diff --git a/web/src/jobs/promptForm.own.test.ts b/web/src/jobs/promptForm.own.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a95cdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/jobs/promptForm.own.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import type { PromptEvent } from './hub'
+import { promptForm } from './promptForm'
+
+const choice = (options: { value: string; label: string }[]): PromptEvent => ({
+  seq: 1, ts: 't', type: 'prompt', prompt_id: 'q1', kind: 'choice', message: 'Which one?', options,
+})
+
+describe('choice prompt own-game escape', () => {
+  it('paints the escape as a glyph and speaks its label; game names stay plain text', () => {
+    const form = promptForm('j', choice([{ value: 'a', label: 'Alpha' }, { value: 'own', label: 'Pick my own game' }]))
+    document.body.append(form)
+    const own = form.querySelector('[data-value=own] .choice-label')
+    expect(own?.querySelector('[aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent).toBe('🗂️')
+    expect(own?.querySelector('.sr-only')?.textContent).toBe('Pick my own game')
+    expect(form.querySelector('[data-value=a] .choice-label')?.textContent).toBe('Alpha')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/web/src/library/view.test.ts b/web/src/library/view.test.ts
index b9fa016..220374a 100644
--- a/web/src/library/view.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/library/view.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { makeLibGame } from '../test/fixtures'
-import { completion, filterGames, isCompleted, metaLine, NO_FILTERS, sortGames } from './view'
+import { completion, filterGames, isCompleted, metaGlyphs, metaLine, NO_FILTERS, reasonGlyph, reasonOrMeta, sortGames } from './view'
 
 const g = makeLibGame
 
@@ -68,3 +68,41 @@ describe('metaLine', () => {
     expect(metaLine(g({ achievements_total: 0, hltb_hours: null, playtime_minutes: 0 }))).toBe('No achievements')
   })
 })
+
+describe('metaGlyphs', () => {
+  it('paints trophy, clock and play with their values', () => {
+    expect(metaGlyphs(g({ achievements_total: 8, achievements_unlocked: 3, hltb_hours: 12, playtime_minutes: 192 })))
+      .toBe('🏆 37% · ⏱️ 12 h · ▶️ 3.2 h')
+  })
+  it('paints a dash for no achievements and drops unknown HLTB and zero playtime', () => {
+    expect(metaGlyphs(g({ achievements_total: 0, hltb_hours: null, playtime_minutes: 0 }))).toBe('🏆 —')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('reasonGlyph', () => {
+  it.each([
+    ['Already 100% complete', '🏆✅'],
+    ['No achievements', '🏆🚫'],
+    ['Skipped by you', '⏭️'],
+    ['Skipped until 2026-09-01', '⏭️ 2026-09-01'],
+    ['Something else', '⛔'],
+    ['Blocked until 2026-10-02', '⛔ 2026-10-02'],
+  ])('%s paints %s', (reason, painted) => {
+    expect(reasonGlyph(reason)).toBe(painted)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('reasonOrMeta', () => {
+  it('paints the meta glyphs and speaks the meta line when pickable', () => {
+    const game = g({ achievements_total: 8, achievements_unlocked: 3, hltb_hours: 12, playtime_minutes: 192 })
+    const el = reasonOrMeta(null, game, 'sub')
+    expect(el.className).toBe('sub')
+    expect(el.querySelector('[aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent).toBe(metaGlyphs(game))
+    expect(el.querySelector('.sr-only')?.textContent).toBe(metaLine(game))
+  })
+  it('paints the reason glyph and speaks the reason when not pickable', () => {
+    const el = reasonOrMeta('No achievements', g(), 'sub')
+    expect(el.querySelector('[aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent).toBe('🏆🚫')
+    expect(el.querySelector('.sr-only')?.textContent).toBe('No achievements')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/web/src/sections/backlog/planner.test.ts b/web/src/sections/backlog/planner.test.ts
index 8760257..6616dab 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/backlog/planner.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/sections/backlog/planner.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { q } from '../../api/queries'
 import { makeDataset, makeGame, makeState } from '../../test/factories'
 import { big, GAMES, hash, header, names, panel, show, table } from '../../test/plannerHelpers'
-import { painted } from './painted.testutil'
+import { painted } from '../../test/painted'
 
