diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index bb0b748e5..5f2925dd6 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 * When previewing a site, it is now served via a local http server. This enables dynamic features such as search to work correctly (@shikokuchuo, #2975).
 * Code in a link (href) is no longer autolinked (#2972)
 
+* improve accessibility of navbar and search through increased contrast ratio of colours (#2999)
+
 # pkgdown 2.2.0
 
 * Make `build_llm_docs()` more robust to the use of old Pandoc (@nanxstats, @galachad, #2952, #2954)
diff --git a/inst/BS5/assets/pkgdown.scss b/inst/BS5/assets/pkgdown.scss
index 8d3db061b..ad733ca54 100644
--- a/inst/BS5/assets/pkgdown.scss
+++ b/inst/BS5/assets/pkgdown.scss
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ $pkgdown-navbar-bg-dark: if($navbar-dark-bg, $navbar-dark-bg, null) !default;
 }
 
 .nav-item.active .nav-link {
-  background: RGBA(var(--bs-body-color-rgb), 0.1);
+  background: RGBA(var(--bs-body-color-rgb), 0.18);
 }
 
 .nav-item .nav-link:hover {
@@ -741,7 +741,7 @@ mark {
     line-height: 1.3;
 
     &:hover {
-      background-color: var(--bs-tertiary-bg);
+      background-color: RGBA(var(--bs-primary-rgb), 0.15);
       color: var(--bs-body-color);
     }