diff --git a/abogen/infrastructure/subtitle_writer.py b/abogen/infrastructure/subtitle_writer.py
index d283e38..e8f8d63 100644
--- a/abogen/infrastructure/subtitle_writer.py
+++ b/abogen/infrastructure/subtitle_writer.py
@@ -220,8 +220,10 @@ class AssWriter(SubtitleWriter):
         
         style = "Default"
         if self.config.mode == SubtitleMode.SENTENCE_HIGHLIGHT:
-            # Add karaoke tags for highlighting
-            text = self._add_karaoke_tags(text)
+            # Entries from process_subtitle_tokens already carry per-word
+            # {\kf...} timing; only synthesize simplified tags when absent.
+            if "{\\k" not in text:
+                text = self._add_karaoke_tags(text)
             style = "Highlight"
         
         alignment_tag = r"{\an5}" if self._is_centered else ""
@@ -248,6 +250,19 @@ class AssWriter(SubtitleWriter):
         return f"{hours}:{minutes:02d}:{secs:05.2f}"
 
 
+def _coerce_mode(mode: str) -> SubtitleMode:
+    """Parse a subtitle mode, tolerating word-count strings like "5 words".
+
+    Word-count modes are grouped upstream (subtitle_generation) and the writer
+    only branches on SubtitleMode.SENTENCE_HIGHLIGHT, so any non-highlight
+    fallback is behaviorally equivalent for the writers.
+    """
+    try:
+        return SubtitleMode(mode)
+    except ValueError:
+        return SubtitleMode.SENTENCE
+
+
 def create_subtitle_writer(
     path: Path,
     format: str,
@@ -257,7 +272,7 @@ def create_subtitle_writer(
 ) -> SubtitleWriter:
     """Factory function to create subtitle writer."""
     fmt = SubtitleFormat(format.lower())
-    mode = SubtitleMode(mode)
+    mode = _coerce_mode(mode)
     align = SubtitleAlignment(alignment.lower())
 
     config = SubtitleConfig(
diff --git a/abogen/pyqt/gui.py b/abogen/pyqt/gui.py
index 3e7ecee..46b0d93 100644
--- a/abogen/pyqt/gui.py
+++ b/abogen/pyqt/gui.py
@@ -1019,6 +1019,7 @@ class abogen(QWidget):
                     self.selected_lang = (
                         language_for_voice_id(entry[0]) if entry and entry[0] else Language.EN_US
                     )
+        self.update_subtitle_options_availability()
         if self.save_option == "Choose output folder" and self.selected_output_folder:
             self.save_path_label.setText(self.selected_output_folder)
             self.save_path_row_widget.show()
diff --git a/tests/test_subtitle_writer.py b/tests/test_subtitle_writer.py
index 82a0a28..78f8bda 100644
--- a/tests/test_subtitle_writer.py
+++ b/tests/test_subtitle_writer.py
@@ -177,6 +177,19 @@ class TestAssWriter:
         assert "Highlight" in content
         assert r"{\k100}" in content
 
+    def test_highlight_mode_preserves_existing_karaoke_tags(self, tmp_path):
+        path = tmp_path / "test.ass"
+        config = SubtitleConfig(
+            format=SubtitleFormat.ASS,
+            mode=SubtitleMode.SENTENCE_HIGHLIGHT,
+        )
+        writer = AssWriter(path, config)
+        writer.write_entry(start=0.0, end=1.0, text=r"{\kf20}Hello {\kf20}world.")
+        writer.close()
+        content = path.read_text()
+        assert r"{\kf20}Hello {\kf20}world." in content
+        assert r"{\k100}" not in content
+
     def test_centered_alignment(self, tmp_path):
         path = tmp_path / "test.ass"
         config = SubtitleConfig(
@@ -243,6 +256,12 @@ class TestCreateSubtitleWriter:
         with pytest.raises(ValueError):
             create_subtitle_writer(path, "xyz", "Line")
 
+    def test_word_count_mode(self, tmp_path):
+        path = tmp_path / "test.srt"
+        writer = create_subtitle_writer(path, "srt", "5 words", max_words=5)
+        assert isinstance(writer, SrtWriter)
+        writer.close()
+
 
 # ===================================================================
 # Context manager