diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/Auth/RegisteredUserController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/Auth/RegisteredUserController.php
index 327aa76..8195e66 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/Auth/RegisteredUserController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/Auth/RegisteredUserController.php
@@ -32,7 +32,11 @@ class RegisteredUserController extends Controller
             'name'        => ['required', 'string', 'max:255', new ReservedIdentifier('name')],
             'email'       => ['required', 'string', 'email', 'max:255', 'unique:users', new NotDisposableEmail, new ReservedIdentifier('email')],
             'password'    => ['required', 'confirmed', Password::defaults()],
-            'birthday'    => ['required', 'date', 'before:today'],
+            // Age gate: must be at least 13 on sign-up day. The front-end
+            // date picker already caps the year dropdown, but the server
+            // must enforce it so a client bypass doesn't let a 10-year-old
+            // through.
+            'birthday'    => ['required', 'date', 'before:' . now()->subYears(13)->toDateString()],
             'gender'      => ['required', 'in:male,female'],
             'nationality' => ['required', 'string', 'size:2'],
         ]);
diff --git a/resources/views/admin/dashboard.blade.php b/resources/views/admin/dashboard.blade.php
index 5fa96f8..3b5964a 100644
--- a/resources/views/admin/dashboard.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/admin/dashboard.blade.php
@@ -292,13 +292,16 @@
 
     {{-- Ready Videos --}}
     <div class="col-6 col-lg-4 col-xl-2">
-        <div class="stat-card clickable-card" onclick="openDashModal('Live Videos','videos',{status:'ready'},'bi-check-circle-fill')" title="Click to view live videos">
+        <div class="stat-card clickable-card" onclick="openDashModal('Ready','videos',{status:'ready'},'bi-check-circle-fill')" title="Click to view ready videos">
             <div class="stat-card-accent" style="background: linear-gradient(90deg,#22c55e,#4ade80);"></div>
             <div class="stat-card-top">
                 <div class="stat-icon" style="background:rgba(34,197,94,.15);color:#4ade80;"><i class="bi bi-check-circle-fill"></i></div>
             </div>
             <div class="stat-value">{{ number_format($videosByStatus->get('ready', 0)) }}</div>
-            <div class="stat-label">Live Videos</div>
+            {{-- "Ready" matches the DB status column; "Live Videos" was misleading
+                 — nothing streams live from this card, it just counts videos that
+                 finished processing successfully. --}}
+            <div class="stat-label">Ready</div>
             @php $failPct = $stats['totalVideos'] > 0 ? round(($failedCount/$stats['totalVideos'])*100,1) : 0; @endphp
             <div class="stat-growth {{ $failPct > 5 ? 'down' : 'flat' }}">
                 <i class="bi bi-x-circle"></i> {{ $failedCount }} failed
diff --git a/resources/views/auth/register.blade.php b/resources/views/auth/register.blade.php
index c69a50f..4f2e54e 100644
--- a/resources/views/auth/register.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/auth/register.blade.php
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@
         </div>
 
         <div class="form-group">
-            <x-date-picker name="birthday" label="Date of Birth" :value="old('birthday')" required />
+            {{-- COPPA / platform minimum age: 13 at sign-up. maxYear caps
+                 the year dropdown at (this year − 13). --}}
+            <x-date-picker name="birthday" label="Date of Birth" :value="old('birthday')"
+                           :max-year="(int) date('Y') - 13" required />
         </div>
 
         <div class="form-group">
diff --git a/resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php b/resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php
index 4491d28..f629573 100644
--- a/resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php
@@ -1218,6 +1218,20 @@
     <script src="{{ asset('fp.js') }}" async></script>
 </head>
 <body class="{{ $bodyClass ?? '' }} {{ session('impersonator_id') ? 'has-impersonate-bar' : '' }}">
+    {{-- Skip link: keyboard users land here first and can jump straight to
+         the main content region, past the header + sidebar nav. Hidden
+         off-screen until focused. --}}
+    <a href="#main" class="skip-to-content">Skip to content</a>
+    <style>
+        .skip-to-content {
+            position: absolute; top: -40px; left: 8px;
+            padding: 8px 14px; z-index: 10000;
+            background: #ef4444; color: #fff; border-radius: 0 0 8px 8px;
+            text-decoration: none; font-weight: 600;
+            transition: top .15s ease;
+        }
+        .skip-to-content:focus { top: 0; outline: 2px solid #fff; outline-offset: 2px; }
+    </style>
     <!-- Header -->
     @include('layouts.partials.header')
 
diff --git a/resources/views/layouts/partials/header.blade.php b/resources/views/layouts/partials/header.blade.php
index 4c89af4..9eb4fc5 100644
--- a/resources/views/layouts/partials/header.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/layouts/partials/header.blade.php
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <!-- Header -->
 <header class="yt-header">
     <div class="yt-header-left">
-        <button class="yt-menu-btn" onclick="toggleSidebar()">
-            <i class="bi bi-list fs-5"></i>
+        <button class="yt-menu-btn" onclick="toggleSidebar()" aria-label="Toggle sidebar menu" aria-controls="sidebar">
+            <i class="bi bi-list fs-5" aria-hidden="true"></i>
         </button>
         <a href="{{ route('home') }}" class="yt-logo">
             {{-- Two responsive logos. The visible one at a given viewport
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@
 
