Fix accessibility issues with confirmation widget, add command to focus it directly if present, announce none if not present

[Copilot]

demo.mov

Screen reader users might miss chat confirmation dialogs when they're focused in the editor, making it difficult to interact with chat agents that require user confirmation. This PR adds a new accessibility command to help users discover and interact with these confirmation dialogs.

New Feature

Adds a new command "Announce Chat Confirmation Status" with keyboard shortcut Alt+A that:

• Announces confirmation status to screen readers using aria.alert()
• Counts active confirmations and reports the number of actions needed
• Auto-focuses the first confirmation dialog for immediate interaction
• Provides feedback when no confirmations are pending

Implementation

The command scans the current chat session's view model to detect active confirmations by checking for content.kind === 'confirmation' && !content.isUsed. When confirmations are found, it announces:

• "Chat confirmation required. X action(s) needed." (focuses first dialog)
• "No chat confirmation required." (when none pending)

Accessibility Documentation

The new command is documented in the Chat Accessibility Help dialog alongside other chat accessibility commands, making it discoverable to users who rely on screen readers.

Usage

Users can press Alt+A while in a chat session or invoke "Announce Chat Confirmation Status" from the Command Palette (F1). The command is context-aware and only available during active chat sessions.

Files Changed

• src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/actions/chatAccessibilityActions.ts (new file)
• src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chat.contribution.ts (registration)
• src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/actions/chatAccessibilityHelp.ts (documentation)

The implementation follows established VS Code patterns for accessibility and makes minimal, surgical changes to the existing codebase.

Fixes #261864.
Fixes #262502

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[meganrogge]

@copilot ensure this is indicated in the Chat Accessibility Help dialog

[Copilot]

@copilot ensure this is indicated in the Chat Accessibility Help dialog

Added documentation for the "Announce Chat Confirmation Status" command to the Chat Accessibility Help dialog in commit 8f1c7e4. The command is now properly documented with its Alt+A keybinding in both panel chat and quick chat help sections.

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[Tyriar]

I don't think message is being used?

[meganrogge]

that is being used - it gets passed to the base chat confirmation widget to be used in the aria label

[meganrogge]

vscode/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatContentParts/chatConfirmationWidget.ts

Line 368 in 5ed82ab

const container = createAccessibilityContainer(title, message);

addressed