Screen reader: no announcement when response is generating or complete (NVDA)
Open 💬 4 comments Opened Jun 22, 2026 by JoshMiele
Part of umbrella accessibility issue: #69996
Problem
There is no signal accessible to a screen reader that Claude is still generating a response or has finished. Users must navigate manually to the bottom of the response area to check status, with no passive indication that work is ongoing.
Recommendation
- While generating: The elapsed time display should be wrapped in an ARIA live region set to
aria-live="polite", allowing NVDA to periodically announce elapsed time without interrupting speech. The elapsed time element should also carry a heading (H3 or H4 recommended) so users can navigate directly to it. - On completion: When generation finishes, an ARIA live region should be updated with a brief notice such as "Response complete." Using
aria-live="polite"ensures the announcement queues after any current speech rather than interrupting it.
Environment
- Claude Code desktop app, Windows 11
- NVDA screen reader (latest stable)
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