A11Y: Continue sidebar doesn't work with screen readers in VS code

Before submitting your bug report

• I've tried using the "Ask AI" feature on the Continue docs site to see if the docs have an answer
• I'm not able to find a related conversation on GitHub discussions that reports the same bug
• I'm not able to find an open issue that reports the same bug
• I've seen the troubleshooting guide on the Continue Docs

Relevant environment info

- OS: Ubuntu 26.04
- Continue version: any
- IDE version:
- Model:
- config:
  

  
  OR link to agent in Continue hub:

Description

I am blind so use the Orca screen reader on Ubuntu. I set up Continue in VS Code and can't really use the chat interface. It seems like there are pretty much no labels on things, I can't read the chat response/history, and it seems like the chat doesn't interact with VS Codes accessibility settings so none of the audio announcements work to help me have more context.

To reproduce

1. Turn on a screen reader. On windows press control+windows+enter or on Linux press super+alt+s.
2. Open VS Code.
3. Press control+i to open the chat
4. Notice how difficult it is to use

Log output

Start by reproducing the issue from the VS Code chat opened with Ctrl+I, using Orca on Ubuntu and checking VS Code accessibility settings. Inspect the chat interface entry points and compare labels, chat response/history reading, and audio announcements with accessible VS Code behavior. Done means the reported chat interactions are usable with a screen reader.