     <div class="yt-header-right">
         <!-- Mobile search -->
-        <button type="button" class="yt-icon-btn d-md-none" onclick="toggleMobileSearch()">
-            <i class="bi bi-search"></i>
+        <button type="button" class="yt-icon-btn d-md-none" onclick="toggleMobileSearch()" aria-label="Open search">
+            <i class="bi bi-search" aria-hidden="true"></i>
         </button>
 
         @auth
@@ -60,9 +60,10 @@
             <!-- User dropdown -->
             <div class="yt-user-dropdown" id="headerUserDropdown">
                 <button class="yt-icon-btn" id="headerUserBtn"
-                        onclick="toggleHeaderDropdown()" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true">
+                        onclick="toggleHeaderDropdown()" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true"
+                        aria-label="Account menu for {{ Auth::user()->name }}">
                     <img src="{{ Auth::user()->avatar_url }}"
-                         class="yt-user-avatar" alt="{{ Auth::user()->name }}">
+                         class="yt-user-avatar" alt="">
                 </button>
 
                 <div class="yt-user-panel" id="headerUserPanel" role="menu">
diff --git a/resources/views/user/channel.blade.php b/resources/views/user/channel.blade.php
index b00bdf3..5840fd3 100644
--- a/resources/views/user/channel.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/user/channel.blade.php
@@ -1205,7 +1205,13 @@ if ($oldLinks) {
                         <div class="ch-settings-field">
                             <label class="ch-settings-label">Gender</label>
                             <select name="gender" class="ch-settings-input" style="cursor:pointer;">
-                                <option value="">Prefer not to say</option>
+                                {{-- Empty value stands for "not chosen yet"
+                                     — different from the explicit "prefer not
+                                     to say" option. Previously both rendered
+                                     the same label, so users saw two
+                                     identical choices and the stats grouping
+                                     ambiguously bucketed one of them. --}}
+                                <option value="">Select…</option>
                                 <option value="male"              {{ old('gender', $user->gender) === 'male'              ? 'selected' : '' }}>Male</option>
                                 <option value="female"            {{ old('gender', $user->gender) === 'female'            ? 'selected' : '' }}>Female</option>
                                 <option value="prefer_not_to_say" {{ old('gender', $user->gender) === 'prefer_not_to_say' ? 'selected' : '' }}>Prefer not to say</option>
diff --git a/resources/views/user/history.blade.php b/resources/views/user/history.blade.php
index 87707e0..cb4807f 100644
--- a/resources/views/user/history.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/user/history.blade.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 @extends('layouts.app')
 
-@section('title', 'Watch History | TAKEONE')
+@section('title', 'Watch History | ' . config('app.name'))
 
 @section('extra_styles')
 <style>
diff --git a/resources/views/user/liked.blade.php b/resources/views/user/liked.blade.php
index 9d45edb..6a50a95 100644
--- a/resources/views/user/liked.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/user/liked.blade.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 @extends('layouts.app')
 
-@section('title', 'Liked Videos | TAKEONE')
+@section('title', 'Liked Videos | ' . config('app.name'))
 
 @section('extra_styles')
     <style>
diff --git a/resources/views/user/profile.blade.php b/resources/views/user/profile.blade.php
index a820b7d..e5bc3f0 100644
--- a/resources/views/user/profile.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/user/profile.blade.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 @extends('layouts.app')
 
-@section('title', 'Profile | TAKEONE')
+@section('title', 'Profile | ' . config('app.name'))
 
 @section('extra_styles')
 <style>
diff --git a/resources/views/user/settings.blade.php b/resources/views/user/settings.blade.php
index 087f3f8..f6fb847 100644
--- a/resources/views/user/settings.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/user/settings.blade.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 @extends('layouts.app')
 
-@section('title', 'Settings | TAKEONE')
+@section('title', 'Settings | ' . config('app.name'))
 
 @section('extra_styles')
     <style>
diff --git a/resources/views/videos/shorts.blade.php b/resources/views/videos/shorts.blade.php
index 3bcccaf..0cb3138 100644
--- a/resources/views/videos/shorts.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/videos/shorts.blade.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 @extends('layouts.app')
 
-@section('title', 'Shorts - ' . config('app.name'))
+@section('title', 'Shorts | ' . config('app.name'))
 
 @section('main_class', 'shorts-view-page')
 
diff --git a/resources/views/welcome.blade.php b/resources/views/welcome.blade.php
index 42c5a0c..2169955 100755
--- a/resources/views/welcome.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/welcome.blade.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 @extends('layouts.app')
 
-@section('title', 'Welcome - ' . config('app.name'))
+@section('title', 'Welcome | ' . config('app.name'))
 
 @section('content')
 <div class="welcome-container">