 afterEach(() => {
   history.replaceState(null, '', '/')
diff --git a/web/src/sections/backlog/plannerTable.test.ts b/web/src/sections/backlog/plannerTable.test.ts
index 4405ffb..0a82610 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/backlog/plannerTable.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/sections/backlog/plannerTable.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { screen, within } from '@testing-library/dom'
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { makeGame } from '../../test/factories'
 import { GAMES, hash, header, names, show, table } from '../../test/plannerHelpers'
+import { ANY_GLYPH } from './glyphs'
 import { hltbUrl } from './plannerTable'
 
 afterEach(() => {
@@ -115,6 +116,16 @@ describe('<game-table> table', () => {
     expect(screen.getByText('Fallback estimate', { exact: false })).toBeVisible()
   })
 
+  it('paints the keep options as glyphs and speaks their values', async () => {
+    await show()
+    const options = [...screen.getByRole('combobox', { name: 'Filter Keep' }).querySelectorAll('option')]
+    expect(options.map((o) => [o.value, o.textContent, o.getAttribute('aria-label')])).toEqual([
+      ['', ANY_GLYPH, 'All'],
+      ['kept', '📌', 'kept'],
+      ['excluded', '🚫', 'excluded'],
+    ])
+  })
+
   it('caps the table and notes the overflow', async () => {
     await show(Array.from({ length: 301 }, (_, i) => makeGame({ app_id: i + 1, name: `Game ${i}` })))
     expect(screen.getByText('300/301')).toBeVisible()
diff --git a/web/src/sections/backlog/plannerTable.ts b/web/src/sections/backlog/plannerTable.ts
index 90dc57f..6607851 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/backlog/plannerTable.ts
+++ b/web/src/sections/backlog/plannerTable.ts
@@ -38,11 +38,9 @@ export function hltbUrl(game: WebGame): string {
 
 // Textgate: select options paint glyphs; the value (kept/excluded, a
 // tierLabel string) is what the hash stores and what the option speaks.
-const optionLabel = (c: Column, v: string) => {
-  if (c.key === 'keep') return KEEP_GLYPH[v] ?? v
-  if (c.key === 'proton') return tierGlyphs(v)
-  return v
-}
+// Only the keep and proton columns have a select filter; keep's options are
+// always kept/excluded, so every one has a glyph.
+const optionLabel = (c: Column, v: string) => (c.key === 'keep' ? KEEP_GLYPH[v] : tierGlyphs(v))
 const option = (c: Column, v: string) =>
   h('option', { value: v, 'aria-label': v || 'All' }, v ? optionLabel(c, v) : ANY_GLYPH)
 
diff --git a/web/src/sections/backlog/summary.test.ts b/web/src/sections/backlog/summary.test.ts
index c7ca3c2..d11b4e4 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/backlog/summary.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/sections/backlog/summary.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { applyFilters } from '../../estimate'
 import { makeDataset, makeFilters, makeGame, makePaceVsHltb, makeState } from '../../test/factories'
 import type { Filters, PaceVsHLTB } from '../../types'
-import { painted } from './painted.testutil'
+import { painted } from '../../test/painted'
 import { summaryCards } from './summary'
 
 const NOW = new Date('2026-01-01T00:00:00Z')
diff --git a/web/src/sections/backlog/textgate.test.ts b/web/src/sections/backlog/textgate.test.ts
index a85b8f4..1830352 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/backlog/textgate.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/sections/backlog/textgate.test.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { flush, mount, stubApi } from '../../test/harness'
 import { GAMES, panel, show } from '../../test/plannerHelpers'
 import { visibleWords } from '../../test/visibleWords'
 import { ANY_GLYPH, KEEP_GLYPH, styleGlyph, tierGlyphs } from './glyphs'
-import { painted } from './painted.testutil'
+import { painted } from '../../test/painted'
 
