diff --git a/e2e/specs/album-actions.spec.ts b/e2e/specs/album-actions.spec.ts
index 1cf4d23..f3a1a20 100644
--- a/e2e/specs/album-actions.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/specs/album-actions.spec.ts
@@ -64,6 +64,35 @@ test.describe('playing an album from its page', () => {
       app.locator('explore-album-details').locator('.tracklist-legend'),
     ).toContainText('in your library');
   });
+
+  test('the ticks are badges, not keyboard stops', async ({ app }) => {
+    // Every one of them was a <button> whose click handler was a
+    // stopPropagation() and a comment saying to wire up the download
+    // client later: on an Explore results page, 20 of 66 tab stops
+    // promised an action and performed none. Counted here rather than
+    // reasoned about, because the count is the finding.
+    const stops = await app.evaluate(() => {
+      const badges = [
+        ...(document
+          .querySelector('explore-album-details')
+          ?.shadowRoot?.querySelectorAll('library-status-indicator') ?? []),
+      ];
+
+      return {
+        badges: badges.length,
+        focusable: badges.filter((b) =>
+          b.shadowRoot?.querySelector('button, [tabindex]:not([tabindex="-1"])'),
+        ).length,
+        labelled: badges.filter((b) =>
+          b.shadowRoot?.querySelector('[role="img"][aria-label]'),
+        ).length,
+      };
+    });
+
+    expect(stops.badges).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(stops.focusable).toBe(0);
+    expect(stops.labelled).toBe(stops.badges);
+  });
 });
 
 /** Albums → click the second card, which navigates to the album page. */
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/library-status-indicator/library-status-indicator.ts b/frontend/src/components/library-status-indicator/library-status-indicator.ts
index 40ad617..2a87de9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/library-status-indicator/library-status-indicator.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/components/library-status-indicator/library-status-indicator.ts
@@ -9,17 +9,26 @@ import '@awesome.me/webawesome/dist/components/icon/icon.js';
  *  - `queued`: the entity has been handed off to a download client but
  *    hasn't arrived yet.  Reserved for future download-client plumbing.
  *  - `not-in-library` (default): the entity is not owned and has not
- *    been requested.  A click should eventually kick off a download,
- *    but for now the button is inert.
+ *    been requested.
  */
 export type LibraryStatus = 'in-library' | 'queued' | 'not-in-library';
 
 /**
- * Tri-state library status indicator rendered as a small circular
- * button.  Intended to be embedded in track rows, album cards, and
- * artist cards.  The click handler is a no-op for now — the button
- * exists so the layout is stable when "add to library" integration
- * lands later.
+ * Tri-state library status indicator: a small circular badge embedded
+ * in track rows, album cards, and artist cards.
+ *
+ * **It is a badge, not a control.**  It was a `<button>` whose click
+ * handler was a `stopPropagation()` and a comment saying to wire up
+ * the download client later — so an Explore results page offered 20
+ * keyboard stops (of 66) that promised an action and performed none,
+ * and every one of them announced itself as a button.  A control that
+ * cannot act is worse than no control: it costs the keyboard user the
+ * tab stop *and* the expectation.
+ *
+ * So it is `role="img"` with a label, until there is something to
+ * click.  When the download-client integration lands, the right change
+ * is to make it a `<button>` again *with a handler* — not to add the
+ * handler to something already shaped like a button.
  *
  * Colours and glyphs:
  *  - in-library    → green circle, check mark
@@ -83,7 +92,12 @@ export class LibraryStatusIndicator extends LitElement {
             --indicator-border: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2);
         }
 
-        button {
+        .badge {
+            /* A <button> gets box-sizing: border-box from the UA
+             * stylesheet and a <span> does not, so dropping the button
+             * grew the badge by its 1px border on each side — 36px to
+             * 38px, caught by the stored screenshot. */
+            box-sizing: border-box;
             width: var(--indicator-size);
             height: var(--indicator-size);
             min-width: var(--indicator-size);
@@ -93,33 +107,12 @@ export class LibraryStatusIndicator extends LitElement {
             color: var(--indicator-fg);
             border: 1px solid var(--indicator-border);
             padding: 0;
-            cursor: pointer;
             display: inline-flex;
             align-items: center;
             justify-content: center;
-            transition:
-                background-color 150ms ease,
-                color 150ms ease,
-                transform 120ms ease,
-                border-color 150ms ease;
             -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;
         }
 
-        button:hover {
-            transform: scale(1.08);
-        }
-
-        :host([status='not-in-library']) button:hover {
-            background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.14);
-            color: #fff;
-            border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3);
-        }
-
-        button:focus-visible {
-            outline: 2px solid var(--yj-accent, #1db954);
-            outline-offset: 2px;
-        }
-
         wa-icon {
             font-size: calc(var(--indicator-size) * 0.55);
             line-height: 1;
@@ -158,23 +151,9 @@ export class LibraryStatusIndicator extends LitElement {
             case 'queued':
                 return `${capitalize(kind)}${name} is queued for download`;
             default:
-                return `Add ${kind}${name} to library`;
-        }
-    }
-
-    private handleClick(e: Event) {
-        // Stop propagation so clicking the button doesn't bubble up
-        // to the parent card and trigger navigation.  The click
-        // itself is a no-op for now — wire up download-client
-        // integration later.
-        e.stopPropagation();
-    }
-
-    private handleKeydown(e: KeyboardEvent) {
-        // Same reasoning: don't let Enter/Space bubble to a wrapping
-        // card and trigger navigation.
-        if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') {
-            e.stopPropagation();
+                // Not "Add … to library": nothing here adds anything.
+                // The old copy was the button's promise written out.
+                return `${capitalize(kind)}${name} is not in your library`;
         }
     }
 
