diff --git a/components/site/Chrome.tsx b/components/site/Chrome.tsx
index 9be3b17..3358c05 100644
--- a/components/site/Chrome.tsx
+++ b/components/site/Chrome.tsx
@@ -6,8 +6,11 @@ import { usePathname } from "next/navigation";
 import { links } from "@/lib/links";
 import {
   HOME_SECTION_ID,
+  focusSection,
   homeNavTarget,
+  queueSectionFocus,
   shouldInterceptNavClick,
+  takeSectionFocus,
 } from "@/lib/scroll";
 import { MobileMenu } from "@/components/site/MobileMenu";
 import { resolveActiveSection } from "@/components/site/chrome-active";
@@ -56,8 +59,10 @@ export function Chrome() {
   // hash (`/#method#method…`, #116) under output: "export" +
   // trailingSlash; Next 16.3.8 fixed that upstream. Off this route the
   // section isn't in the DOM (e.g. /blog/*), so the native <Link>
-  // soft-navs home and scrolls to the hash itself. Modified clicks (new
-  // tab, middle-click) also fall through to the native <Link>.
+  // soft-navs home and scrolls to the hash itself; the id is queued so
+  // the arrival effect below moves focus into the section once home has
+  // committed. Modified clicks (new tab, middle-click) also fall through
+  // to the native <Link>.
   const handleNavClick = useCallback(
     (e: React.MouseEvent<HTMLAnchorElement>) => {
       if (!shouldInterceptNavClick(e)) return;
@@ -89,8 +94,11 @@ export function Chrome() {
       const { id } = target;
       const el = document.getElementById(id);
       // Off this route: fall through to the native <Link>, as the top
-      // branch does.
-      if (el === null) return;
+      // branch does, and focus the section on arrival.
+      if (el === null) {
+        queueSectionFocus(id);
+        return;
+      }
       e.preventDefault();
       // Write the exact single hash so it can never accumulate;
       // replaceState keeps a same-hash click a URL no-op.
@@ -101,15 +109,9 @@ export function Chrome() {
       // desktop, so the drawer's custom rAF isn't needed.
       el.scrollIntoView({ block: "start" });
       // Unlike a real anchor nav, the intercepted scroll doesn't move
-      // keyboard / SR focus — without this, tab order and the reading
-      // cursor stay stuck on the nav. Add tabindex only when the target
-      // isn't already focusable (don't pull a focusable el out of tab
-      // order); leaving the injected tabindex="-1" in place is the
-      // established programmatic-focus pattern (focusable via script,
-      // not via Tab). preventScroll so .focus() doesn't run its own
-      // scroll and race the scrollIntoView above.
-      if (el.tabIndex < 0) el.setAttribute("tabindex", "-1");
-      el.focus({ preventScroll: true });
+      // keyboard / SR focus; focusSection does, without racing the
+      // scrollIntoView above.
+      focusSection(el);
     },
     [],
   );
@@ -198,6 +200,19 @@ export function Chrome() {
     return () => window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll);
   }, [pathname]);
 
+  // Cross-route arrival: a section tap from another route (this nav or
+  // the drawer) queued its id before soft-navving to `/#id`. Router
+  // navigations commit the new page together with the new pathname, and
+  // this passive effect runs after Next's layout-phase hash scroll, so
+  // the section is in the DOM and already scrolled into place. Same-page
+  // taps focus directly and never queue.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const id = takeSectionFocus(window.location.hash);
+    if (id === null) return;
+    const el = document.getElementById(id);
+    if (el) focusSection(el);
+  }, [pathname]);
+
   const effectiveActive = resolveActiveSection(
     pathname,
     scrolled,
diff --git a/components/site/MobileMenu.tsx b/components/site/MobileMenu.tsx
index 416d3ae..c6bb0cd 100644
--- a/components/site/MobileMenu.tsx
+++ b/components/site/MobileMenu.tsx
@@ -10,7 +10,12 @@ import {
 import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
 import { useRouter } from "next/navigation";
 import { links } from "@/lib/links";
-import { HOME_SECTION_ID, scrollToAnchor } from "@/lib/scroll";
+import {
+  HOME_SECTION_ID,
+  focusSection,
+  queueSectionFocus,
+  scrollToAnchor,
+} from "@/lib/scroll";
 
 type SectionId = "intro" | "compare" | "method" | "faq" | "contact";
 
