diff --git a/.jules/palette.md b/.jules/palette.md
index ea004e2d..e0de0d76 100644
--- a/.jules/palette.md
+++ b/.jules/palette.md
@@ -81,3 +81,6 @@
 ## 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.
+## 2024-05-19 - Visually hiding file inputs for better UX
+**Learning:** Browsers natively suppress `change` events on `<input type="file">` if the user selects the same file repeatedly. Also, native file inputs are often difficult to style consistently. Replacing them with a styled proxy `<button>` element is a huge UX win.
+**Action:** When modifying file inputs, visually hide them (using `class="sr-only" tabindex="-1" aria-hidden="true"`) and use a proxy `<button>`. Always preserve the original `aria-label` on the hidden input to maintain accessibility, and use `addEventListener('click')` instead of inline handlers. Additionally, ensure the proxy triggers the click on the native input, and immediately clear the input value (`fileInput.value = ''`) inside the `change` listener to allow sequential selections of the same file.
diff --git a/scanner/dashboard/index.html b/scanner/dashboard/index.html
index 132bc31b..069f40b3 100644
--- a/scanner/dashboard/index.html
+++ b/scanner/dashboard/index.html
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@
   <span class="logo"></span><span class="brand">AppGuardrail</span>
   <span class="spacer"></span>
   <span class="meta" id="src">no findings loaded</span>
-  <input type="file" id="file" accept="application/json,.json" aria-label="Upload findings file" style="margin-left:12px">
+  <button type="button" id="file-proxy" aria-label="Upload findings file" style="margin-left:12px; padding:6px 12px; border-radius:6px; border:1px solid var(--border); background:var(--surface); cursor:pointer; font:inherit; color:var(--text); font-weight:500; transition:background 0.2s">Upload Findings</button>
+  <input type="file" id="file" accept="application/json,.json" class="sr-only" tabindex="-1" aria-hidden="true" aria-label="Upload findings file">
 </header>
 <p id="findings-summary" class="sr-only" role="status" aria-live="polite" aria-atomic="true"></p>
 <main id="app" tabindex="-1"></main>
@@ -325,6 +326,9 @@ <h1>Dashboard</h1>
 }
 
 const fileInput = document.getElementById('file');
+const fileProxy = document.getElementById('file-proxy');
+fileProxy.addEventListener('click', () => fileInput.click());
+
 fileInput.addEventListener('change', () => {
   const selectedFile = fileInput.files?.[0];
   fileInput.value = '';