E-mail List Archives
Thread: Microsoft Outlook and A11y
Number of posts in this thread: 6 (In chronological order)
From: David Ashleydale
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2012 4:50PM
Subject: Microsoft Outlook and A11y
No previous message | Next message →
Hi,
Are there tips written down anywhere for composing emails in Microsoft
Outlook with accessibility in mind? Is it pretty much the same as using
Microsoft Word?
Thanks,
David
From: Lucy Greco
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2012 5:14PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Outlook and A11y
← Previous message | Next message →
Thinking about outlook over all is tuff.
Outlook does show html messages visually but if I get a constant contact
message in outlook it can be hell to read it. I have to open the message in
a browser 80% of the time. So formatting for outlook is going to be a thing
you can't really do unless you are sending from outlook to outlook. The best
practice should be keep a message clean and simple and it then works in
everything. If you include a link put that link on a line by itself so it is
easy to navigate to and click with a screen reader. Links in the middle of a
line can be hard to click some times. It can be done but keep the key
boarding down. Us blind screen reader users get rsi to smile .
Lucia Greco
Web Access Analyst
IST-Campus Technology Services
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of David Ashleydale
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 3:50 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] Microsoft Outlook and A11y
Hi,
Are there tips written down anywhere for composing emails in Microsoft
Outlook with accessibility in mind? Is it pretty much the same as using
Microsoft Word?
Thanks,
David
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
From: Pratik Patel
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2012 5:19PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Outlook and A11y
← Previous message | Next message →
In addition, avoid layout tables. They cause trouble--too much trouble. The
problem is that Outlook 2003, 2007, and 2010 all use a nonstandard rendering
engine with poor MSAA support. Assistive technology developers have had to
hack the outlook output. All of this assumes that your reader will be using
Outlook.
Regards,
Pratik
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 7:15 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Microsoft Outlook and A11y
Thinking about outlook over all is tuff.
Outlook does show html messages visually but if I get a constant contact
message in outlook it can be hell to read it. I have to open the message in
a browser 80% of the time. So formatting for outlook is going to be a thing
you can't really do unless you are sending from outlook to outlook. The best
practice should be keep a message clean and simple and it then works in
everything. If you include a link put that link on a line by itself so it is
easy to navigate to and click with a screen reader. Links in the middle of a
line can be hard to click some times. It can be done but keep the key
boarding down. Us blind screen reader users get rsi to smile .
Lucia Greco
Web Access Analyst
IST-Campus Technology Services
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of David Ashleydale
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 3:50 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] Microsoft Outlook and A11y
Hi,
Are there tips written down anywhere for composing emails in Microsoft
Outlook with accessibility in mind? Is it pretty much the same as using
Microsoft Word?
Thanks,
David
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
From: Lucy Greco
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2012 5:20PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Outlook and A11y
← Previous message | Next message →
Thanks for adding the information about tables I forgot that point and
you're absolutely right tables really do cause no end of trouble. Especially
when the first column is empty and that's really what the screen reader gets
when they move line by line.
Lucia Greco
Web Access Analyst
IST-Campus Technology Services
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Pratik Patel
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 4:19 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Microsoft Outlook and A11y
In addition, avoid layout tables. They cause trouble--too much trouble. The
problem is that Outlook 2003, 2007, and 2010 all use a nonstandard rendering
engine with poor MSAA support. Assistive technology developers have had to
hack the outlook output. All of this assumes that your reader will be using
Outlook.
Regards,
Pratik
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 7:15 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Microsoft Outlook and A11y
Thinking about outlook over all is tuff.
Outlook does show html messages visually but if I get a constant contact
message in outlook it can be hell to read it. I have to open the message in
a browser 80% of the time. So formatting for outlook is going to be a thing
you can't really do unless you are sending from outlook to outlook. The best
practice should be keep a message clean and simple and it then works in
everything. If you include a link put that link on a line by itself so it is
easy to navigate to and click with a screen reader. Links in the middle of a
line can be hard to click some times. It can be done but keep the key
boarding down. Us blind screen reader users get rsi to smile .
Lucia Greco
Web Access Analyst
IST-Campus Technology Services
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of David Ashleydale
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 3:50 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] Microsoft Outlook and A11y
Hi,
Are there tips written down anywhere for composing emails in Microsoft
Outlook with accessibility in mind? Is it pretty much the same as using
Microsoft Word?
Thanks,
David
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
From: John Foliot
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2012 7:04PM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Outlook and A11y
← Previous message | Next message →
David Ashleydale wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Are there tips written down anywhere for composing emails in Microsoft
> Outlook with accessibility in mind? Is it pretty much the same as using
> Microsoft Word?
>
So I might be a luddite, but I hate HTML rich emails and generally avoid
sending them: I have my Outlook configured to send plain text emails by
default.
If you are looking to send out "newsletter" type emails, you might want to
check out The Text Email Newsletter (TEN) Standard -
http://www.headstar.com/ten/
From their site: "The TEN Standard was developed by E-Access Bulletin, a
free email newsletter on access to technology by people with impaired
vision, published by Headstar in partnership with the Royal National
Institute of the Blind (RNIB)."
While this is not a strict "Standard" in-so-much as it has been vetted and
approved by a standards body, it none-the-less is a oft-used formatting
standard for emails of this nature that has a respectable provenance. It's
pretty straight forward, and has a predictability factor in its favor. I've
never really queried daily screen reader users on their thoughts of this
standard, but I guess we'll hear back soon enough <grin> - cue the users on
this list.
Cheers!
JF
From: Kornbrot, Diana
Date: Thu, Aug 16 2012 1:59AM
Subject: Re: Microsoft Outlook and A11y
← Previous message | No next message
Maybe since specialist email programs like outlook are so horrible it is better to view email through a browser?
I view my exchange account via browser whne on the road using netmail & it seems to work ok, but am not using a screen reader or enlarger.
It may be that netmail, googlemail, hotmail etc are more html5 compliant than outlook
What do others think?
Best
Diana
On 16/08/2012 00:14, "Lucy Greco" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
Thinking about outlook over all is tuff.
Outlook does show html messages visually but if I get a constant contact
message in outlook it can be hell to read it. I have to open the message in
a browser 80% of the time. So formatting for outlook is going to be a thing
you can't really do unless you are sending from outlook to outlook. The best
practice should be keep a message clean and simple and it then works in
everything. If you include a link put that link on a line by itself so it is
easy to navigate to and click with a screen reader. Links in the middle of a
line can be hard to click some times. It can be done but keep the key
boarding down. Us blind screen reader users get rsi to smile .
Lucia Greco
Web Access Analyst
IST-Campus Technology Services
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of David Ashleydale
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 3:50 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] Microsoft Outlook and A11y
Hi,
Are there tips written down anywhere for composing emails in Microsoft
Outlook with accessibility in mind? Is it pretty much the same as using
Microsoft Word?
Thanks,
David
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Emeritus Professor Diana Kornbrot
email: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
web: http://dianakornbrot.wordpress.com/
Work
School of Psychology
University of Hertfordshire
College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, UK
voice: +44 (0) 170 728 4626
fax: +44 (0) 170 728 5073
Home
19 Elmhurst Avenue
London N2 0LT, UK
voice: +44 (0) 208 444 2081
mobile: +44 (0) 740 318 1612
fax: +44 (0) 870 706 1445