I haven’t listened to it yet, since learning about the standard Gmail interface isn’t high on my list, but a recent training podcast from Freedom Scientific dealt with using the Gmail standard interface. I’m not sure what screen reader you’re using, but I’d assume most of the content would be screen reader independent.

 

 

 

Hi Jeanne,

 

Yes there are a dizzying number of shortcuts to use for Gmail standard view actually.  The organization I work for switched to Gmail about a year and a half ago, and while I had been using basic HTML mode at home, I found this was not at all sufficient to meet my needs at work.  The standard view has spellcheck, much easier access to your contacts, better search functionality, and a whole host of other utilities that basic HTML view doesn't offer.  I didn't so much need these at home, but definitely do at work.  I discussed using an overlay like Outlook, and apparently without Microsoft Exchange in the mix, Outlook does not play nicely with enterprise-wide Gmail at all.  I use Outlook for my home Gmail account, and htat works very well.  But it wasn't an option for work unfortunately. So I had to make the switch to standard view Gmail.

 

I'm pasting below a list of shortcut keys that will hopefully be helpful.  The listserv won't let me attach it unfortunately.

 

To answer your two specific questions, when a message is open, you can press shift+3 to delete it.  When in the message list, press x to select the message and then shift+3 to delete any messages selected.  Note that if you're using JAWS, you will have to toggle  between having the virtual PC cursor on or off a lot.  For example, to navigate a list of messages, the virtual cursor will need to be off.  Same for when you're writing a message.  But when reading a message, the virtual cursor will need to be on.  A pain, but I don't know how to get around that.

 

To delete a mistyped email address, tab or shift tab over to the To field, press the left and right arrows until you hear the address you want to delete, and then just press the delete key.

 

Hope that helps.  See below for shortcut keys.  The learning curve for these shortcut keys is fairly steep unfortunately, mostly because they are not intuitive at all.  It took me about a week of using Gmail for hours every day to really master all the important ones.  But they're necessary if you don't want to use an email client like Outlook.  Good luck!

Catherine

 

 

Keyboard shortcuts

 

Gmail

Action	Shortcut
Previous message in an open conversation	p
Next message in an open conversation	n
Focus main window	Shift + Esc
Focus latest chat or compose	Esc
Advance to the next chat or compose	Ctrl + .
Advance to previous chat or compose	Ctrl + ,
Send	⌘/Ctrl + Enter
Add cc recipients	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + c
Add bcc recipients	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + b
Access custom from	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + f
Insert a link	⌘/Ctrl + k
Go to next misspelled word (Mac only)	⌘ + ;
Open spelling suggestions	⌘/Ctrl + m

 

To spellcheck:

1.           After you finish typing your message, press Tab until you hear "More options," then press Enter.
2. Select Check spelling.
3. To find a misspelling, press Ctrl or ⌘ + '.
4. To open the list of suggested spellings, press Ctrl or ⌘ + m.
5. Select the correct spelling.

 

Formatting text

Action	Shortcut
Previous font	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + 5
Next font	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + 6
Decrease text size	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + -
Increase text size	⌘/Ctrl + Shift and +
Bold	⌘/Ctrl + b
Italics	⌘/Ctrl + i
Underline	⌘/Ctrl + u
Numbered list	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + 7
Bulleted list	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + 8
Quote	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + 9
Indent less	⌘/Ctrl + [
Indent more	⌘/Ctrl + ]
Align left	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + l
Align center	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + e
Align right	⌘/Ctrl + Shift + r
Remove formatting	⌘/Ctrl + \

Actions

Note: These shortcuts won't work unless keyboard shortcuts are turned on.

Action	Shortcut
Move focus to toolbar	,
Select conversation	x
Toggle star/rotate among superstars	s
Archive	e
Mute conversation	m
Report as spam	!
Delete	#
Reply	r
Reply in a new window	Shift + r
Reply all	a
Reply all in a new window	Shift + a
Forward	f
Forward in a new window	Shift + f
Update conversation	Shift + n
Archive conversation and go previous/next	] or [
Undo last action	z
Mark as read	Shift + i
Mark as unread	Shift + u
Mark unread from the selected message	_
Mark as important	+ or =
Mark as not important	-
Snooze Note: This shortcut isn't available in classic Gmail.	b
Expand entire conversation	;
Collapse entire conversation	:
Add conversation to Tasks	Shift + t

 

 

Calendar

pp or kk	Previous period
nn or jj	Next period
tt	Today
gg	Go to date

Views 

11 or dd	Day view
22 or ww	Week view
33 or mm	Month view
44 or xx	Custom view
55 or aa	Schedule view
66 or yy	Year view

Actions

cc	Create event
ee	Edit event
BackspaceBackspace or DeleteDelete	Delete event
CtrlCtrl + zz or zz	Undo last action (if possible)
EscapeEsc	Back to calendar view
CtrlCtrl + ss or CtrlCtrl + EnterEnter	Save event

Application

//	Search
Shift⇧ Shift + == or ++	Focus on Search for people to meet text box
Shift⇧ Shift + cc or qq	Open create dialog
CtrlCtrl + pp	Print
ss	Settings
CtrlCtrl + // or ??	Open shortcut help
AltAlt + CtrlCtrl + ..	Jump to side panel
AltAlt + CtrlCtrl + ,,	Jump to side panel
AltAlt + RightRight	Show person or group info

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Jeanne Fike

Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2023 4:29 PM

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: [VICUG-L] some questions about using Gmail in standard view

 

Hi,

I've worked with Gmail in standard view. Are there any good tutorials on it? I don't have it synced to Outlook or any other program and don't want to.

Google is doing away with Gmail in HTML in January 2024.

One of my "dummies" questions is there a shortcut key to delete a message in a conversation? Another one is how to delete an email address in a new email I'm writing if I've made an error?

Thanks in advance for feedback.

   Jeanne

 

 

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