Apparently this has been a problem for a while. Since Last Wish I have had my open/close chat set to Z. However, after having to reset my keybinds, I found out that the option the change the keybind for this feature is gone. I understand that there is an auto-hide in Gameplay but that is not what I'm talking about.
You would have assumed this would be fixed by now, as posts date back to at least last year.
Having "L" as the open chat function is so inconvenient for raids when stuff is being called out. Otherwise you have to stop moving or looking to activate the chat, which could get you killed.