@@ -187,17 +166,11 @@ export class LibraryStatusIndicator extends LitElement {
         const title = this.tooltip();
 
         return html`
-            <button
-                type="button"
-                title=${title}
-                aria-label=${title}
-                @click=${this.handleClick}
-                @keydown=${this.handleKeydown}
-            >
+            <span class="badge" role="img" title=${title} aria-label=${title}>
                 ${this.iconName()
-                    ? html`<wa-icon name=${this.iconName()}></wa-icon>`
+                    ? html`<wa-icon name=${this.iconName()} aria-hidden="true"></wa-icon>`
                     : nothing}
-            </button>
+            </span>
         `;
     }
 }
diff --git a/frontend/test/components/chrome.test.ts b/frontend/test/components/chrome.test.ts
index 59fa435..4c3dee6 100644
--- a/frontend/test/components/chrome.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/test/components/chrome.test.ts
@@ -176,26 +176,43 @@ describe('<library-status-indicator>', () => {
       label: 'Abbey Road',
     });
 
-    expect(shadow(el, 'button')?.getAttribute('aria-label')).toBe(
+    expect(shadow(el, '.badge')?.getAttribute('aria-label')).toBe(
       'Album "Abbey Road" is in your library',
     );
   });
 
-  it('phrases an unowned entity as an invitation', async () => {
+  it('states an unowned entity rather than offering to add it', async () => {
+    // The old copy was "Add artist “Eno” to library", which is the
+    // promise the inert button was making. Nothing here adds anything.
     const el = await fixture('library-status-indicator', {
       entityType: 'artist',
       label: 'Eno',
     });
 
-    expect(shadow(el, 'button')?.getAttribute('aria-label')).toBe(
-      'Add artist "Eno" to library',
+    expect(shadow(el, '.badge')?.getAttribute('aria-label')).toBe(
+      'Artist "Eno" is not in your library',
     );
   });
 
+  it('is a badge, not a keyboard stop', async () => {
+    // 20 of the 66 tab stops on an Explore results page were these,
+    // each announcing itself as a button and doing nothing.
+    const el = await fixture('library-status-indicator', {
+      status: 'in-library',
+    });
+
+    expect(shadow(el, 'button')).toBeNull();
+
+    const badge = shadow(el, '.badge');
+
+    expect(badge?.getAttribute('role')).toBe('img');
+    expect(badge?.hasAttribute('tabindex')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it('drops the quoted name when it has none', async () => {
     const el = await fixture('library-status-indicator', { status: 'queued' });
 
-    expect(shadow(el, 'button')?.getAttribute('aria-label')).toBe(
+    expect(shadow(el, '.badge')?.getAttribute('aria-label')).toBe(
       'Track is queued for download',
     );
   });
@@ -205,14 +222,15 @@ describe('<library-status-indicator>', () => {
       status: 'in-library',
     });
 
-    const button = shadow(el, 'button');
+    const badge = shadow(el, '.badge');
 
-    expect(button?.getAttribute('title')).toBe(
-      button?.getAttribute('aria-label'),
-    );
+    expect(badge?.getAttribute('title')).toBe(badge?.getAttribute('aria-label'));
   });
 
-  it('swallows the click, so it does not navigate the card it sits on', async () => {
+  it('lets a click reach the card it sits on, and calls nothing itself', async () => {
+    // It used to stopPropagation() so its own no-op click would not
+    // navigate the card. With no click of its own, the badge is part
+    // of the card and a click on it means what the card means.
     const el = await fixture('library-status-indicator');
     let bubbled = 0;
 
@@ -220,27 +238,9 @@ describe('<library-status-indicator>', () => {
       bubbled += 1;
     });
 
-    shadow<HTMLElement>(el, 'button')?.click();
+    shadow<HTMLElement>(el, '.badge')?.click();
 
-    expect([bubbled, calls()]).toEqual([0, []]);
-  });
-
-  it('swallows Enter and Space for the same reason', async () => {
-    const el = await fixture('library-status-indicator');
-    let bubbled = 0;
-
-    el.addEventListener('keydown', () => {
-      bubbled += 1;
-    });
-
-    for (const key of ['Enter', ' ', 'Tab']) {
-      shadow(el, 'button')?.dispatchEvent(
-        new KeyboardEvent('keydown', { key, bubbles: true, composed: true }),
-      );
-    }
-
-    // Tab still gets through: it is navigation, not activation.
-    expect(bubbled).toBe(1);
+    expect([bubbled, calls()]).toEqual([1, []]);
   });
 
   it('honours a non-default size', async () => {
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ describe('<library-status-indicator>', () => {
 
     await update(el, { size: 40 });
     await visual(el, 'library-status-indicator-in-library');
-    expect(shadow(el, 'button')).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(shadow(el, '.badge')).not.toBeNull();
   });
 });