers</button>
     </div>
 
     <!-- ==========================================================
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@
       <aside class="lt-sidebar" id="lt-sidebar">
         <div class="lt-sidebar-header">
           Filters
-          <button class="lt-sidebar-toggle" data-sidebar-toggle="lt-sidebar"
+          <button type="button" class="lt-sidebar-toggle" data-sidebar-toggle="lt-sidebar"
                   aria-label="Collapse filters">◀</button>
         </div>
         <div class="lt-sidebar-body">
@@ -905,22 +905,22 @@
           <div class="lt-alert">
             <span class="lt-alert-icon">ℹ</span>
             <div class="lt-alert-body"><div class="lt-alert-title">Information</div><div class="lt-alert-msg">Scheduled maintenance window: Sunday 02:00–04:00 UTC.</div></div>
-            <button class="lt-alert-close" data-alert-close aria-label="Dismiss">✕</button>
+            <button type="button" class="lt-alert-close" data-alert-close aria-label="Dismiss">✕</button>
           </div>
           <div class="lt-alert lt-alert--warning">
             <span class="lt-alert-icon">⚠</span>
             <div class="lt-alert-body"><div class="lt-alert-title">Warning</div><div class="lt-alert-msg">Disk usage on NODE-03 at 87%. Consider cleanup.</div></div>
-            <button class="lt-alert-close" data-alert-close aria-label="Dismiss">✕</button>
+            <button type="button" class="lt-alert-close" data-alert-close aria-label="Dismiss">✕</button>
           </div>
           <div class="lt-alert lt-alert--error">
             <span class="lt-alert-icon">✕</span>
             <div class="lt-alert-body"><div class="lt-alert-title">Critical</div><div class="lt-alert-msg">NODE-11 unreachable. Last seen 14m ago.</div></div>
-            <button class="lt-alert-close" data-alert-close aria-label="Dismiss">✕</button>
+            <button type="button" class="lt-alert-close" data-alert-close aria-label="Dismiss">✕</button>
           </div>
           <div class="lt-alert lt-alert--success">
             <span class="lt-alert-icon">✓</span>
             <div class="lt-alert-body"><div class="lt-alert-title">Success</div><div class="lt-alert-msg">Deployment v2.4.1 completed successfully.</div></div>
-            <button class="lt-alert-close" data-alert-close aria-label="Dismiss">✕</button>
+            <button type="button" class="lt-alert-close" data-alert-close aria-label="Dismiss">✕</button>
           </div>
         </div>
 
