Transcript: QuickMail sounds, with JAWS
Times are positions in QuickMail-sounds-tour-JAWS-v3.mp3; a demo's time is where its audio starts, after the chime.
Demo lines were checked against JAWS's own Speech History and the audio. Sounds are in square brackets.
Welcome (0:00)
Maya: Hi, I'm Maya.
Michael: And I'm Michael. QuickMail has added sound support, and we want to give you a tour. Everything here is in QuickMail version zero point eight point six seven or newer.
Maya: A quick word on how we made this. We're AI voices. The demos are the real QuickMail on a test PC, with JAWS reading at punctuation Some. A script pressed the keys, a small test mail server delivered the mail, and we trimmed the long pauses.
The sounds in Glass (0:29)
Maya: Before we show you the sounds in action, let's just listen to them. I'll say each event, and then you'll hear its sound from Glass, one of the three sound themes QuickMail ships with.
[Demo, 0:40] (The sound files, not the program.) Maya: Message sent. [Sent sound, Glass] Maya: Message queued. [Queued sound, Glass] Maya: Send failed. [Failed sound, Glass] Maya: New mail. [Arrived sound, Glass] Maya: Watched conversation mail. [Attention sound, Glass] Maya: Delete, move, archive or empty trash failed. [Error sound, Glass] Maya: Connection lost. [Disconnected sound, Glass] Maya: Connection restored. [Connected sound, Glass] Maya: Calendar reminder. [Reminder sound, Glass] Maya: Message deleted. [Removed sound, Glass] Maya: Message archived. [Filed sound, Glass] Maya: Message moved. [Moved sound, Glass] Maya: Trash emptied. [Emptied sound, Glass] Maya: A rule matched. [Matched sound, Glass]
Michael: Maya, you said QuickMail ships with three sound themes, and that one was Glass.
Maya: That's right. The other two are Soft bell and Wood. So you get three themes, Glass, Soft bell and Wood, each with a sound for every event: message sent, queued and failed to send, new mail, mail in a conversation you're watching, a delete, move, archive or empty trash that failed, connection lost and restored, a calendar reminder, a message deleted, archived and moved, trash emptied, and a rule that matched.
Maya: We stepped through Glass in detail. Now the other two, all the events one after another, in that same order. Here's Soft bell.
[Demo, 1:55] (The sound files, in the same order.) [Sent sound, Soft bell] [Queued sound, Soft bell] [Failed sound, Soft bell] [Arrived sound, Soft bell] [Attention sound, Soft bell] [Error sound, Soft bell] [Disconnected sound, Soft bell] [Connected sound, Soft bell] [Reminder sound, Soft bell] [Removed sound, Soft bell] [Filed sound, Soft bell] [Moved sound, Soft bell] [Emptied sound, Soft bell] [Matched sound, Soft bell]
Maya: And here's Wood, which is also a little quieter.
[Demo, 2:15] (The sound files, in the same order.) [Sent sound, Wood] [Queued sound, Wood] [Failed sound, Wood] [Arrived sound, Wood] [Attention sound, Wood] [Error sound, Wood] [Disconnected sound, Wood] [Connected sound, Wood] [Reminder sound, Wood] [Removed sound, Wood] [Filed sound, Wood] [Moved sound, Wood] [Emptied sound, Wood] [Matched sound, Wood]
Turning them on (2:33)
Michael: So, how does someone get this working in QuickMail?
Maya: Sounds start off. Control comma opens Settings, and the Sounds tab is the one with no access key, so control tab across to it. Then check Play sounds for mail events.
[Demo, 2:48] JAWS: Control comma. Settings dialog. General settings tab selected. Message list settings. Advanced settings tab selected. Keyboard shortcuts tab selected. Startup settings tab selected. Windowing settings tab selected. Sounds tab selected. Play sounds for mail events check box not checked. Space. Checked. Mute all sounds check box not checked. Volume combo box, 80%. Style combo box, Glass.
Maya: Next to that box are Mute all sounds, Volume, which starts at eighty percent, and Style, which is where Glass, Soft bell and Wood live. Now the event list. Arrow to an event, and alt R previews it, without leaving the list. And if you'd like a different sound for an event, tab to Sound for this event and pick one.