 afterEach(() => {
   history.replaceState(null, '', '/')
diff --git a/web/src/sections/dashboard.since.test.ts b/web/src/sections/dashboard.since.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d531b05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/src/sections/dashboard.since.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { since } from './dashboard'
+
+describe('since', () => {
+  it('paints a clock and the short span, speaking the full phrase', () => {
+    const el = since(new Date(Date.now() - 5 * 60_000).toISOString())
+    expect(el.querySelector('[aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent).toBe('🕓 5 min')
+    expect(el.querySelector('.sr-only')?.textContent).toBe('5 min ago')
+  })
+
+  it('paints "<1 min" while speaking "just now"', () => {
+    const el = since(new Date().toISOString())
+    expect(el.querySelector('[aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent).toBe('🕓 <1 min')
+    expect(el.querySelector('.sr-only')?.textContent).toBe('just now')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/web/src/sections/gaming/cards.test.ts b/web/src/sections/gaming/cards.test.ts
index b76aeea..c21a876 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/gaming/cards.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/sections/gaming/cards.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { screen } from '@testing-library/dom'
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { makeBudgetRules, makeBudgetSession, makeBudgetToday } from '../../test/factories'
-import { historyCard, liveCard, rulesCard, todayCard, todayUnavailable } from './cards'
+import { OTHER_KEY, UNATTRIBUTED_KEY } from '../../budgetSeries'
+import { historyCard, liveCard, rulesCard, seriesLabel, todayCard, todayUnavailable } from './cards'
 
 const show = (el: HTMLElement) => {
   document.body.replaceChildren(el)
@@ -108,6 +109,58 @@ describe('liveCard', () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe('liveCard reading age', () => {
+  const painted = () => document.querySelector('.hint:last-child [aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent
+  const spoken = () => document.querySelector('.hint:last-child .sr-only')?.textContent
+
+  it('paints a clock and "<10s" for a fresh reading', () => {
+    show(liveCard(makeBudgetSession()))
+    expect(painted()).toBe('🕓 <10s')
+    expect(spoken()).toBe('as of just now')
+  })
+
+  it('paints the age without "ago" for an older reading', () => {
+    show(liveCard(makeBudgetSession({ observed_at: new Date(Date.now() - 125_000).toISOString() })))
+    expect(painted()).toMatch(/^🕓 2m/)
+    expect(spoken()).toMatch(/^as of 2m.* ago$/)
+  })
+
+  it('paints "?" when the reading time is unknown', () => {
+    show(liveCard(makeBudgetSession({ observed_at: '' })))
+    expect(painted()).toBe('🕓 ?')
+    expect(spoken()).toBe('as of unknown')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('seriesLabel', () => {
+  const paintedOf = (el: HTMLElement) => el.querySelector('[aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent
+  const spokenOf = (el: HTMLElement) => el.querySelector('.sr-only')?.textContent
+
+  it('paints a plus for the grouped remainder and speaks its label', () => {
+    const el = seriesLabel(OTHER_KEY, 'Other games')
+    expect(paintedOf(el)).toBe('➕')
+    expect(spokenOf(el)).toBe('Other games')
+  })
+
+  it('paints a question mark for unattributed time', () => {
+    const el = seriesLabel(UNATTRIBUTED_KEY, 'Unattributed')
+    expect(paintedOf(el)).toBe('❔')
+    expect(spokenOf(el)).toBe('Unattributed')
+  })
+
+  it('paints a rocket and the bare name for a launcher, speaking the full label', () => {
+    const el = seriesLabel('launcher:steam', 'Steam (launcher)')
+    expect(paintedOf(el)).toBe('🚀 Steam')
+    expect(spokenOf(el)).toBe('Steam (launcher)')
+  })
+
+  it('paints a game name as plain text', () => {
+    const el = seriesLabel('app:1', 'Titan Quest')
+    expect(el.textContent).toBe('Titan Quest')
+    expect(el.querySelector('.sr-only')).toBeNull()
+  })
+})
+
 describe('historyCard', () => {
   const legend = [
     { key: 'app:475150', label: 'Titan Quest' },
diff --git a/web/src/sections/system/backupsCard.test.ts b/web/src/sections/system/backupsCard.test.ts
index 2087791..72b3f38 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/system/backupsCard.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/sections/system/backupsCard.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import { q } from '../../api/queries'
 import { makeJob, makeSpec } from '../../test/fixtures'
 import { apiError, bodiesOf, flush, installEventSource, mount, stubApi, type Handler } from '../../test/harness'
+import { dateTime } from '../../ui/format'
 import { restorePhrase } from './backupsCard'
 
