diff --git a/.jules/palette.md b/.jules/palette.md
index ea004e2d..a7a77cb4 100644
--- a/.jules/palette.md
+++ b/.jules/palette.md
@@ -81,3 +81,7 @@
 ## 2026-08-12 - Skip to Content Accessibility
 **Learning:** Screen reader and keyboard-only users experience significant friction when forced to navigate through repetitive header controls on every page load.
 **Action:** Keep a visible-on-focus skip link as the first interactive element, target a programmatically focusable main container, and give the focused link a high-contrast outline.
+
+## 2025-02-18 - External Links Context Switch Accessibility
+**Learning:** External links with `target="_blank"` cause a sudden context switch, which can disorient screen reader users if they are not explicitly warned beforehand.
+**Action:** When using `target="_blank"`, explicitly warn users of the context switch by adding a visible advisory hint (like `↗`) with visually hidden text (like ` (opens in a new tab)`), rather than a universal screen-reader-only rule or replacing the visible label in the accessible name.
diff --git a/scanner/dashboard/index.html b/scanner/dashboard/index.html
index 132bc31b..be5cb296 100644
--- a/scanner/dashboard/index.html
+++ b/scanner/dashboard/index.html
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ <h1>Dashboard</h1>
 function openDetail(f){
   lastFocus = document.activeElement;
   const s = String(f.severity||'INFO').toUpperCase();
-  const refs = (f.references||[]).map(r=>`<a href="${esc(safeUrl(r))}" target="_blank" rel="noopener">${esc(r)}</a>`).join('<br>');
+  const refs = (f.references||[]).map(r=>`<a href="${esc(safeUrl(r))}" target="_blank" rel="noopener">${esc(r)} <span aria-hidden="true">↗</span><span class="sr-only"> (opens in a new tab)</span></a>`).join('<br>');
   const owasp = (f.owasp||[]).join(', ');
   const cwe = (f.cwe||[]).join(', ');
   const d = document.getElementById('detail');
diff --git a/tests/test_dashboard_external_link_context_contract.py b/tests/test_dashboard_external_link_context_contract.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..650e52f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_dashboard_external_link_context_contract.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+"""Accessibility contract for dashboard links that open a new browser tab."""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+_DASHBOARD = Path("scanner/dashboard/index.html")
+
+
+def test_external_reference_link_warns_visually_and_in_accessible_name() -> None:
+    """New-tab references keep the visible URL and expose a perceivable context hint."""
+    source = _DASHBOARD.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+    assert 'target="_blank" rel="noopener"' in source
+    assert 'aria-label="${esc(r)} (opens in a new tab)"' not in source
+    assert (
+        '${esc(r)} <span aria-hidden="true">↗</span>'
+        '<span class="sr-only"> (opens in a new tab)</span></a>'
+    ) in source