diff --git a/src/components/chatbox/chatbox.tsx b/src/components/chatbox/chatbox.tsx
index c84041f372..8fd2d76841 100644
--- a/src/components/chatbox/chatbox.tsx
+++ b/src/components/chatbox/chatbox.tsx
@@ -361,6 +361,8 @@ const ChatBox = () => {
 							)}
 						</div>
 						<textarea
+							aria-label="Ask AI a question"
+							aria-describedby="user-instructions"
 							autoFocus
 							className={classNames(s.reset, s.textarea)}
 							spellCheck={false}
@@ -380,6 +382,9 @@ const ChatBox = () => {
 							placeholder="Ask a question"
 							disabled={isLoading}
 						/>
+						<span id="user-instructions" className="g-screen-reader-only">
+							The question can be 200 characters long.
+						</span>
 						<div className={s.buttonContainer}>
 							{isLoading ? (
 								<Button
@@ -406,6 +411,7 @@ const ChatBox = () => {
 						/* Display/100/Regular */
 						size={100}
 						weight="regular"
+						id="ai-disclaimer-text"
 					>
 						AI Disclaimer: Content generated by Developer AI may contain errors,
 						inconsistencies, or outdated information. It is provided as-is
diff --git a/src/components/chatbox/message.tsx b/src/components/chatbox/message.tsx
index c8d9ac40c9..9b26408c5c 100644
--- a/src/components/chatbox/message.tsx
+++ b/src/components/chatbox/message.tsx
@@ -27,9 +27,16 @@ const Markdown = lazy(() => import('./Markdown'))
 
 const UserMessage = ({ text, image }: { text: string; image?: string }) => {
 	return (
-		<div className={classNames(s.message, s.messageUser)}>
+		// We want aria-live here so that when results are loaded, the user
+		// with a screen reader will hear "your question" + their query
+		// repeated back to them.
+		<div className={classNames(s.message, s.messageUser)} aria-live="polite">
 			<div className={classNames(s.avatar)}>
-				{image ? <img src={image} alt="user avatar" /> : null}
+				{/*
+					This avatar is presentation only, but the alt text here
+					results in a better screen reader experience.
+				*/}
+				{image ? <img src={image} alt="Your question:" /> : null}
 			</div>
 			<Text /* Body/200/Medium */
 				size={200}
@@ -142,7 +149,7 @@ const AssistantMessage = ({
 									<IconClipboard24 height={12} width={12} />
 								)
 							}
-							aria-label="Copy to clipboard"
+							aria-label="Copy results to clipboard"
 							text={isCopied ? 'Copied' : 'Copy'}
 							onClick={handleCopy}
 						/>
@@ -249,6 +256,7 @@ export const MessageList = ({ messages }: { messages: MessageType[] }) => {
 								conversationId={message.conversationId}
 								messageId={message.messageId}
 								showActions={shouldShowActions}
+								aria-live="polite"
 							/>
 						)
 					}
diff --git a/src/components/command-bar/commands/chat/chat.module.css b/src/components/command-bar/commands/chat/chat.module.css
index 29c3799b0e..f0c026eda1 100644
--- a/src/components/command-bar/commands/chat/chat.module.css
+++ b/src/components/command-bar/commands/chat/chat.module.css
@@ -3,8 +3,14 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
  */
 
-.backArrow {
-	composes: g-focus-ring-from-box-shadow from global;
-	cursor: pointer;
-	border-radius: 5px;
+.backButton {
+	& svg {
+		/* 
+			This overrides the default svg color set in
+			command-bar-dialog.module.css, which allows the button's svg 
+			element to correctly inherit the currentColor.
+			TODO: refactor command icons to always rely on currentColor
+		*/
+		color: unset;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/components/command-bar/commands/chat/index.tsx b/src/components/command-bar/commands/chat/index.tsx
index 4f448b830e..cc07875508 100644
--- a/src/components/command-bar/commands/chat/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/command-bar/commands/chat/index.tsx
@@ -7,22 +7,22 @@ import { IconArrowLeft24 } from '@hashicorp/flight-icons/svg-react/arrow-left-24
 import { CommandBarCommand } from 'components/command-bar/types'
 import ChatBox from 'components/chatbox/chatbox'
 import { useCommandBar } from 'components/command-bar'
+import Button from 'components/button'
 
 import s from './chat.module.css'
 
-// An interactive Icon w/ "back" functionality
-const Icon = () => {
+// A button with an icon and text w/ "back" functionality
+const BackButton = () => {
 	const { setCurrentCommand } = useCommandBar()
 	return (
-		<IconArrowLeft24
-			tabIndex={0}
-			className={s.backArrow}
-			aria-label="Return to search"
-			onKeyDown={(e) => {
-				if (e.key === 'Enter') {
-					setCurrentCommand('search')
-				}
-			}}
+		<Button
+			className={s.backButton}
+			color="tertiary"
+			size="large"
+			icon={<IconArrowLeft24 />}
+			iconPosition="leading"
+			text="Return to Search"
+			type="button"
 			onClick={() => {
 				setCurrentCommand('search')
 			}}
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ const Icon = () => {
 }
 const chatCommand: CommandBarCommand = {
 	name: 'chat',
-	icon: <Icon />,
+	icon: <BackButton />,
 	inputProps: {
-		placeholder: () => 'Return to search',
+		placeholder: () => 'Hide me',
 	},
 	DialogBody: ChatBox,
 }
diff --git a/src/components/command-bar/components/dialog/header.tsx b/src/components/command-bar/components/dialog/header.tsx
index 420c5178fb..1c54e9c369 100644
--- a/src/components/command-bar/components/dialog/header.tsx
+++ b/src/components/command-bar/components/dialog/header.tsx
@@ -45,20 +45,7 @@ const CommandBarDialogHeader = () => {
 				</div>
 			) : null}
 			<div className={s.inputWrapper}>
-				{currentCommand.name == 'chat' ? (
-					// This is a dummy element to display text
-					// TODO(kevinwang): make this less hacky
-					<div className={s.input}>
-						<label
-							className={s.label}
-							onClick={() => {
-								setCurrentCommand('search')
-							}}
-						>
-							Return to search
-						</label>
-					</div>
-				) : (
+				{currentCommand.name !== 'chat' && (
 					<input
 						aria-label={inputPlaceholder}
 						className={s.input}