[Accessibility_sig] gmail

[Sean Keegan]

> I, unfortunately, am having a hard time accessing gmail through Jaws. 
> I will give Freedom Scientific a call to regarding gmail, but I thought 
> I would ask if anyione on this mail list can give me information or advice

> about using Jaws to access gmail.

This came up on another list I monitor some time ago, where the question was
on working with students and Gmail.  My comments are posted below.

First, have the student enable "Basic HTML" after logging into the G-mail
interface (this is a hyperlink you can find through the JAWS Links List
dialog window - Ins+F7). While this does remove some of the "interactive"
functionality, it does improve the user experience by adding headings to
various menu items such that the user can jump around through the interface.

There is also some hidden text a screen-reader will speak when first logging
into G-mail that suggests if using a screen-reader to enable the basic HTML
option.

When using the basic HTML option, the message titles are hyperlinks and
these can be browsed by using the JAWS Links List window.

You can also "Tab" through the basic HTML interface as well. If tabbing
around the interface, when you get to the messages you will hear information
about a checkbox and the sender first, followed by the message title.

When viewing a message (in basic HTML mode), the subject will be a heading
level 2 and the name of the sender will be a heading level 3, which means
that you will then have to navigate through the To: and From: information,
but at least you will not have to listen to the entire interface.

What you can also do when viewing a message is to jump to the "Show
Original" hyperlink - do not choose the "Activate Link" option in JAWS, just
the "Move to Link" option (from the JAWS Links List dialog window - Ins+F7).
This will jump you past the message To: and From: information and allow you
to proceed directly into the message reply.

When writing a message, make sure to enter forms mode in the text area to
reply to a message. The text area is not very well labeled, but is just
after the button marked "More Reply Options".

This should get you started. There have been improvements in the G-mail
interface, but (IMO) there could still be additional improvements to really
enhance the usability when using a screen-reader or other AT. There is a
group working on accessibility now at Google, but they are just starting to
get their wheels rolling so it may still be a bit of time before we see any
major developments.

The accessibility team at Google is aware of several of the issues.
However, I think it is *very* important to communicate these concerns to the
Google representative your institution is working with. If multiple people
are clamoring for changes to improve accessibility, then that does have an
impact when considering development priorities.

In terms of using an e-mail client to access Gmail, the options I have found
successful include Outlook, Eudora, and Thunderbird.  The one nice aspect of
Thunderbird is that you can load it onto a USB drive and thus have a
portable e-mail client.

Take care,
Sean

Sean Keegan
Web Accessibility Instructor
High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges