Wow, that is crazy.  Well, that confirms my decision to just start using
Thunderbird.  Thank you for the feedback. 

Julie

-----Original Message-----
From: Ana G [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, November 04, 2013 10:06 PM
To: Julie Adkins; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] Outlook.com [was] JAWS 15 and Mail app

One of the campuses where I teach requires faculty to use the Outlook.com
website. there's the regular version and a more accessible version. I
haven't tried the regular version in about a year. At the time, it was
usable, but there were lots of things I couldn't do or needed to do with the
Jaws cursor.

The more accessible version is completely accessible, but it's a pita to
work with because it's not very efficient. for example, when you're in the
inbox, each subject line is a header, so you can easily jump from message to
message, but you have to arrow up or down from that heading to read the
sender or the date. You also have to arrow up to check boxes for deleting or
moving messages, refresh Jaws manually to make sure it's checked, and arrow
down again to make sure you checked the correct box. 
Then you need to use the find command to actually hit the Delete or Move
link, or you can hit ctrl+home or ctrl+end and then arrow down or up to find
the link. And of course, there's no indication either with Jaws or NVDA that
the message is read or unread or that it has an attachment. 
finally, when you open a message and return to the inbox (after closing,
deleting, or replying), focus rarely returns to the message you were on, so
you have to skip through the headings to find it again.

I use this to collect student homework and send out my feedback/grades. 
It takes about three times as long to download and upload work with
Outlook.com than it does with Thunderbird, which I'm allowed to use at the
other institution where I teach. I find it incredibly frustrating and
inefficient. I've got a backlog of homework assignments to return. 
I'll be sending it out this week. I'll probably spend two days (about twelve
hours) doing it. That's time I could be reading essay drafts, planning
lessons, or just relaxing over a cup of hot cocoa.


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