You can replace the standard navigation buttons with your own, of course,
thus giving more control.  The record selector, though, is going to be
tough.  You could replace that, too, I guess, with a control of your own.

To work directly on the built-in UI elements is going to require some pretty
deep wizardry.  Where's Stephen Lebans when you need him?

One of the few persistent Device Context(hDC) handles is the one linked to
the form's hWnd property.

The handle to a Device Context you get returned when you call:
hDC = GetDC(Me.Hwnd)
actually corresponds to the screen area of the RecordSelector. The problem
is knowing when to repaint this area. You'd have to use a Timer or Subclass
the Form. IMHO neither direction offers a viable solution.

Alternatively, I know in the past I have tried to over ride the current
default for the Background Brush used to paint portions of an Access form.
As far as I can remember this technique does not work for the Record
Selector area. But you can easily test this yourself. The MDI Background
solution on my site contains the required code. Simply substitute your
form's hWnd property where requried.

Finally, it might be simpler to recreate(in single form or continuous view,
the record selector area with a control(s) of your choice.