diff --git a/src/calendar.tsx b/src/calendar.tsx
index 3385481ea..c667c9e39 100644
--- a/src/calendar.tsx
+++ b/src/calendar.tsx
@@ -477,8 +477,9 @@ export default class Calendar extends Component<CalendarProps, CalendarState> {
     const dayNames: React.ReactElement[] = [];
     if (this.props.showWeekNumbers) {
       dayNames.push(
-        <div key="W" className="react-datepicker__day-name">
-          {this.props.weekLabel || "#"}
+        <div key="W" className="react-datepicker__day-name" role="columnheader">
+          <span className="sr-only">Week number</span>
+          <span aria-hidden="true">{this.props.weekLabel || "#"}</span>
         </div>,
       );
     }
@@ -494,10 +495,13 @@ export default class Calendar extends Component<CalendarProps, CalendarState> {
         return (
           <div
             key={offset}
-            aria-label={formatDate(day, "EEEE", this.props.locale)}
+            role="columnheader"
             className={clsx("react-datepicker__day-name", weekDayClassName)}
           >
-            {weekDayName}
+            <span className="sr-only">
+              {formatDate(day, "EEEE", this.props.locale)}
+            </span>
+            <span aria-hidden="true">{weekDayName}</span>
           </div>
         );
       }),
@@ -852,7 +856,7 @@ export default class Calendar extends Component<CalendarProps, CalendarState> {
         {this.renderMonthYearDropdown(i !== 0)}
         {this.renderYearDropdown(i !== 0)}
       </div>
-      <div className="react-datepicker__day-names">
+      <div className="react-datepicker__day-names" role="row">
         {this.header(monthDate)}
       </div>
     </div>
diff --git a/src/stylesheets/datepicker.scss b/src/stylesheets/datepicker.scss
index abc7531a2..659f5de4e 100644
--- a/src/stylesheets/datepicker.scss
+++ b/src/stylesheets/datepicker.scss
@@ -2,6 +2,19 @@
 @use "variables" as *;
 @use "mixins" as *;
 
+/* sr-only utility class for accessibility */
+.sr-only {
+  position: absolute;
+  width: 1px;
+  height: 1px;
+  padding: 0;
+  margin: -1px;
+  overflow: hidden;
+  clip: rect(0, 0, 0, 0);
+  white-space: nowrap;
+  border: 0;
+}
+
 .react-datepicker-wrapper {
   display: inline-block;
   padding: 0;
diff --git a/src/test/calendar_test.test.tsx b/src/test/calendar_test.test.tsx
index 89737c60e..a4ef50189 100644
--- a/src/test/calendar_test.test.tsx
+++ b/src/test/calendar_test.test.tsx
@@ -294,7 +294,9 @@ describe("Calendar", () => {
   it("should correctly format weekday using formatWeekDay prop", () => {
     const { calendar } = getCalendar({ formatWeekDay: (day) => day.charAt(0) });
     calendar
-      .querySelectorAll(".react-datepicker__day-name")
+      .querySelectorAll(
+        ".react-datepicker__day-name > span[aria-hidden='true']",
+      )
       .forEach((dayName) => expect(dayName.textContent).toHaveLength(1));
   });
 
@@ -1130,7 +1132,9 @@ describe("Calendar", () => {
 
   it("should use a hash for week label if weekLabel is NOT provided", () => {
     const { calendar } = getCalendar({ showWeekNumbers: true });
-    const weekLabel = calendar.querySelectorAll(".react-datepicker__day-name");
+    const weekLabel = calendar.querySelectorAll(
+      ".react-datepicker__day-name > span[aria-hidden='true']",
+    );
     expect(weekLabel[0]?.textContent).toBe("#");
   });
 
@@ -1139,7 +1143,9 @@ describe("Calendar", () => {
       showWeekNumbers: true,
       weekLabel: "Foo",
     });
-    const weekLabel = calendar.querySelectorAll(".react-datepicker__day-name");
+    const weekLabel = calendar.querySelectorAll(
+      ".react-datepicker__day-name > span[aria-hidden='true']",
+    );
     expect(weekLabel[0]?.textContent).toBe("Foo");
   });
 
@@ -1252,13 +1258,13 @@ describe("Calendar", () => {
     ).container;
 
     const daysNamesShort = calendarShort.querySelectorAll(
-      ".react-datepicker__day-name",
+      ".react-datepicker__day-name > span[aria-hidden='true']",
     );
     expect(daysNamesShort[0]?.textContent).toBe("Sun");
     expect(daysNamesShort[6]?.textContent).toBe("Sat");
 
     const daysNamesMin = calendarMin.querySelectorAll(
-      ".react-datepicker__day-name",
+      ".react-datepicker__day-name > span[aria-hidden='true']",
     );
     expect(daysNamesMin[0]?.textContent).toBe("Su");
     expect(daysNamesMin[6]?.textContent).toBe("Sa");
@@ -1614,7 +1620,9 @@ describe("Calendar", () => {
         calendarStartDay,
       );
       const firstWeekDayMin = getWeekdayMinInLocale(firstDateOfWeek, locale);
-      const firstHeader = calendar.querySelector(".react-datepicker__day-name");
+      const firstHeader = calendar.querySelector(
+        ".react-datepicker__day-name > span[aria-hidden='true']",
+      );
       expect(firstHeader?.textContent).toBe(firstWeekDayMin);
     }
 