 const BACKUP = { id: '20261010-100000', created_at: '2026-10-10T10:00:00Z', reason: 'before reset', size_bytes: 2048 }
@@ -44,6 +45,18 @@ describe('backups-card', () => {
     expect(await screen.findByRole('button', { name: 'Reset all state…' })).toBeInTheDocument()
   })
 
+  it('paints a generic archive glyph for an unknown reason, in the list and the dialog', async () => {
+    show({ 'GET /api/backups': [{ ...BACKUP, reason: 'manual' }] })
+    expect(await screen.findByText(BACKUP.id)).toBeInTheDocument()
+    const row = document.querySelector('[data-reason="manual"]')
+    expect(row?.querySelector('[aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent).toBe('🗄️')
+    expect(row?.querySelector('.sr-only')?.textContent).toBe('manual')
+    await userEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Restore…' }))
+    const dialog = await screen.findByRole('dialog', { name: `Restore backup ${BACKUP.id}` })
+    const painted = [...(dialog.querySelector('p.row')?.querySelectorAll(':scope > [aria-hidden="true"]') ?? [])].map((e) => e.textContent)
+    expect(painted).toEqual([`🗄️ ${BACKUP.id} · ${dateTime(BACKUP.created_at)}`, '🗄️'])
+  })
+
   it('says when there are none', async () => {
     show({ 'GET /api/backups': [] })
     expect(await screen.findByText('No backups yet.')).toBeInTheDocument()
diff --git a/web/src/sections/system/daemonCard.test.ts b/web/src/sections/system/daemonCard.test.ts
index 9cd32ae..7612fe4 100644
--- a/web/src/sections/system/daemonCard.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/sections/system/daemonCard.test.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,12 @@ describe('daemon-card', () => {
     expect(screen.queryByText('Daemon unreachable')).toBeNull()
   })
 
+  it('paints a just-started daemon as 0 min and speaks "just now"', async () => {
+    show(daemon({ started_at: new Date().toISOString() }))
+    const up = await screen.findByLabelText('just now')
+    expect(up.querySelector('[aria-hidden="true"]')?.textContent).toBe('0 min')
+  })
+
   it('restarts through the runner when allowed', async () => {
     show(daemon())
     await userEvent.click(await screen.findByRole('button', { name: 'Restart daemon…' }))
diff --git a/web/src/sections/backlog/painted.testutil.ts b/web/src/test/painted.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from web/src/sections/backlog/painted.testutil.ts
rename to web/src/test/painted.ts
diff --git a/web/src/ui/build.test.ts b/web/src/ui/build.test.ts
index d6c621c..950f8b3 100644
--- a/web/src/ui/build.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/ui/build.test.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,16 @@ describe('small builders', () => {
     expect(el.querySelector('.pill-icon')).not.toBeNull()
   })
 
+  it('pill paints a bullet for an unknown tone and speaks its text', () => {
+    const el = pill('mystery', 'odd one')
+    expect(el.querySelector('.pill-icon')?.textContent).toBe('•')
+    expect(el.querySelector('.sr-only')?.textContent).toBe('odd one')
+  })
+
+  it('pill paints the icon it is given over the tone glyph', () => {
+    expect(pill('danger', 'x', '🔥').querySelector('.pill-icon')?.textContent).toBe('🔥')
+  })
+
   it('link is an anchor', () => {
     const a = link('/library/', 'Open')
     expect(a.getAttribute('href')).toBe('/library/')