♿🎙️Accessibility: voice dictation should be free as in freedom

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

Version 26.915.31945

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

[[I am not requesting free agentic computation; I am requesting that the mechanism by which I enter text not consume or depend upon an agentic-compute entitlement.]]
I am a disabled ChatGPT Plus user who relies on voice dictation as an accessibility input method.
In the Codex desktop client, voice/dictation appears to be tied to Codex/Work usage limits or additional paid credits. When that usage allowance is exhausted, I am prompted to spend additional credits or use a higher level of paid usage in order to continue using voice.
I do not believe a basic alternate input method should become unavailable because an unrelated agentic-compute quota has been exhausted. I am not asking for unlimited Codex execution, agentic work, or additional model computation. I am asking for the ability to dictate text into the application as an accessibility accommodation without having that input modality depend on additional Codex credit purchases.
For a disabled user, keyboard input and voice input are not necessarily interchangeable conveniences. Voice dictation can be an essential means of operating the application.
If ordinary ChatGPT voice/dictation is included with my ChatGPT Plus entitlement, the desktop client should not route that accessibility interface through a separate Codex/Work credit gate.
Please preserve the Feedback ID already included in this report for diagnostic correlation.
[[I am not requesting free agentic computation; I am requesting that the mechanism by which I enter text not consume or depend upon an agentic-compute entitlement.]]

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Feedback ID: no-active-thread-01a0bac5-2712-7d92-81d6-4a3f6a458edf

What is the expected behavior?

[[I am not requesting free agentic computation; I am requesting that the mechanism by which I enter text not consume or depend upon an agentic-compute entitlement.]]
Voice dictation should remain available as an input method for ChatGPT Plus users independently of Codex/Work agentic-compute limits.
Exhausting Codex or Work usage may reasonably prevent the application from starting additional Codex jobs or other compute-intensive agentic operations. It should not disable the user's ability to dictate ordinary text or otherwise communicate with the application using an accessibility interface.
A preferable behavior would be:
"Voice/dictation remains available. Codex or Work operations cannot be started until your usage allowance resets or additional credits are added."
If voice dictation itself has a separate technical or service cost that requires limits, the client should distinguish that limit clearly from Codex/Work token or credit consumption and provide an accessibility path that does not require purchasing additional agentic-compute credits.
[[I am not requesting free agentic computation; I am requesting that the mechanism by which I enter text not consume or depend upon an agentic-compute entitlement.]]

Additional information

[[I am not requesting free agentic computation; I am requesting that the mechanism by which I enter text not consume or depend upon an agentic-compute entitlement.]]
This has a substantial accessibility impact for me because I use voice input as an alternate means of interacting with software due to disability.
I am raising this as an accessibility concern, not merely as a pricing preference. Please have the issue reviewed by both the desktop product team and the appropriate accessibility team.
I am a user in jurisdictions with disability-accessibility protections, including the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union. I would appreciate review under any applicable accessibility and reasonable-accommodation obligations, including U.S., UK, and EU requirements.
I am not requesting that paid Codex compute become unlimited. I am requesting that a fundamental accessibility input modality not be coupled to consumption of a separate agentic-compute allowance.
Related report: #37619, "[macOS][Pro 20x $200] Chat → New voice chat is gated by exhausted Codex/Work quota while web Voice works."
There are also other recent Codex desktop reports involving voice availability and dictation failures, suggesting that desktop voice routing and entitlement handling may warrant broader review.
[[I am not requesting free agentic computation; I am requesting that the mechanism by which I enter text not consume or depend upon an agentic-compute entitlement.]]

No file or test is named. Start by reproducing the voice/dictation behavior on Windows with Codex/Work usage exhausted, then compare it with ordinary ChatGPT voice access and the related report #37619. Done means dictation remains available independently of agentic-compute limits while Codex jobs remain gated.