@@ -81,11 +86,13 @@ export function MobileMenu({ activeSection, tone, onOpenChange }: Props) {
   // the prior scroll position — otherwise the body unlock would override
   // the anchor jump.
   const pendingAnchorRef = useRef<string | null>(null);
-  // An in-page anchor-select close (target in this DOM) moves focus into
-  // the target section from the scroll-lock effect's cleanup, which runs
-  // *before* the toggle-refocus effect's setup in the same commit. This
-  // flag — set there, consumed there — stops that effect from yanking
-  // focus back to the hamburger.
+  // A section-select close moves focus into the target section — at once
+  // from the scroll-lock effect's cleanup when the target is in this DOM,
+  // or after the route commits (Chrome's arrival effect) when it isn't.
+  // That cleanup runs *before* the toggle-refocus effect's setup in the
+  // same commit. This flag — set in that cleanup, consumed by the
+  // toggle-refocus effect — stops it from yanking focus back to the
+  // hamburger.
   const focusMovedToSectionRef = useRef(false);
 
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -180,8 +187,16 @@ export function MobileMenu({ activeSection, tone, onOpenChange }: Props) {
         // no-op against a still-pinned body. Historically a full reload,
         // because soft-nav hash handling under output: "export" was
         // untrusted; its one concrete failure, `/#id#id` (#116), was fixed
-        // upstream in Next 16.3.8. Skip the local restore and focus move —
-        // the router owns scroll and the URL.
+        // upstream in Next 16.3.8. Skip the local restore — the router
+        // owns scroll and the URL. A section can't be focused until the
+        // route commits, so queue it for Chrome's arrival effect and set
+        // the flag so the toggle-refocus effect doesn't grab focus
+        // meanwhile; a home tap leaves the flag false, so focus returns
+        // to the toggle.
+        if (!isHome) {
+          queueSectionFocus(anchor);
+          focusMovedToSectionRef.current = true;
+        }
         router.push(isHome ? "/" : `/#${anchor}`);
         return;
       }
@@ -215,13 +230,9 @@ export function MobileMenu({ activeSection, tone, onOpenChange }: Props) {
         history.replaceState(null, "", `#${anchor}`);
         scrollToAnchor(targetEl);
         // Move keyboard / SR focus into the section — scrollToAnchor
-        // only moves the viewport. Add tabindex only when the target
-        // isn't already focusable (don't pull a focusable el out of
-        // tab order); leaving the injected tabindex="-1" in place is
-        // the established programmatic-focus pattern. preventScroll so
-        // .focus() doesn't race the in-flight rAF scroll.
-        if (targetEl.tabIndex < 0) targetEl.setAttribute("tabindex", "-1");
-        targetEl.focus({ preventScroll: true });
+        // only moves the viewport. focusSection won't race the
+        // in-flight rAF scroll.
+        focusSection(targetEl);
         focusMovedToSectionRef.current = true;
       }
     };
@@ -232,10 +243,10 @@ export function MobileMenu({ activeSection, tone, onOpenChange }: Props) {
   const wasOpenRef = useRef(false);
   useEffect(() => {
     if (wasOpenRef.current && !open) {
-      // An anchor-select close already moved focus into the section;
-      // leave it there. Normal closes (Escape, scrim, toggle, resize) and
-      // an off-route anchor close (soft-navs home) leave the flag false
-      // and still return focus to the toggle.
+      // A section-select close already moved focus into the section, or
+      // will once the route lands on its hash; leave it alone. Normal closes
+      // (Escape, scrim, toggle, resize) and a home-select close leave the
+      // flag false and still return focus to the toggle.
       if (focusMovedToSectionRef.current) {
         focusMovedToSectionRef.current = false;
       } else {
diff --git a/lib/scroll.test.ts b/lib/scroll.test.ts
index e588e27..61c1b39 100644
--- a/lib/scroll.test.ts
+++ b/lib/scroll.test.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import {
   HOME_SECTION_ID,
+  focusSection,
   homeNavTarget,
   parseScrollMarginTop,
+  queueSectionFocus,
   shouldInterceptNavClick,
+  takeSectionFocus,
 } from "./scroll";
 
