The Disability Skinny on SOU's Gmail Switchover

In December, SOU switched student email accounts from NetMail to Gmail. Hopefully, this is not news to you, dear student, what with the news broadcasts and on big honkin' banners on campus.

The switch affects more than just which email service you use, however. SOU students now have a huge number of tools and resources in the Google Apps for EDU umbrella, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Talk. Personally, I'm thrilled about this development. GoogleApps gives us opportunities to work, organize, study, and communicate in ways we couldn't even begin to do with our older systems. I'm eagerly awaiting the faculty/staff switchover during spring break.

Every change brings both new opportunities and new challenges for people - with and without disabilities. Over a series of blog posts, we'll be taking a look at the opportunities and challenges that GoogleApps present for students with disabilities. Today, we start with Gmail, Google's flagship app.

Making the Switch

There are oodles of great guides to using Gmail out there, so I'm not going to duplicate them. Instead, I'll point you to:

• the GAapps SOU page for some handy how-to-switch and how-to-use resources
• some helpful guidance on using Gmail as a universal inbox
• the Lifehacker guide to controlling your email
• Google's Top 10 Reasons to Use Gmail

For some of you, being able to use the keyboard to access Gmail's functions is critical; for others, it's just darn handy. There is a list of keyboard shortcuts from Gmail help, but I really like the way that HTS Tech Tips' keyboard shortcut list is organized.

The Bottom Line: Gmail Accessibility

Let's face it, nothing has perfect accessibility for all users, and Gmail is no exception. Fortunately, Google employs accessibility rockstar T.V. Ramen, so there is actually some thought put into it! If you're interested (and a little geeky), check out Google's statement about Gmail accessibility. I'm going to hit the highlights here of accessibility barriers and any recommended workarounds.

• AJAX scripting and screenreaders: Some of Gmail's advanced features require scripts that throw screenreaders in a bit of a tizzy. Workarounds: use the plain HTML view, learn to use the standard view with a screenreader, or use a familiar email program to retrieve your email (MS Outlook, for example)
• Color contrast and glare issues: For some students, the white page background creates reading difficulties, and for others, color contrasts need to be set in certain ways to allow students to read the material. Workarounds: Gmail has great customizability. Use Themes to control how Gmail appears and make it easy to read.
  

Unique Ways GMail Benefits Students with Disabilities

• The aforementioned keyboard shortcuts
  
• Simplify your inbox and reduce email clutter - use filters
• Highlight those messages you really need to see! - use labels. You might, for example, create a bright red label with a star for anything from Financial Aid or Disability Resources. Just a thought, y'know.
• Conversation view also reduces email clutter and makes following what's happened so far much, much easier. This is the default view, so you don't need to do anything to make it happen. Follow the link to find out how to turn it off and see individual emails all by their lonesomes again.
• Auto-saving as you write emails means that what you've written will never disappear with a power surge or outage!
  

Gmail Settings & Labs for Accessibility

Settings, like in every other program, allow you to customize how Gmail works. Gmail Labs are experimental features that you can add on without waiting for program updates. I'll highlight some here that have particular interest for students with disabilities.

Settings

• Number of conversations per page: Set this at a low number (25) if you get overwhelmed by the amount of info on a page or scrolling is difficult. Set it at a higher number (50 or 100) if mobility or dexterity impairments make loading another page cumbersome.
• Keyboard shortcuts - sayin' it again! This is where you actually set to allow them.
• Undo send: Do you tend to send without really thinking it through, or without actually attaching the attachment? Enable this to allow you to pull a sent message back if you do it quickly

Labs

• Google Calendar gadget: I'll be discussing the neato-keen benefits of Google Calendar in the next post. Adding this lab puts a small calendar right into your email page, so you always know what's coming up.
• Auto-advance: brings up the next email after you archive, delete, or mute one. Saves a couple of clicks
• Custom keyboard shortcuts: (gahhh, am I bringing up keyboard shortcuts again??) If you find that Google's pre-assigned shortcuts interfere with other assistive tech you've got installed, change the shortcuts to ones that don't cause problems

Stay tuned for the next post, which will give you all you need to know about Google Calendar. In the meantime, if you have questions you'd like answered or features I've missed, please hit up the comments.