diff --git a/packages/core/src/components/action-card/action-card.scss b/packages/core/src/components/action-card/action-card.scss
index 4a22a1bff17..9ee8faafa80 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/components/action-card/action-card.scss
+++ b/packages/core/src/components/action-card/action-card.scss
@@ -15,14 +15,38 @@
   width: 13.375rem;
   height: 7.5rem;
   min-height: 7.5rem;
-  cursor: pointer;
 
   margin: 0.25rem 0;
 
   @include component.ix-component;
+}
+
+button.card-button {
+  all: unset;
+  display: block;
+  box-sizing: border-box;
+  width: 100%;
+  height: 100%;
+  cursor: pointer;
 
   ix-card {
     width: 100%;
     height: 100%;
   }
+
+  &:focus-visible {
+    outline: var(--theme-focus-border-thickness) solid
+      var(--theme-color-focus-bdr);
+    outline-offset: var(--theme-focus-outline-offset);
+    border-radius: var(--theme-card--border-radius);
+  }
+
+  :host(.passive) & {
+    pointer-events: none;
+    cursor: default;
+  }
+
+  :host(:not(.passive)) &:active ix-card {
+    background-color: var(--theme-color-ghost--active);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/components/action-card/action-card.tsx b/packages/core/src/components/action-card/action-card.tsx
index 775f3acf987..3c63415b2b9 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/components/action-card/action-card.tsx
+++ b/packages/core/src/components/action-card/action-card.tsx
@@ -75,48 +75,53 @@ export class IxActionCard {
 
     return (
       <Host>
-        <ix-card
-          selected={this.selected}
-          variant={this.variant}
-          passive={this.passive}
-          class={'pointer'}
+        <button
+          class="card-button"
+          tabIndex={this.passive ? -1 : 0}
           aria-label={this.ariaLabelCard}
           aria-labelledby={ariaLabelledBy}
-          role={ariaLabelledBy ? 'group' : undefined}
         >
-          <ix-card-content>
-            {this.icon ? (
-              <ix-icon
-                class={'icon'}
-                name={this.icon}
-                size="32"
-                aria-label={
-                  this.ariaLabelIcon || getFallbackLabelFromIconName(this.icon)
-                }
-              ></ix-icon>
-            ) : null}
-            <div>
-              {this.heading ? (
-                <ix-typography
-                  id="ix-action-card-heading"
-                  aria-hidden={a11yBoolean(!ariaLabelledBy)}
-                  format="h4"
-                >
-                  {this.heading}
-                </ix-typography>
+          <ix-card
+            selected={this.selected}
+            variant={this.variant}
+            passive={this.passive}
+            class={'pointer'}
+          >
+            <ix-card-content>
+              {this.icon ? (
+                <ix-icon
+                  class={'icon'}
+                  name={this.icon}
+                  size="32"
+                  aria-label={
+                    this.ariaLabelIcon ||
+                    getFallbackLabelFromIconName(this.icon)
+                  }
+                ></ix-icon>
               ) : null}
-              {this.subheading ? (
-                <ix-typography
-                  format="h5"
-                  text-color={this.getSubheadingTextColor()}
-                >
-                  {this.subheading}
-                </ix-typography>
-              ) : null}
-              <slot></slot>
-            </div>
-          </ix-card-content>
-        </ix-card>
+              <div>
+                {this.heading ? (
+                  <ix-typography
+                    id="ix-action-card-heading"
+                    aria-hidden={a11yBoolean(!ariaLabelledBy)}
+                    format="h4"
+                  >
+                    {this.heading}
+                  </ix-typography>
+                ) : null}
+                {this.subheading ? (
+                  <ix-typography
+                    format="h5"
+                    text-color={this.getSubheadingTextColor()}
+                  >
+                    {this.subheading}
+                  </ix-typography>
+                ) : null}
+                <slot></slot>
+              </div>
+            </ix-card-content>
+          </ix-card>
+        </button>
       </Host>
     );
   }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/components/action-card/test/action-card.ct.ts b/packages/core/src/components/action-card/test/action-card.ct.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c6d41d70843
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/components/action-card/test/action-card.ct.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 Siemens AG
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+import { expect } from '@playwright/test';
+import { regressionTest } from '@utils/test';
+
+regressionTest.describe('accessibility', () => {
+  regressionTest('default', async ({ mount, makeAxeBuilder }) => {
+    await mount(`
+      <ix-action-card
+        heading="Scan for new devices"
+        subheading="Secondary text"
+      ></ix-action-card>
+    `);
+
+    const accessibilityScanResults = await makeAxeBuilder().analyze();
+
+    expect(accessibilityScanResults.violations).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  regressionTest('passive', async ({ mount, makeAxeBuilder }) => {
+    await mount(`
+      <ix-action-card
+        heading="Scan for new devices"
+        subheading="Secondary text"
+        passive
+      ></ix-action-card>
+    `);
+
+    const accessibilityScanResults = await makeAxeBuilder().analyze();
+
+    expect(accessibilityScanResults.violations).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});