Feature request: Add a single letter shortcut to mute / unmute the simulator #6617
Description
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
As part of ongoing work to improve accessibility, it is desirable for some users to be able to mute / unmute the simulator without having to navigate around the app to do so. When adding sound blocks to the onStart or forever blocks, the simulator automatically restarts and screen reader users can find the source of this sound confusing and the continued output overwhelming.
Describe the solution you'd like
We would like the MakeCode team to consider adding a single letter shortcut that can mute / unmute the simulator, or alternatively to stop / restart the simulator. This action should be accompanied by updating an aria-live region to announce the simulator state when it changes. We would be happy to implement this feature and submit a PR if the MakeCode team also thinks this is valuable.
Describe alternatives you've considered
It is already possible to mute / unmute or stop and restart the simulator, but this requires a non-trivial amount of navigation for screen reader users as outlined below. Other suggestions are welcome.
- Navigate to the simulator -> mute button
- Navigate back to the workspace -> make code changes
- Navigate back to the simulator to unmute
- Repeat as necessary
Additional context
We hope to test with a single letter shortcut to mute / unmute or stop / restart the simulator when conducting user testing with Blockly screen reader improvements. However, it seems unfair to test with such a feature unless the MakeCode team would support its addition if it received positive feedback.