Transcript: QuickMail settings, episode 3: General, part 3. Screen reader announcements

Times are positions in QuickMail-settings-03-general-part3-v1.mp3; a demo's time is where its audio starts, after the chime.

Demo lines are the text the screen reader sent to its voice, from its own log. A following key can cut an utterance short, so a line here may be longer than what is heard.

Welcome back (0:00)

Michael: Welcome back to our tour of QuickMail's settings. I'm Michael.

Maya: And I'm Maya. This is episode three, the last part of the General tab, and for a lot of listeners the most important: Screen reader announcements.

Michael: First, what's a custom announcement? Your screen reader already reads controls by itself: the name of a button, whether a box is checked, which message you've moved to. But some things in QuickMail have no control to read. A search finishing, a sync in progress, a message being deleted. For those, QuickMail sends your screen reader a short message of its own. Those are custom announcements, and this group lets you decide which ones you want.

Maya: As always, we're AI voices, and the demos are real recordings of QuickMail and NVDA on an offline test machine, with keys pressed by a script and clicks and chimes added afterwards.

Maya: Here's the whole group as NVDA reads it.

[Demo, 0:58, logged] Screen reader announcement settings grouping Enable all custom screen reader announcements from QuickMail check box checked A Announce instructional hints such as how to use the search box check box checked H Announce background loading and sync progress check box checked S Announce outcomes such as search result counts and copy confirmations check box checked R Announce delete, archive and move actions check box checked D Announce spelling errors when typing check box not checked W Announce spelling errors when the caret moves into a misspelled word during navigation check box checked Ctrl+F7 and Ctrl+Shift+F7 always announce spelling regardless of this setting N Announce spelling suggestions when a misspelling is announced check box checked S Numbers with suggestions radio button checked Each suggestion is preceded by its number, for example: 1: the, 2: then, 3: them N Announce block type such as heading level when the caret moves to a different paragraph in HTML compose mode check box checked F Show field labels in the contact list check box not checked L Show field labels in the calendar event list check box not checked C Show field labels in the rules list check box not checked U Remind me before appointments check box not checked T Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12

Michael: That was a lot of long names. As in part two, several of these are read with a longer sentence than what's on screen. We'll use the on-screen labels as we go, and mention the spoken version where it helps.

The master switch (2:30)

Maya: The first checkbox is Enable custom announcements. NVDA read it as Enable all custom screen reader announcements from QuickMail. It's on by default, and it's the master switch. Turn it off, and QuickMail says nothing of its own. Only what your screen reader reads from the controls is spoken.

Michael: There's a faster way to flip it, without opening Settings. It's in the command palette, control shift P, called Toggle Custom Announcements. Here's a search with announcements on, then we toggle them off and search again, and then we turn them back on.

[Demo, 3:05, logged] Search messages edit Search the messages in this folder. Escape to clear. blank Search box. Type to filter messages. 3 messages found 3 messages Search cleared. 3 messages. Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12 12 messages Command Palette dialog Filter commands edit blank Tab List… Ctrl+Shift+Oem3 1 of 110 Toggle Flag K 1 of 71 toggle Toggle Custom Announcements 1 of 4 Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12 Custom announcements off. Search messages edit Search the messages in this folder. Escape to clear. blank Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12 Command Palette dialog Filter commands edit blank Tab List… Ctrl+Shift+Oem3 1 of 110 Toggle Flag K 1 of 71 toggle Toggle Custom Announcements 1 of 4 Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12 Custom announcements on.

Maya: With announcements on, control shift S went to the search box and QuickMail added a hint: Search box. Type to filter messages. We typed budget, and heard three messages found. Escape cleared the search, and QuickMail said so.

Michael: Then the palette. We typed toggle custom, and the only match was Toggle Custom Announcements. Enter, and QuickMail said Custom announcements off. That one is always spoken, even when announcements are off, so you know it worked.

Maya: The second search was silent apart from the search box itself. No hint, no count. Then the palette again, and Custom announcements on.

Michael: If you're about to do something where you don't want any extra talk, that palette command is handy. Just remember to turn them back on.

Four kinds of announcement (4:31)

Maya: Under the master switch are four checkboxes, one for each kind of announcement. All four are on by default.

Michael: Announce hints and instructions. These are tips at the moment you need them, like the one we just heard, Search box, type to filter messages. Once you know the program, these are the first thing many people turn off.

Maya: Announce loading and sync status. Things happening in the background: syncing, connecting, how many messages loaded, whether you're offline. If you hear more sync news than you want, this is the one.

Michael: Announce action results. The outcome of something you did: how many messages a search found, that something was copied, or that an action may not have finished. Three messages found was one of these.

Maya: And Announce delete, archive and move actions. When you delete or move a message, QuickMail says so. The window points out why you might turn this off: those announcements can talk over the next message being read. If you clear out mail quickly with the Delete key, try turning this off and just listening to where you land.

Spelling (5:37)

Michael: Then four settings about spelling, for when you're writing.

Maya: Announce spelling errors when typing. Off by default. When it's on, QuickMail tells you about a misspelled word as you type it. It adds some talk and some work, which is why it starts off.

Michael: We didn't demonstrate that one. The keys in our demos are typed by a script, and QuickMail didn't treat them as typing for this setting. That may matter for real people too: anyone typing with a braille display, dictation, or an on-screen keyboard might not get these announcements either. It's on the developer's list to check.

