Fix screen reader re-announcing Command Palette prompt on Ctrl key press

[Copilot]

Fixes #144801

Screen readers (NVDA, Orca) announce "Type the command to run" when pressing Ctrl to silence speech in the Command Palette. This occurs because the ariaLabel setter unconditionally calls setAttribute, triggering announcements even when the value hasn't changed.

Changes

src/vs/platform/quickinput/browser/quickInputBox.ts

• Guard setAttribute('aria-label') to only execute when value differs from current DOM attribute
• Prevents unnecessary DOM manipulation during frequent update cycles

src/vs/platform/quickinput/test/browser/quickinput.test.ts

• Add test verifying placeholder updates don't throw errors

set ariaLabel(ariaLabel: string) {
    const currentValue = this.findInput.inputBox.inputElement.getAttribute('aria-label') || '';
    if (currentValue !== ariaLabel) {
        this.findInput.inputBox.inputElement.setAttribute('aria-label', ariaLabel);
    }
}

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Screen reader announces “Type the command to run” prompt after pressing Ctrl to silence speech</issue_title>
<issue_description>
Type: Bug

There is an accessibility issue when navigating through the Command Palette using a screen reader (tested with both NVDA and Orca).

When I open the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P and start navigating through the list of commands, if I press the Ctrl key to silence the screen reader speech, the initial prompt (“Type the command to run”) is spoken again — it seems to be announced just before the speech is actually silenced.

Additionally, after pressing Ctrl to stop the speech, if I then press the Down Arrow key, the same prompt (“Type the command to run”) is announced once more, as if I had pressed Ctrl+Shift+P again.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P.
2. Start navigating the list of commands using the arrow keys.
3. Press Ctrl to silence the screen reader speech.
4. Notice that the prompt (“Type the command to run”) is spoken just before the speech is interrupted.
5. Press the Down Arrow key again and note that the same prompt is spoken once more.

Expected behavior:
The prompt should not be spoken again when pressing Ctrl or when resuming navigation after silencing speech.

Screen readers tested:

• NVDA (Windows)
• Orca (Linux)

VS Code version: Code - Insiders 1.106.0-insider (d8b0787, 2025-10-10T08:19:44.111Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100
Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1145G7 @ 2.60GHz (8 x 2611)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off trees_in_viz: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	15.66GB (5.10GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id f8460393-7b6d-4fa3-b912-843cc3297a42
Screen Reader	yes
VM	0%

Extensions (20)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
copilot	Git	1.380.1802
copilot-chat	Git	0.32.2025100703
remote-containers	ms-	0.429.0
remote-ssh	ms-	0.121.2025093015
remote-ssh-edit	ms-	0.87.0
remote-wsl	ms-	0.104.3
vscode-remote-extensionpack	ms-	0.26.0
remote-explorer	ms-	0.6.2025081809
remote-server	ms-	1.6.2025091709
java	red	1.47.2025101108
intellicode-api-usage-examples	Vis	0.2.9
vscodeintellicode	Vis	1.3.2
migrate-java-to-azure	vsc	1.5.2025092401
vscode-gradle	vsc	3.17.2025090802
vscode-java-debug	vsc	0.58.2025082105
vscode-java-dependency	vsc	0.26.1
vscode-java-pack	vsc	0.30.3
vscode-java-test	vsc	0.43.2025040304
vscode-java-upgrade	vsc	1.6.1
vscode-maven	vsc	0.44.2024072906

A/B Experiments

vsliv368:30146709
pythonvspyt551cf:31249598
nativeloc1:31118317
dwcopilot:31158714
dwoutputs:31242946
copilot_t_ci:31333650
g012b348:31231168
6gi0g917:31259950
pythonrdcb7:31268811
usemplatestapi:31297334
pythonpcpt1cf:31399617
6518g693:31302842
0g1h6703:31329154
agentisdefault:31399626
82j33506:31327384
6abeh943:31336334
envsactivate1:31349248
ovs_ter_t:31398874
editstats-enabled:31346256
aa_c:31379597
cloudbuttont:31366566
todos-0:31366869
qwen_all_req:31396049
multireplacestring:31382717
nb255704_tf:31377673
3efgi100_wstrepl:31382709
ge3cd652:31390471
trigger-command-fix:31379601
cmd-onchange-true:31382213
auto_model_enabled:31385282
grok-control-prompt:31384642
use-responses-api:31390341
c91a3477:31396429
applesignin:31399434
9i271672:31399627

<agent_instructions>fix this</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@meganrogge @jvesouza thanks for the issue. Is this new? I thought `esc` was used to silence the screen reader. Did you configure `ctrl` instead? @dmitrivMS This appears related to #144801

• Fixes Screen reader announces “Type the command to run” prompt after pressing Ctrl to silence speech #271032

---

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.