Screen reader: permission dialogs do not receive focus or announce topic (NVDA)

Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Jun 22, 2026 by JoshMiele Closed Jun 27, 2026

Part of umbrella accessibility issue: #69996

Problem

When Claude Code displays a permission request — for example, asking whether to allow a file write or a shell command — focus is not moved to the dialog or button. NVDA users receive no automatic announcement that input is required. The only way to discover the dialog is to navigate manually through the interface.

Recommendation

When Claude Code displays any request for user input — including permission dialogs, confirmation prompts, and tool approval requests:

  1. Announce the topic — The nature of the request should be announced automatically via an ARIA live region or role="alert" element, describing what action is being requested and why (e.g., "Permission requested: write to file config.json").
  2. Move focus to the response buttons — Focus should be placed on the primary action button (typically "Allow" or "Yes") when the dialog appears.
  3. Tab order among buttons — All response buttons should be in the natural tab order, allowing the user to move between options (e.g., Allow, Deny, Allow Always) with the Tab key before making a selection.

Environment

  • Claude Code desktop app, Windows 11
  • NVDA screen reader (latest stable)

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