diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/admin/+layout.server.ts b/frontend/src/routes/admin/+layout.server.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..19405345
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/admin/+layout.server.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import { error } from '@sveltejs/kit';
+import { createApiClient } from '$lib/api.server';
+import { getErrorMessage } from '$lib/errors';
+
+type UserGroup = { permissions: string[] };
+
+function hasPerm(user: { groups?: UserGroup[] } | undefined, perm: string): boolean {
+	return user?.groups?.some((g) => g.permissions.includes(perm)) ?? false;
+}
+
+function hasAnyAdminPerm(user: { groups?: UserGroup[] } | undefined): boolean {
+	return (
+		hasPerm(user, 'ADMIN') ||
+		hasPerm(user, 'ADMIN_USER') ||
+		hasPerm(user, 'ADMIN_TAG') ||
+		hasPerm(user, 'ADMIN_PERMISSION')
+	);
+}
+
+export async function load({ fetch, locals }) {
+	const user = locals.user;
+	if (!hasAnyAdminPerm(user)) throw error(403, getErrorMessage('FORBIDDEN'));
+
+	const api = createApiClient(fetch);
+	const [usersResult, groupsResult, tagsResult] = await Promise.all([
+		api.GET('/api/users'),
+		api.GET('/api/groups'),
+		api.GET('/api/tags')
+	]);
+
+	return {
+		userCount: (usersResult.data ?? []).length,
+		groupCount: (groupsResult.data ?? []).length,
+		tagCount: (tagsResult.data ?? []).length,
+		canManageUsers: hasPerm(user, 'ADMIN_USER'),
+		canManageTags: hasPerm(user, 'ADMIN_TAG'),
+		canManageGroups: hasPerm(user, 'ADMIN_PERMISSION'),
+		canRunMaintenance: hasPerm(user, 'ADMIN')
+	};
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/admin/+layout.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/admin/+layout.svelte
index 13f98a76..6c9558dd 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/admin/+layout.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/admin/+layout.svelte
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 <script lang="ts">
-import { page } from '$app/state';
 import EntityNav from './EntityNav.svelte';
 
 let { data, children } = $props();
-
-const isSystem = $derived(page.url.pathname.startsWith('/admin/system'));
 </script>
 
 <svelte:head>
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/admin/GroupsTab.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/admin/GroupsTab.svelte
index 6eb22e53..0f5da793 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/admin/GroupsTab.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/admin/GroupsTab.svelte
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ function cancelEditGroup() {
 											? 'border-red-100 bg-red-50 text-red-700'
 											: 'border-line bg-muted text-ink-2'}"
 									>
-										{perm}
+										{perm === 'ADMIN' ? '⚙ ' : ''}{perm}
 									</span>
 								{/each}
 							</div>
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/admin/GroupsTab.svelte.spec.ts b/frontend/src/routes/admin/GroupsTab.svelte.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ad9cc66e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/admin/GroupsTab.svelte.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { cleanup, render } from 'vitest-browser-svelte';
+import GroupsTab from './GroupsTab.svelte';
+
+vi.mock('$app/forms', () => ({ enhance: () => () => {} }));
+
+afterEach(cleanup);
+
+const makeGroups = () => [
+	{ id: 'g1', name: 'Administrators', permissions: ['ADMIN', 'WRITE_ALL'] },
+	{ id: 'g2', name: 'Editors', permissions: ['WRITE_ALL'] }
+];
+
+describe('GroupsTab — ADMIN permission badge (WCAG 1.4.1)', () => {
+	it('ADMIN badge has a non-color indicator so it is distinguishable without color', () => {
+		// The ADMIN badge must not rely on color alone (WCAG 1.4.1).
+		// It must contain a visible non-color indicator: a text prefix such as ⚙.
