Transcript: QuickMail settings, episode 7: the Windowing tab

Times are positions in QuickMail-settings-07-windowing-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.

• Download QuickMail settings, episode 7: the Windowing tab (MP3, 5 MB)
• Back to the tour on the audio tours page

Welcome (0:00)

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

Maya: And I'm Maya. Episode seven, the Windowing tab. It answers one question that changes how QuickMail feels more than almost anything else: when you press Enter on a message, where does it open?

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

Maya: Here's the tab. Watch the three choices.

[Demo, 0:34, logged] Windowing settings tab selected 5 of 6 Message open mode settings grouping Reading pane radio button checked Opens messages in the reading pane below the message list. This is the default behaviour. P Tab radio button checked Opens messages in a tab strip above the message list. T Window radio button checked Opens each message in its own window. W Reading pane radio button checked Opens messages in the reading pane below the message list. This is the default behaviour. P Tab behaviour settings grouping Show a confirmation dialog before closing a tab that has unsaved draft changes check box checked C 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: NVDA landed on Reading pane, a radio button, checked, and read its description: opens messages in the reading pane below the message list, this is the default behaviour. Down arrow moved to Tab, and then Window, each with its own description, and the choice moved with the arrow. One more down arrow wrapped back to Reading pane. Then tab went to the last setting, about closing tabs.

Reading pane, the default (1:43)

Maya: Reading pane is what most of our tours have used. Enter opens the message in a pane below the message list, in the same window. Escape takes you back to the list. It's quick, and you never have more than one message to keep track of.

Tab mode (1:58)

Michael: In Tab mode, Enter opens the message as a tab, in a strip of tabs above the message list, a bit like a web browser. You can have several messages open at once. Control tab cycles through them, and control W closes one.

Maya: Let's switch to Tab mode, open a message, and close it.

[Demo, 2:18, logged] All Inboxes - QuickMail window Settings dialog tab control Windowing settings tab selected 5 of 6 Message open mode settings grouping Tab radio button checked Opens messages in a tab strip above the message list. 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 Opened tab: Project Falcon kickoff. 1 tab open. Project Falcon kickoff - QuickMail window Message loaded. Message body. Project Falcon kickoff Press Escape to return to message list. Project Falcon kickoff document Welcome to the Project Falcon team. Our first meeting is Thursday at ten. Please reply to all with the times that work for you. Project Falcon kickoff Welcome to the Project Falcon team. Our first meeting is Thursday at ten. blank Email accounts list

Michael: We picked Tab with a down arrow and saved with Enter. Then Enter on Dana's message, and QuickMail said Opened tab, Project Falcon kickoff, one tab open. Then Message body, and a hint: Press Escape to return to message list. And NVDA read the message.

Maya: Then control W. The tab closed, but listen to what came next: NVDA said only blank. Focus had landed somewhere empty, a blank web page left behind where the message was. Down arrow did nothing. When we tried this ourselves, control 3, which normally jumps to the message list, did nothing either.

Michael: F6 got us out, to the Email accounts list. That's a real bug, and it's on the developer's list. Until it's fixed, if you use Tab mode and closing a tab leaves you in silence, press F6.

Window mode (3:32)

Maya: And Window mode. Enter opens every message in a window of its own. You can arrange them, compare two messages side by side, or keep one open while you work in the main window.

[Demo, 3:44, logged] Window radio button checked Opens each message in its own window. W 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 Project Falcon kickoff window Project Falcon kickoff - Web content region Welcome to the Project Falcon team. Our first meeting is Thursday at ten. Please reply to all with the times that work for you. Dana Project Falcon kickoff Welcome to the Project Falcon team. Our first meeting is Thursday at ten. Please reply to all with the times that work for you. grouping Welcome to the Project Falcon team. Our first meeting is Thursday at ten. Welcome to the Project Falcon team. Our first meeting is Thursday at ten. Please reply to all with the times that work for you. Dana All Inboxes - QuickMail window Messages data grid Dana Okafor. Project Falcon kickoff. Welcome to the Project Falcon team.. 1:36P. Work -- Inbox. data item selected 1 of 12

Michael: This time Enter opened a window called Project Falcon kickoff, and NVDA read the message straight away. Escape closed the window, and we were back in the message list on the same message. It no longer said unread, because we'd read it.

Maya: One more key that works in every mode: control Enter always opens the message in a new window, whatever this setting says. So if you like the reading pane but occasionally want a message in its own window, that's your key.

Closing a tab with unsaved changes (4:45)

Michael: The last setting on this tab, under Tab behaviour. On screen it's Confirm before closing a tab with unsaved changes. NVDA read the longer version: Show a confirmation dialog before closing a tab that has unsaved draft changes.

Maya: It's on by default. If a tab holds a draft you haven't saved, QuickMail asks before closing it, so a quick control W can't throw away your writing. Leave it on unless you find the question gets in your way.

Coming up (5:16)

Michael: That's Windowing. Next time, the last episode in the series: Appearance. Themes, fonts, text size, how tightly the message list is packed, and a few settings that help if you have some vision.

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

Michael: And I'm Michael.