In this episode of Double Tap, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece welcome Robin Christopherson from AbilityNet to demonstrate how accessible and efficient Microsoft Outlook can be with JAWS screen reader. The demo focuses on the classic desktop version of Outlook included with an Office subscription or perpetual license, such as Office 2019, showcasing how it can serve as a powerful alternative to web-based clients like Gmail or the built-in Windows Mail app.
Robin opens the demonstration by navigating his inbox using JAWS, explaining the importance of turning off both the navigation pane and the reading pane. “Without the reading pane, you avoid long pauses when arrowing through emails,” he advises. Robin uses basic keystrokes to quickly check email details: arrowing up and down to preview emails, pressing Enter to open them, and using JAWS commands such as Alt+1 through Alt+5 to hear the sender, date, recipient, and subject line.
Next, Robin highlights how easily links can be accessed within emails. Using Insert+F7, he brings up a list of links from an email, demonstrating how JAWS seamlessly handles clickable elements in HTML messages. He also shows quick reply and forwarding shortcuts, noting, “Control+R to reply, Control+Shift+R to reply to all, and Control+F to forward. Simple and fast.”
Switching to the calendar with Control+2, Robin demonstrates the intuitive navigation of appointments in month view. “Up and down arrows move by weeks, left and right by days,” he explains. Pressing Tab reads events for a selected day, and Enter opens them. He also demonstrates creating appointments (Control+Shift+A) and meetings (Control+Shift+Q), highlighting how Teams meeting details automatically populate due to his organization’s settings.
Robin explains how to switch between mail folders using Control+Y, which opens a folder tree view, allowing users to arrow through folders and inboxes from multiple accounts. “Whether it’s Gmail or iCloud, the experience is identical,” he assures. He switches to his Gmail inbox within Outlook, demonstrating the consistent navigation and keystrokes across accounts.
To address concerns about Outlook’s complicated ribbon interface, Robin shares a game-changing tip: “Forget the ribbon and use Alt+Q,” he advises. Using the Alt+Q search bar, users can quickly execute any Outlook function without navigating through the ribbon. As an example, he types ‘replies’ and selects ‘automatic replies’ from the Actions group, demonstrating how easy it is to enable out-of-office messages.
Robin concludes by encouraging listeners to explore additional JAWS resources. “Check out Freedom Scientific’s JAWS training for in-depth tutorials,” he suggests, noting that even non-JAWS users can benefit from the Outlook keystroke insights. “Outlook is more accessible than people think. If you’ve already got Office, it’s well worth using as your primary email client.”