 describe("homeNavTarget", () => {
@@ -134,3 +137,89 @@ describe("shouldInterceptNavClick", () => {
     );
   });
 });
+
+describe("focusSection", () => {
+  const fakeEl = (tabIndex: number) => ({
+    tabIndex,
+    setAttribute: vi.fn(),
+    focus: vi.fn(),
+  });
+
+  it("makes a non-focusable section programmatically focusable", () => {
+    const el = fakeEl(-1);
+    focusSection(el);
+    expect(el.setAttribute).toHaveBeenCalledWith("tabindex", "-1");
+  });
+
+  it("adds the tabindex before focusing (focus is a no-op without it)", () => {
+    const el = fakeEl(-1);
+    focusSection(el);
+    expect(el.setAttribute.mock.invocationCallOrder[0]).toBeLessThan(
+      el.focus.mock.invocationCallOrder[0]!,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("leaves an already-focusable element in the tab order", () => {
+    const el = fakeEl(0);
+    focusSection(el);
+    expect(el.setAttribute).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("focuses without scrolling, so it can't race the nav's scroll", () => {
+    for (const el of [fakeEl(-1), fakeEl(0)]) {
+      focusSection(el);
+      expect(el.focus).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ preventScroll: true });
+    }
+  });
+});
+
+describe("queueSectionFocus / takeSectionFocus", () => {
+  // The queue is module state: drain it so no case depends on another
+  // having taken what it queued.
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    takeSectionFocus("");
+  });
+
+  it("returns nothing when no section is queued", () => {
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("#method")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("returns the queued id when the URL landed on its hash", () => {
+    queueSectionFocus("method");
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("#method")).toBe("method");
+  });
+
+  it("is single-use", () => {
+    queueSectionFocus("method");
+    takeSectionFocus("#method");
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("#method")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("ignores a stale id on an arrival with a different hash", () => {
+    // e.g. an aborted section nav followed by a home nav (no hash).
+    queueSectionFocus("method");
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("")).toBeNull();
+    queueSectionFocus("method");
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("#faq")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("keeps only the latest queued section", () => {
+    queueSectionFocus("method");
+    queueSectionFocus("faq");
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("#faq")).toBe("faq");
+    queueSectionFocus("method");
+    queueSectionFocus("faq");
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("#method")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("matches the hash exactly", () => {
+    queueSectionFocus("method");
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("#methodology")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("clears the queue even when the hash doesn't match", () => {
+    queueSectionFocus("method");
+    takeSectionFocus("");
+    expect(takeSectionFocus("#method")).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/scroll.ts b/lib/scroll.ts
index e7c5c66..867af26 100644
--- a/lib/scroll.ts
+++ b/lib/scroll.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,45 @@ export function shouldInterceptNavClick(e: {
   );
 }
 
+// Moves keyboard / SR focus into a section after a nav tap — scrolling
+// alone only moves the viewport, so tab order and the reading cursor
+// would stay on the nav. Add tabindex only when the target isn't already
+// focusable (don't pull a focusable el out of tab order); leaving the
+// injected tabindex="-1" in place is the established programmatic-focus
+// pattern (focusable via script, not via Tab). preventScroll so .focus()
+// doesn't run its own scroll and race whichever scroll got us here.
+// Typed structurally so it's unit-testable without a DOM.
+export function focusSection(
+  el: Pick<HTMLElement, "tabIndex" | "setAttribute" | "focus">,
+) {
+  if (el.tabIndex < 0) el.setAttribute("tabindex", "-1");
+  el.focus({ preventScroll: true });
+}
+
+// A section tap from another route (e.g. /blog/*) soft-navs to `/#id`,
+// so the target isn't in the DOM yet when the nav is tapped. The tap
+// queues the id here; Chrome — mounted in the root layout, so it
+// survives the route change — takes it in a pathname effect once the
+// home page has committed and focuses the section with focusSection.
+// Next's hash scroll doesn't move focus — 16.3.8's default
+// appNewScrollHandler leaves it untouched — so without this, focus stays
+// on the tapped link (or the drawer).
+let pendingSectionFocus: string | null = null;
+
+export function queueSectionFocus(id: string) {
+  pendingSectionFocus = id;
+}
+
+// Single-use: always clears the queue. Returns the id only when the URL
+// actually landed on that hash, so a queued id that outlives an aborted
+// nav can't focus a section on a later, unrelated arrival (e.g. home,
+// which lands on `/` with no hash).
+export function takeSectionFocus(hash: string): string | null {
+  const id = pendingSectionFocus;
+  pendingSectionFocus = null;
+  return id !== null && hash === `#${id}` ? id : null;
+}
+
 // `<html>` scroll-behavior is forced to `auto` for the lifetime of
 // the rAF: without it, each per-frame `window.scrollTo` defers to
 // `motion-safe:scroll-smooth` and queues yet another browser