diff --git a/src/components/BlogFilterBar.tsx b/src/components/BlogFilterBar.tsx
index bd3635cd6..ecf8482d0 100644
--- a/src/components/BlogFilterBar.tsx
+++ b/src/components/BlogFilterBar.tsx
@@ -343,6 +343,8 @@ export function BlogFilterBar({
       {/* Mobile-only expandable column: the facet dropdowns stacked full-width,
           animated open via a grid-rows height transition. */}
       <div
+        aria-hidden={!mobileOpen}
+        inert={mobileOpen ? undefined : true}
         className={twMerge(
           'grid transition-[grid-template-rows] duration-300 ease-out motion-reduce:transition-none md:hidden',
           mobileOpen ? 'grid-rows-[1fr]' : 'grid-rows-[0fr]',
diff --git a/src/routes/_library/$libraryId/$version.docs.blog.tsx b/src/routes/_library/$libraryId/$version.docs.blog.tsx
index a30ab4529..de90ee93c 100644
--- a/src/routes/_library/$libraryId/$version.docs.blog.tsx
+++ b/src/routes/_library/$libraryId/$version.docs.blog.tsx
@@ -33,11 +33,15 @@ function RouteComponent() {
   const { author, q } = Route.useSearch()
   const navigate = Route.useNavigate()
   const library = getLibrary(libraryId as LibraryId)
-  const selectedAuthor = author ? normalizeBlogAuthor(author) : undefined
   const searchQuery = q ?? ''
 
   const posts = Route.useLoaderData()
   const authors = getDistinctAuthors(posts)
+  const normalizedAuthor = author ? normalizeBlogAuthor(author) : undefined
+  const selectedAuthor =
+    normalizedAuthor && authors.includes(normalizedAuthor)
+      ? normalizedAuthor
+      : undefined
 
   const authorFilteredPosts = selectedAuthor
     ? posts.filter((post) => post.authors.includes(selectedAuthor))
@@ -87,11 +91,7 @@ function RouteComponent() {
               <div className="w-56 max-w-full">
                 <FormSelect
                   aria-label="Filter by author"
-                  value={
-                    selectedAuthor && authors.includes(selectedAuthor)
-                      ? selectedAuthor
-                      : ''
-                  }
+                  value={selectedAuthor ?? ''}
                   onChange={(event) =>
                     navigate({
                       search: (prev) => ({