About six months ago, in an effort to help solve the problem of email inaccessibility and the release of Windows 7, I posted a few suggestions in an entry entitled, Win 7 work-around for Zoomtext users.
Unfortunately, this information requires an update due to the fact that there has been a recent change to my proposed solution, in the form of a version update to Windows Live Mail. Like an idiot, I clicked on the update consent link before reviewing the new version notes. To my horror, I now have a version of Windows Live Mail that I cannot use at all. This has me so frustrated, and really ticked off. If there is anything within my power to do to advocate for screen reader users to Microsoft, I will. Not that anyone will pay any attention to me whatsoever, but maybe a few of my accessibility tweeps will join me.
First of all, the update to Windows Live Mail changes the look and feel of the interface to that of the “ribbon” design. If you detest that same interface in Word, you won’t like it here. I am using an older version of MS Office on another PC, so I’m still enjoying the quite accessible XP MS Word interface. So, when I saw the new Live Mail version, I was not thrilled. Then, I attempted to use it, and found it to be utterly maddening. the bottom line is, there is no accessibility with Zoomtext, which is the screen reader I use.
Now, for my readers who use Jaws, perhaps you are having a different experience. However, my extreme pathos drove me to Google, whereupon I conducted a somewhat fruitless search into accessible email solutions. Here are the options I’ve discovered so far:
There are several forum posts out there from users who provide a step-by-step means by which to use the Vista version of Windows Mail with Windows 7. While at first glance this seemed doable, I must concede this is not for the faint of heart. If phrases such as “take full administration ownership,” and “change the registry” make you nervous, I suggest that you do not take this on unassisted. I was feeling pretty intimidated by this option myself, so I moved on.
A second option is to find another email program altogether. I found lists of them, just Google “free email for Win 7” and you’ll find a dozen choices. One of them is Mozilla Thunderbird, which I understand has an Outlook-similar functionality. I tried another choice first, called Incredimail, and I was not happy. Incredimail seems like it would be a lot of fun to use if you want to add effects and whimsy to your email messages, it offers myriad backgrounds, ecards, animated graphics, sound effects and more to your communications. I found it to be obnoxious. Cute, but obnoxious. Plus, I couldn’t figure out how to make Incredimail work with Zoomtext.
The Mozilla option seemed the better of the two, but I know little of the thunderbird program. What I do know is this: The email file formats are not interchangeable. You cannot use the .dbx extension, there is some converting required if you want to import your old email messages. I honestly do not know if this is significant. Does it mean that I cannot sync up my laptop and desktop, swap email messages and read them interchangeably? If you know the answer, please share.
Now that I’ve already been sucked into the update vortex and as a consequence have no access to the email that had already been saved, I’m stumped. I suppose I can uninstall the updated Windows Live Mail and reinstall the old version, if the OS will permit it. Why in the world do software manufacturers update their products only to set some users back? I’ve had it, frankly. What we need is an open source product that screen reader users can rely on. A brilliant little piece of kit such as is Jarte, Juice and the many other accessible products where the needs of users with disabilities have been taken into consideration. At this point, I’d like to call upon my readers to submit some alternatives to Windows Live Mail. Let us divide the suggestions into two groups: Simple, uncluttered O E look-alikes, and full-featured productivity tools for heavy email users. Thanks in advance for your input.
LL