Maya: Announce spelling errors while navigating is on by default. When you move into a misspelled word with the arrow keys, you hear about it. Here it is in a new message.

[Demo, 6:23, logged] New Message - Plain Text - QuickMail window To: edit blank Message body edit Alt+ Y blank I recieve the I recieve Misspelling: recieve. 1: receive. the recieve selected Misspelling: recieve. 1: receive. Misspelling: recieve. 1: receive.

Michael: Control N, then alt Y to jump to the message body, and we typed I recieve the mail, with receive spelled wrong. Home went to the start of the line. Control right arrow moved to the next word, and NVDA read recieve, and QuickMail added: Misspelling, recieve. One, receive.

Maya: That one, receive, is the suggestion. Control right arrow went on to the. Then control F7, one of the spelling keys, went back and selected recieve and announced the misspelling again. Control F7 and control shift F7 always announce spelling, even when this navigation setting is off. You heard that announcement twice there, which we've noted for the developer.

Michael: The next checkbox, Announce spelling suggestions, decides whether the suggestions are read. It's on, which is why we heard One, receive. Under it is a pair of radio buttons called Spelling Suggestions Verbosity. Numbers with suggestions is the default, so each suggestion has its number first, like one, receive. The other choice, Just suggestions, reads the words without numbers. The numbers are useful because you can pick a suggestion by number.

Maya: And the last one in this part, Announce formatting while navigating in HTML compose. On by default. In an HTML message, when you move into a different kind of paragraph, like a heading, QuickMail tells you, for example the heading level.

Field labels (8:20)

Michael: Next comes a short note on screen: which fields message list rows speak, and in what order, is set in View, Message List Fields. That's a whole feature of its own, and we covered it in our first tour.

Maya: Then three checkboxes that add field names to what's read in other lists: Show field labels in the contact list, in the calendar event list, and in the rules list. All three are off by default. Here's the contact list before and after.

[Demo, 8:48, logged] All Inboxes - QuickMail window Address Book dialog tab control Contacts tab selected 1 of 2 Search contacts edit blank Filter: All accounts button F Contacts list Ava Chen, ava@contoso.example, Local address book not selected 1 of 8 Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12 Settings dialog tab control General settings tab selected 1 of 6 Message list settings grouping Preview lines: combo box 3 lines collapsed L Read messages as plain text check box not checked P Show pictures included in messages check box checked Load pictures from the web automatically check box not checked View settings grouping Display mode: combo box Messages (flat list) collapsed Remember view settings for each folder check box checked B Notification settings grouping Keep running in the notification area when I close the window check box not checked K Screen reader announcement settings grouping Announce block type such as heading level when the caret moves to a different paragraph in HTML compose mode check box checked F Show field labels in the contact list check box not checked L checked Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12 Address Book dialog tab control Contacts tab selected 1 of 2 Search contacts edit blank Filter: All accounts button F Contacts list Name Ava Chen, email ava@contoso.example, account Local address book not selected 1 of 8 Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12

Michael: Before: Ava Chen, ava at contoso dot example, Local address book. Then we turned on Show field labels in the contact list and saved. After: Name, Ava Chen, email, ava at contoso dot example, account, Local address book.

Maya: Same information, with a word before each part. Useful while you're learning a list, or if you just like to know which part you're hearing. Many people turn it off again once they know the order.

Appointment reminders (10:18)

Michael: The last setting on the General tab: Remind me before appointments. Off by default. When it's on, QuickMail reminds you before events in its calendar. Beside it is a box called Minutes before, ten by default. You can only reach that box while reminders are on, the same way auto-save worked in part two.

A word about access keys (10:40)

Maya: Before we leave the General tab, the problem we promised to come back to. Most settings have an access key, the letter NVDA reads at the end. But the General tab has so many settings that a lot of letters are used twice or more. Listen to what alt S does.

[Demo, 10:57, logged] Settings dialog tab control General settings tab selected 1 of 6 Message list settings grouping Preview lines: combo box 3 lines collapsed L Save settings button carriage return tab control General settings tab selected 1 of 6 Synchronization settings grouping Sync range: combo box 30 days collapsed R Save settings button carriage return tab control Advanced settings tab selected 2 of 6 Update settings grouping Download and install updates automatically check box checked W Advanced settings tab selected A 2 of 6 Messages data grid unread. Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12

Michael: Alt S went to the Save settings button. Alt S again went to the Synchronization group's Sync range. A third time, back to Save. It moves between the two. It never saves, and it never reaches the other two checkboxes that also have S underlined.

Maya: Then alt A switched to the Advanced tab. The Advanced tab, the Mail actions group, the announcements group, and the Enable custom announcements checkbox all share A.

Michael: It's written up for the developer. Until it's fixed, on the General tab, tab and shift tab are more reliable than access keys, and Enter is the dependable way to save.

Coming up (12:11)

Maya: That's the General tab done. Next episode: the Advanced tab. Updates, signing in with Google, POP3 accounts, moving your settings to another computer, and logging.

Michael: QuickMail is free, at github dot com slash kelly l ford slash QuickMail. Thanks for listening. I'm Michael.

Maya: And I'm Maya.