[A11y] Add screen-reader (VoiceOver / NVDA) regression testing to the desktop app release process

Summary

Accessibility regressions keep reaching blind/low-vision users in production because screen-reader behavior does not appear to be part of the desktop app's pre-release testing. I'm requesting that VoiceOver (macOS) and NVDA/JAWS (Windows) be a standing part of the desktop app's QA / release checklist, so screen-reader regressions are caught before they ship instead of by a blind user in the field.

I'm a fully blind software engineer who uses the desktop app full-time with VoiceOver, and I've volunteered to help test and validate accessibility fixes.

Why now

A regression just made the macOS desktop app's assistant responses completely unreadable to VoiceOver (see #71466) — the kind of thing a 60-second screen-reader smoke test would have caught immediately. The issue tracker shows this is a recurring pattern, not a one-off: e.g. #70000, #58428, #58426, #67965, #69996. Each of these is individually fixable, but without screen-reader testing in the release loop, the next regression will simply replace the last.

Concrete asks

1. A screen-reader smoke checklist run every release, at minimum:

• Send a message and confirm the response is announced on completion and readable with the screen reader.
• Move focus to the prompt input and confirm it's reachable and labeled.
• Trigger a permission dialog and confirm it's announced and fully operable from the keyboard.
• Open settings and the project/folder switcher and confirm they're navigable.

1. Automated accessibility assertions where feasible — e.g. assert the conversation transcript exposes the response text in the accessibility tree and posts a completion announcement (live region) — so regressions fail CI rather than reaching users.
2. Include at least one blind / assistive-technology user in the beta channel for the desktop app, with a clear path to report regressions before general release.

Offer

Happy to help define the smoke checklist, test candidate builds on-device with VoiceOver, and validate fixes. Several of us in the blind community are actively using and advocating for Claude and would gladly participate.