@@ -2236,13 +2244,11 @@ describe("Calendar", () => {
 
     const header = container.querySelector(".react-datepicker__header");
     const dayNameElements = header?.querySelectorAll(
-      ".react-datepicker__day-name",
+      ".react-datepicker__day-name > span.sr-only",
     );
 
     dayNameElements?.forEach((element, index) => {
-      expect(element.getAttribute("aria-label")).toBe(
-        expectedAriaLabels[index],
-      );
+      expect(element.textContent).toBe(expectedAriaLabels[index]);
     });
   });
 
@@ -2500,7 +2506,7 @@ describe("Calendar", () => {
     it("should have default sunday as start day if No prop passed", () => {
       const { calendar } = getCalendar();
       const calendarDays = calendar.querySelectorAll(
-        ".react-datepicker__day-name",
+        ".react-datepicker__day-name > span[aria-hidden='true']",
       );
       expect(calendarDays[0]?.textContent).toBe("Su");
       expect(calendarDays[6]?.textContent).toBe("Sa");
@@ -2509,7 +2515,7 @@ describe("Calendar", () => {
     it("should have default wednesday as start day if No prop passed", () => {
       const { calendar } = getCalendar({ calendarStartDay: 3 });
       const calendarDays = calendar.querySelectorAll(
-        ".react-datepicker__day-name",
+        ".react-datepicker__day-name > span[aria-hidden='true']",
       );
       expect(calendarDays[0]?.textContent).toBe("We");
       expect(calendarDays[6]?.textContent).toBe("Tu");
diff --git a/src/test/datepicker_test.test.tsx b/src/test/datepicker_test.test.tsx
index d69a3919d..e9a76330c 100644
--- a/src/test/datepicker_test.test.tsx
+++ b/src/test/datepicker_test.test.tsx
@@ -3794,6 +3794,54 @@ describe("DatePicker", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe("Calendar Header Accessibility", () => {
+    it("renders day names with sr-only full weekday and visible short name", () => {
+      const { container } = render(<DatePicker />);
+      const input = safeQuerySelector(container, "input");
+      fireEvent.focus(input);
+
+      const headers = container.querySelectorAll(
+        '.react-datepicker__day-names > [role="columnheader"]',
+      );
+      expect(headers.length).toBe(7);
+
+      headers.forEach((header) => {
+        // Should have a visually hidden span with the full weekday name
+        const srOnly = header.querySelector(".sr-only");
+        expect(srOnly).toBeTruthy();
+        expect(srOnly?.textContent?.length).toBeGreaterThan(2);
+
+        // Should have a visible short name
+        const visible = header.querySelector('span[aria-hidden="true"]');
+        expect(visible).toBeTruthy();
+        expect(visible?.textContent?.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(3);
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("renders week number column header with sr-only label and visible #", () => {
+      const { container } = render(<DatePicker showWeekNumbers />);
+      const input = safeQuerySelector(container, "input");
+      fireEvent.focus(input);
+
+      const headers = container.querySelectorAll(
+        '.react-datepicker__day-names > [role="columnheader"]',
+      );
+      expect(headers.length).toBe(8);
+
+      const weekNumberHeader = headers[0] as Element;
+      const srOnly = weekNumberHeader.querySelector(".sr-only");
+      expect(srOnly).toBeTruthy();
+      expect(srOnly?.textContent?.trim()?.toLowerCase()).toEqual("week number");
+
+      // Should have a visible short name
+      const visible = weekNumberHeader.querySelector(
+        'span[aria-hidden="true"]',
+      );
+      expect(visible).toBeTruthy();
+      expect(visible?.textContent?.trim()?.toLowerCase()).toEqual("#");
+    });
+  });
+
   it("should show the correct start of week for GB locale", () => {
     registerLocale("en-GB", enGB);
 
@@ -3802,9 +3850,10 @@ describe("DatePicker", () => {
     jest.spyOn(input, "focus");
     fireEvent.focus(input);
 
-    const firstDay = container.querySelector(".react-datepicker__day-names")
-      ?.childNodes[0]?.textContent;
-    expect(firstDay).toBe("Mo");
+    const firstDay = container.querySelector(
+      ".react-datepicker__day-names > div[role='columnheader'] > span[aria-hidden='true']",
+    );
+    expect(firstDay?.textContent).toBe("Mo");
   });
 
   it("should show the correct start of week for US locale", () => {
@@ -3815,9 +3864,10 @@ describe("DatePicker", () => {
     jest.spyOn(input, "focus");
     fireEvent.focus(input);
 
-    const firstDay = container.querySelector(".react-datepicker__day-names")
-      ?.childNodes[0]?.textContent;
-    expect(firstDay).toBe("Su");
+    const firstDay = container.querySelector(
+      ".react-datepicker__day-names > div[role='columnheader'] > span[aria-hidden='true']",
+    );
+    expect(firstDay?.textContent).toBe("Su");
   });
 
   describe("when update the datepicker input text while props.showTimeSelectOnly is set and dateFormat has only time related format", () => {