+		const { container } = render(GroupsTab, { groups: makeGroups() });
+
+		const adminBadge = Array.from(container.querySelectorAll('span')).find((el) =>
+			el.textContent?.includes('ADMIN')
+		);
+		expect(adminBadge).toBeDefined();
+		// Badge text must include a non-color prefix character
+		expect(adminBadge!.textContent).toMatch(/[⚙★⚠!]/);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/admin/TagsTab.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/admin/TagsTab.svelte
index 01a1fec0..1b41558f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/admin/TagsTab.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/admin/TagsTab.svelte
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ function cancelEditTag() {
 					<span class="rounded bg-muted px-2 py-1 text-sm font-medium text-ink">
 						{tag.name}
 					</span>
-					<div class="flex items-center gap-2 opacity-0 transition-opacity group-hover:opacity-100">
+					<div class="flex items-center gap-2">
 						<button
 							onclick={() => startEditTag(tag)}
 							aria-label={m.admin_btn_edit_tag_label()}
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/admin/TagsTab.svelte.spec.ts b/frontend/src/routes/admin/TagsTab.svelte.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1f13f9c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/admin/TagsTab.svelte.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { cleanup, render } from 'vitest-browser-svelte';
+import TagsTab from './TagsTab.svelte';
+
+vi.mock('$app/forms', () => ({ enhance: () => () => {} }));
+
+afterEach(cleanup);
+
+const makeTags = () => [
+	{ id: 't1', name: 'Familie' },
+	{ id: 't2', name: 'Urlaub' }
+];
+
+describe('TagsTab — action buttons', () => {
+	it('no element with opacity-0 class exists (regression guard: buttons must not be hover-only)', () => {
+		// Before fix: the action buttons container had opacity-0 group-hover:opacity-100
+		// which hides buttons on touch devices. After fix: that class is gone entirely.
+		const { container } = render(TagsTab, { tags: makeTags() });
+
+		const hiddenElements = container.querySelectorAll('.opacity-0');
+		expect(hiddenElements.length).toBe(0);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/admin/layout.server.spec.ts b/frontend/src/routes/admin/layout.server.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eb5f39c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/admin/layout.server.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
+import { load } from './+layout.server';
+
+vi.mock('$lib/api.server', () => ({ createApiClient: vi.fn() }));
+
+import { createApiClient } from '$lib/api.server';
+
+function mockApi(users: unknown[], groups: unknown[], tags: unknown[]) {
+	vi.mocked(createApiClient).mockReturnValue({
+		GET: vi
+			.fn()
+			.mockResolvedValueOnce({ response: { ok: true }, data: users })
+			.mockResolvedValueOnce({ response: { ok: true }, data: groups })
+			.mockResolvedValueOnce({ response: { ok: true }, data: tags })
+	} as ReturnType<typeof createApiClient>);
+}
+
+const adminUser = {
+	groups: [{ permissions: ['ADMIN', 'ADMIN_USER', 'ADMIN_TAG', 'ADMIN_PERMISSION'] }]
+};
+const tagAdminUser = { groups: [{ permissions: ['ADMIN_TAG'] }] };
+const noPermUser = { groups: [{ permissions: ['READ_ALL'] }] };
+
+beforeEach(() => vi.clearAllMocks());
+
+describe('admin layout load — permission check', () => {
+	it('throws 403 when user has no admin permission', async () => {
+		await expect(
+			load({ fetch: vi.fn() as unknown as typeof fetch, locals: { user: noPermUser } })
+		).rejects.toMatchObject({ status: 403 });
+	});
+
+	it('throws 403 when user is undefined', async () => {
+		await expect(
+			load({ fetch: vi.fn() as unknown as typeof fetch, locals: { user: undefined } })
+		).rejects.toMatchObject({ status: 403 });
+	});
+
+	it('throws 403 when user has no groups', async () => {
+		await expect(
+			load({ fetch: vi.fn() as unknown as typeof fetch, locals: { user: { groups: [] } } })
+		).rejects.toMatchObject({ status: 403 });
+	});
+
+	it('allows access for a user with ADMIN_TAG only', async () => {
+		mockApi([], [], []);
+		await expect(
+			load({ fetch: vi.fn() as unknown as typeof fetch, locals: { user: tagAdminUser } })
+		).resolves.toBeDefined();
+	});
+
+	it('returns entity counts and permission flags for a full admin', async () => {
+		mockApi(
+			[{ id: 'u1' }, { id: 'u2' }],
+			[{ id: 'g1' }],
+			[{ id: 't1' }, { id: 't2' }, { id: 't3' }]
+		);
+
+		const result = await load({
+			fetch: vi.fn() as unknown as typeof fetch,
+			locals: { user: adminUser }
+		});
+
+		expect(result.userCount).toBe(2);
+		expect(result.groupCount).toBe(1);
+		expect(result.tagCount).toBe(3);
+		expect(result.canManageUsers).toBe(true);
+		expect(result.canManageTags).toBe(true);
+		expect(result.canManageGroups).toBe(true);
+		expect(result.canRunMaintenance).toBe(true);
+	});
+});