@@ -967,7 +967,7 @@
           <div class="lt-code-block">
             <div class="lt-code-header">
               <span class="lt-code-lang">bash</span>
-              <button class="lt-code-copy" data-copy="systemctl restart nginx && systemctl status nginx">COPY</button>
+              <button type="button" class="lt-code-copy" data-copy="systemctl restart nginx && systemctl status nginx">COPY</button>
             </div>
             <pre><code><span class="tok-cmt"># Restart and verify nginx</span>
 <span class="tok-kw">systemctl</span> restart nginx <span class="tok-kw">&amp;&amp;</span> <span class="tok-kw">systemctl</span> status nginx
@@ -1064,10 +1064,10 @@
         <div class="lt-section-header">Tab Bar</div>
         <div class="lt-section-body">
           <div class="lt-tab-bar" role="tablist">
-            <button class="lt-tab active" role="tab" id="tab2-btn-overview" data-tab-target="tab-overview" aria-selected="true"  aria-controls="tab-overview">Overview</button>
-            <button class="lt-tab"        role="tab" id="tab2-btn-logs"     data-tab-target="tab-logs"     aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-logs">Logs</button>
-            <button class="lt-tab"        role="tab" id="tab2-btn-metrics"  data-tab-target="tab-metrics"  aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-metrics">Metrics</button>
-            <button class="lt-tab"        role="tab" id="tab2-btn-config"   data-tab-target="tab-config"   aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-config">Config</button>
+            <button type="button" class="lt-tab active" role="tab" id="tab2-btn-overview" data-tab-target="tab-overview" aria-selected="true"  aria-controls="tab-overview">Overview</button>
+            <button type="button" class="lt-tab"        role="tab" id="tab2-btn-logs"     data-tab-target="tab-logs"     aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-logs">Logs</button>
+            <button type="button" class="lt-tab"        role="tab" id="tab2-btn-metrics"  data-tab-target="tab-metrics"  aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-metrics">Metrics</button>
+            <button type="button" class="lt-tab"        role="tab" id="tab2-btn-config"   data-tab-target="tab-config"   aria-selected="false" aria-controls="tab-config">Config</button>
           </div>
           <div class="lt-tab-panels" style="padding:var(--space-md) 0">
             <div id="tab-overview" class="lt-tab-panel active" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tab2-btn-overview">System overview: all nodes nominal. 14 active sessions.</div>
@@ -1254,7 +1254,7 @@
       <div class="lt-section-body">
         <p style="font-size:0.78rem;color:var(--text-secondary);margin-bottom:1rem">Detail/inspect panel from the right. Focus trap, ESC close, overlay backdrop, return-focus.</p>
         <div class="lt-flex lt-gap-sm lt-wrap">
-          <button class="lt-btn lt-btn-primary" data-drawer-open="lt-detail-drawer">Open Detail Panel</button>
+          <button type="button" class="lt-btn lt-btn-primary" data-drawer-open="lt-detail-drawer">Open Detail Panel</button>
           <code style="font-size:0.72rem;color:var(--accent-cyan)">lt.rightDrawer.open('id') | .close() | .toggle()</code>
         </div>
       </div>
@@ -1609,7 +1609,7 @@ Storage array link-down on `compute-storage-01`.
     <div class="lt-modal" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="export-modal-title">
       <div class="lt-modal-header">
         <span class="lt-modal-title" id="export-modal-title">Export Tickets</span>
-        <button class="lt-modal-close" data-modal-close aria-label="Close">✕</button>
+        <button type="button" class="lt-modal-close" data-modal-close aria-label="Close">✕</button>
       </div>
       <div class="lt-modal-body">
         <div class="lt-form-group">
@@ -1640,7 +1640,7 @@ Storage array link-down on `compute-storage-01`.
     <div class="lt-modal" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="keys-help-title">
       <div class="lt-modal-header">
         <span class="lt-modal-title" id="keys-help-title">Keyboard Shortcuts</span>
-        <button class="lt-modal-close" data-modal-close aria-label="Close">✕</button>
+        <button type="button" class="lt-modal-close" data-modal-close aria-label="Close">✕</button>
       </div>
       <div class="lt-modal-body">
         <table class="lt-data-table" style="width:100%">
@@ -1661,7 +1661,7 @@ Storage array link-down on `compute-storage-01`.
         </table>
       </div>
       <div class="lt-modal-footer">
-        <button class="lt-btn" data-modal-close>Close</button>
+        <button type="button" class="lt-btn" data-modal-close>Close</button>
       </div>
     </div>
   </div>
@@ -1673,7 +1673,7 @@ Storage array link-down on `compute-storage-01`.
     <div class="lt-cmd-palette" id="lt-cmd-palette">
       <div class="lt-cmd-input-wrap">
         <span class="lt-cmd-prompt">&gt;</span>
-        <input id="lt-cmd-input" class="lt-cmd-input" type="text" placeholder="Search commands…" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false">
+        <input id="lt-cmd-input" class="lt-cmd-input" type="text" placeholder="Search commands…" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false" aria-label="Search commands">
       </div>
       <div class="lt-cmd-results" id="lt-cmd-results">
         <div class="lt-cmd-empty">Start typing to search…</div>
@@ -1880,9 +1880,10 @@ Storage array link-down on `compute-storage-01`.
           btn.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'true');
           // Mark all as read visually
         }
-        function close() {
+        function close(restoreFocus) {
           panel.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
           btn.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false');
+          if (restoreFocus) btn.focus();
         }
 
         btn.addEventListener('click', e => {
@@ -1916,8 +1917,8 @@ Storage array link-down on `compute-storage-01`.
           if (!document.getElementById('lt-notif-bell').contains(e.target)) close();
         });
 
-        // Esc close
-        document.addEventListener('keydown', e => { if (e.key === 'Escape') close(); });
+        // Esc close — restore focus to bell button
+        document.addEventListener('keydown', e => { if (e.key === 'Escape' && !panel.hasAttribute('aria-hidden')) close(true); });
       }());
 
       // ----- Generic dropdown toggle (Advanced filter + Bulk Actions) -----
@@ -1950,6 +1951,14 @@ Storage array link-down on `compute-storage-01`.
           if (t) t.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false');
         });
       });
+      document.addEventListener('keydown', e => {
+        if (e.key !== 'Escape') return;
+        document.querySelectorAll('.lt-dropdown-panel:not([aria-hidden])').forEach(p => {
+          p.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
+          const t = p.closest('.lt-dropdown-wrap').querySelector('.lt-dropdown-trigger');
+          if (t) { t.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false'); t.focus(); }
+        });
+      });
 
       // Footer year
       const footerYear = document.getElementById('footer-year');