Accessibility: /workflows and background-task progress have no screen-reader-readable text equivalent

Summary

The /workflows view (and background task / subagent progress generally) is presented as a live, visually-updating terminal UI with no screen-reader-accessible text equivalent. As a fully blind VoiceOver user, I have no way to check the progress of a long-running background workflow or async agent short of asking Claude to inspect transcript files on my behalf.

Who this affects

Blind and low-vision users who run Claude Code and rely on a screen reader (VoiceOver on macOS in my case). Long-running multi-agent workflows and background tasks are exactly the kind of thing where progress feedback matters most, and it is currently the least accessible surface.

The problem

• Invoking /workflows opens a live TUI progress tree. VoiceOver cannot meaningfully read a continuously-redrawing terminal UI: there is no stable, navigable text, and the redraws either go unannounced or produce unusable announcement spam.
• The same applies to background-task progress indicators / status chips generally — the state is conveyed visually, not as readable text a screen reader can land on and read on demand.
• Net effect: a blind user cannot independently answer "how far along is my background workflow / task?" There is no textual, on-demand equivalent.

What I'd expect (suggested directions)

Any one of these would close the gap; a combination would be ideal:

1. A plain-text, on-demand status output — e.g. /workflows status (or a flag) that prints a static, screen-reader-readable snapshot: which phase is running, how many agents spawned / completed / failed, and per-agent labels + states — as normal scrollback text rather than a live-redrawing panel.
2. A non-TUI / accessible mode for the progress view that emits discrete, readable text updates instead of an animated tree (respecting an accessibility or "no fancy TUI" setting).
3. Ensure background-task and workflow completion/failure are surfaced as text in the transcript (some of this exists via task notifications; making interim progress queryable as text is the missing piece).

Environment

• Claude Code (desktop app) on macOS, driven with VoiceOver.
• Context: running a multi-agent workflow launched via the Workflow tool; wanted to monitor progress and found /workflows unusable with a screen reader.

Why it matters

For a blind developer, automation and background orchestration are high-value because they reduce reliance on visual UI — but that value is undercut if the progress and status of that automation is only available visually. A textual status path makes long-running workflows independently monitorable.

Happy to test any proposed accessible status output.