Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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What is your favourite e-mail client on Windows? (self.Blind)
submitted by zarazilla
Hi All
My colleague is legally blind (can see some contrast, but can't read) and relies on NVDA on her computer. She was happily using Gmail (we have gmail for business) until it force changed a few weeks ago and now she has a lot of trouble with it, so I figured installing a new e-mail client for her might help.
What do you use on Windows? I asked IT to install Thunderbird for her yesterday and she seems a lot happier with it, but I can immediately see there are still issues with the half hour we spent on it yesterday, particularly with finding attachments in her e-mails, and buttons being in places that are not at the bottom or top of the screen.
My colleague is legally blind (can see some contrast, but can't read) and relies on NVDA on her computer. She was happily using Gmail (we have gmail for business) until it force changed a few weeks ago and now she has a lot of trouble with it, so I figured installing a new e-mail client for her might help.
What do you use on Windows? I asked IT to install Thunderbird for her yesterday and she seems a lot happier with it, but I can immediately see there are still issues with the half hour we spent on it yesterday, particularly with finding attachments in her e-mails, and buttons being in places that are not at the bottom or top of the screen.
retrolental_morose 3 points 4y ago
Outlook is used in my workplace, so when I needed a home solution I just got Office365 for the family and just carried on with that.
I get that paying for this may not be for everyone
I get that paying for this may not be for everyone
zarazilla [OP] 1 points 4y ago
I think my office should absolutely be able to pay for Outlook if needed.
retrolental_morose 1 points 4y ago
The downloadable version, rather than the web, is the most accessible. Shout if you have queries. :)
bleeblat 2 points 4y ago
I prefer braille myself, as I'm completely blind, so this may be slightly different than what you need. I like Thunderbird and Firefox here mostly.
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I've tried the built-in Windows 10 mail app, but it has a very odd conversation view, and I don't understand why some messages don't get marked as read when I've looked at them. Chrome is good, except that I don't like the lack of a good reader mode, and Firefox is a little more configurable. Having said that, web apps like Reddit, are a little bit more accessible in chrome. I usually just use firefox though, and work around that, because it renders most things a little better and eats less resources, even on a very fast system. I also find that Google's AI poorly predicts what I want, so I use DuckDuckGo for search, which is more convenient in Firefox because I don't need an extension. But the speed boost from Chrome is nice sometimes. I'd consider getting JAWS, as I heard that having multiple screen readers can sometimes help, but I'm not sure it's worth the $1500 price tag, plus yearly upgrade.s. I'd get it for braille features, possibly, if NVDA is lacking something that JAWS has for braille, but I Haven't seen that so far. The Braille Extender add-on seems to have most features I'd need, but I think JAWS might possibly have better translation tables, I'm not sure. You might get her to install the Windows 10 app essentials NVDA add-on as well, as that adds some better UIA automation code, and causes certain Windows controls to read better.
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I've tried the built-in Windows 10 mail app, but it has a very odd conversation view, and I don't understand why some messages don't get marked as read when I've looked at them. Chrome is good, except that I don't like the lack of a good reader mode, and Firefox is a little more configurable. Having said that, web apps like Reddit, are a little bit more accessible in chrome. I usually just use firefox though, and work around that, because it renders most things a little better and eats less resources, even on a very fast system. I also find that Google's AI poorly predicts what I want, so I use DuckDuckGo for search, which is more convenient in Firefox because I don't need an extension. But the speed boost from Chrome is nice sometimes. I'd consider getting JAWS, as I heard that having multiple screen readers can sometimes help, but I'm not sure it's worth the $1500 price tag, plus yearly upgrade.s. I'd get it for braille features, possibly, if NVDA is lacking something that JAWS has for braille, but I Haven't seen that so far. The Braille Extender add-on seems to have most features I'd need, but I think JAWS might possibly have better translation tables, I'm not sure. You might get her to install the Windows 10 app essentials NVDA add-on as well, as that adds some better UIA automation code, and causes certain Windows controls to read better.
HDMILex 1 points 4y ago
Thunderbird all the way!
TheBlindBookLover 1 points 4y ago
Hi. Maybe try placing Gmail in Basic HTML view instead of Standard view. I hope that this helps.
zarazilla [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll see how she likes it.
csloth 1 points 4y ago
Outlook or Mutt, depending on what I'm doing. Mutt is better for working with groups of related messages, such as deleting many related messages quickly.
Amonwilde 1 points 4y ago
Thunderbird is accessible, though a little complicated at times. Worth a try.
rkingett 1 points 4y ago
TB has keyboard commands, but you can also try OE CLASSIC, or the native windows 10 app, or outlook. Try OE classic. The free version, 2.8, is not as accessible as TB or outlook is, but it is getting better. OE Classic 2.9 will be even more accessible.
zarazilla [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Thanks - if the current version is not as accessible as TB, maybe we will wait until 2.9 and check in again :)
We had a run through the TB keyboard shortcuts - unfortunately I couldn't find one to select the attachment(s) in the e-mail she was reading, which was where she was having problems.
We had a run through the TB keyboard shortcuts - unfortunately I couldn't find one to select the attachment(s) in the e-mail she was reading, which was where she was having problems.
rkingett 1 points 4y ago
If she's using a screen reader, she will have to open the message, and then hit alt M? I think, or is it alt E? Not sure, but open the message, then hit the alt, key.
Navigate to the messages menu.
Go down to attachments.
Hit save as.
You need to change a setting so that messages open in an existing window, NOT a new window or in the same window as TB.
Navigate to the messages menu.
Go down to attachments.
Hit save as.
You need to change a setting so that messages open in an existing window, NOT a new window or in the same window as TB.
FiverNZen 1 points 4y ago
The native mail app on windows 10 works well with JAWS in my opinion
zarazilla [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Thanks for the response! If TB doesn't work out I will likely ask them to try this next if they don't have a licence for Outlook (which she is already familiar with form her last workplace).
Badassmotherfuckerer 1 points 4y ago
Would Outlook work? Outlook and JAWS works well for me and many teachers from where I received training at.
zarazilla [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Actually she did tell me that she got along fine with Outlook only after we got IT to install her Thunderbird! But apparently the previous IT people didn't want to install it for her (they were so unhelpful and I'm so glad they're gone!!). So instead of asking them to install Outlook and then find an even better client after, thought I'd ask here first :)
enzwificritic 1 points 4y ago
whats your problem with gmail? i use it all the time with NVDA on windows 10.
zarazilla [OP] 1 points 4y ago
I will have to ask my colleague, but she was fine with it until the recent change. What browser are you using to access it?
enzwificritic 1 points 4y ago
google chrome on windows. google has arguably the best accessible out there right now.
but if you want to access google drive use fire fox. it is the most accessible browser.
but if you want to access google drive use fire fox. it is the most accessible browser.
zarazilla [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Yeah she was using it on Chrome, but couldn't get along with it. Do you use google docs or sheets on Firefox? She seems to have a lot of trouble using NVDA with those on Chrome.
enzwificritic 1 points 4y ago
as i said before google docs, drive, google sheets and google slides all of those I use fire fox.
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bennetfoxy 1 points 4y ago
I like Pine but that only runs on linux. :)
zarazilla [OP] 2 points 4y ago
A text-based client! That makes sense actually...
bennetfoxy 1 points 4y ago
This is mainly the reason why I still use and prefer linux. CLI software and when I do have to spend time in a GUI, thanks to compiz I have a scrollable screen magnifier!
I also miss my C:\>_ prompt!
I also miss my C:\>_ prompt!
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