[Demo, 3:38] JAWS: Sound events list box. Message sent, Sent, 1 of 13. Alt R. [Sent sound] Message queued, Queued, 2 of 13. Alt R. [Queued sound] Send failed, Failed, 3 of 13. New mail, Arrived, 4 of 13. Alt R. [Arrived sound] Sound for this event combo box, Arrived. Attention. Alt R. [Attention sound] Sound events list box. New mail, Attention, 4 of 13. Alt S. Not selected, All Inboxes, QuickMail, not selected, messages table, unread, Sam Patel, Budget review for next quarter.
Michael: So to recap: control comma, the Sounds tab, check the box. Arrow through the events, alt R to hear one, tab to choose a different sound, or None to silence it, and alt S to save.
Sounds in action (4:29)
Maya: Now the fun part, real mail. With Glass on, we delete a message, archive one with control shift M, move one from the command palette, wait for new mail, send a message, and empty the trash.
[Demo, 4:42] Delete pressed. [Removed sound] JAWS: unread, Ava Chen, Lunch on Thursday. Control Shift M. [Filed sound] Unread, Dana Okafor, Project Falcon planning. Control Shift P. Command palette dialog, filter. JAWS says the matches as move to folder is typed, then Move to Folder. Enter. Move to Folder dialog, Folders tree view, Inbox, Drafts, Sent. Enter. [Moved sound] Not selected, All Inboxes, QuickMail, not selected, messages table, unread, Dana Okafor, row 1 of 3. A message arrives. [Arrived sound] Unread, Priya Shah, row 2 of 3. 3 messages. Control N. New Message, Plain Text, QuickMail. To edit. sam at contoso dot example. Cc edit. Bcc edit. Subject edit. Lunch on Thursday. Alt Y. Lunch on Thursday, Plain Text, QuickMail. Message body edit. Noon works for me. Control Enter. Sending. [Sent sound] Message sent. Unread, Priya Shah. Control Shift E. Empty Trash dialog. This will permanently delete all messages in your trash. Enter. [Emptied sound] Not selected, All Inboxes, QuickMail, not selected, messages table, unread, Priya Shah, Re: Budget review.
Michael: Deleted, archived, moved, new mail, sent, and emptied. Six actions, six sounds.
Saved the best for last (6:38)
Maya: And wait, I saved the best for last. Earlier I mentioned you can use your own sound files. They don't have to be tones, beeps and boops. They can be anything you want, including voice recordings. Check this out.
Maya: We made a few short MP3s with our own voices, and set four rules to play them. Build mail gets filed, company news gets filed, invoices get filed, and mail from Sam stays put. Sounds for events are off for this one. A rule's own sound plays anyway. Nobody touches a key while the mail arrives.
[Demo, 7:11] JAWS: Unread, Priya Shah, Re: Budget review, row 2 of 4. Then, with no keys pressed: [Maya: Mail moved.] JAWS: 4 messages. [Michael: Mail moved.] [Michael: Invoice filed.] [Maya: Sam wrote.] JAWS: 5 messages. Control Shift P. Command palette dialog, filter. Go to Folder, 1 of 7. (gtf typed.) Enter. Go to Folder dialog. (builds typed.) Enter. Not selected, All Inboxes, QuickMail, not selected, messages table, unread, Priya Shah, Re: Budget review.
Michael: Ha, that was us. Mail moved, mail moved, invoice filed, Sam wrote. Three messages filed away, and one left in the inbox, each with its own voice.
Maya: To make your own, give a rule Play a sound, choose Choose Sound File, and pick any WAV or MP3 up to five megabytes and thirty seconds. Your voice, your dog, a movie quote. It's your inbox.
Tell us what you think (8:17)
Michael: These sounds are a first version, and the QuickMail team wants to hear from you. Which sounds work, which don't, and which events are missing? Use Report a Bug on the Help menu, email support at the idea place dot net, or join the sounds feedback issue, number nine twenty, on QuickMail's GitHub.
Maya: QuickMail is free. Download links are under the QuickMail heading at the idea place dot net, slash projects. Thanks for listening. I'm Maya.
Michael: And I'm Michael. Mail moved.