diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/ThumbnailRow.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/ThumbnailRow.svelte
index ef9a8ccb..50de4609 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/ThumbnailRow.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/ThumbnailRow.svelte
@@ -50,8 +50,9 @@ const relativeYearLabel = $derived(
 		? relativeYearsDe(new Date(doc.documentDate + 'T12:00:00'), now ?? new Date())
 		: ''
 );
+const directionLabel = $derived(isOut ? 'Gesendet' : 'Empfangen');
 const ariaLabel = $derived(
-	`${title}${doc.documentDate ? `, ${formatDate(doc.documentDate)}` : ''}`
+	`${directionLabel}: ${title}${doc.documentDate ? `, ${formatDate(doc.documentDate)}` : ''}`
 );
 </script>
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/ThumbnailRow.svelte.spec.ts b/frontend/src/lib/components/ThumbnailRow.svelte.spec.ts
index e3c6572d..ae0542e1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/ThumbnailRow.svelte.spec.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/ThumbnailRow.svelte.spec.ts
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ describe('ThumbnailRow', () => {
 		expect(link.className).toContain('border-l-accent');
 	});
 
-	it('exposes a descriptive aria-label combining title and date', () => {
+	it('exposes a descriptive aria-label combining direction, title, and date', () => {
 		render(ThumbnailRow, {
 			doc: baseDoc,
 			isOut: true,
@@ -137,10 +137,23 @@ describe('ThumbnailRow', () => {
 
 		const link = document.querySelector('a[href="/documents/d1"]') as HTMLElement;
 		const label = link.getAttribute('aria-label') ?? '';
+		expect(label).toMatch(/^Gesendet:/);
 		expect(label).toContain('Liebe Anna');
 		expect(label).toMatch(/1950/);
 	});
 
+	it('aria-label begins with "Empfangen:" for incoming letters', () => {
+		render(ThumbnailRow, {
+			doc: baseDoc,
+			isOut: false,
+			showOtherParty: false,
+			now: new Date('2026-06-01T00:00:00Z')
+		});
+
+		const link = document.querySelector('a[href="/documents/d1"]') as HTMLElement;
+		expect(link.getAttribute('aria-label') ?? '').toMatch(/^Empfangen:/);
+	});
+
 	it('does not inject raw HTML when summary contains markup (XSS regression)', () => {
 		render(ThumbnailRow, {
 			doc: {