Thunderbird+ add-on for NVDA : more efficiency and comfort when using Thunderbird 102
Version : 4.5 - 02-16-23
Authors : Pierre-Louis R., Daniel Poiraud
Read the changelog (may contain information not included in this documentation)
URL : RPTools.org
GitHub repos: ThunderbirdPlus repos ;
Download
Compatibility :
- Minimum supported NVDA version : 2020.4
- Last tested NVDA version : 2023.1
Table of contents
- Original author of the thunderBird addon : Yannick
- Adaptation to Thunderbird 68 , 78, 91, 102 and to NVDA 2019.3 and above : Daniel Poiraud, Pierre-Louis R and Abdel for the version 3.1.;
- contact : Pierre-Louis , in french or english;
- Original French documentation : by Pierre-Louis R. ;
- Translations in the chronological order :
Warning
The messages in the Thunderbird+ addon and This documentation have been translated from French to English with Google Translate. If English is your native language and you understand French well, you can submit an improved version of the translations to me;
Do not start your work from this webpage, please write an email to Pierre-Louis , in french or english;
I will give you the translation source files and instructions.
1. Introduction
This add-on greatly improves the comfort and efficiency of using the Mozilla Thunderbird mail client with NVDA.
- Hearing comfort:
- Alerts "so-and-so has asked to be notified when you read this message." can be disabled via an option;
- "This is a draft" and "Thunderbird thinks this message is fraudulent" alerts are simply ignored;
- Options make it possible to deactivate the announcement of the names of mailing lists, to delete or group the mentions "RE" and to purify the names of the correspondents by deleting the numbers and other awkward special characters;
- Improved navigation. :
- Moving to the next panel is done using the TAB key while the escape key allows you to return to the previous panel. This is more comfortable than F6 and Shift+F6.
- Two dialog accounts and their associated folders allows to filter them by keyword or to display only folders with unread messages;
- In the folder tree, alt+down arrow and Alt+up arrow allow you to navigate between folders with unread messages;
- Still in the folder tree, typing a letter or a number selects the next folder whose name begins with the character typed. With the Shift key, the movement is from bottom to top. Additionally, the name of the account the folder belongs to is announced;
- The Space key on a folder with unread messages selects the first unread message in the list;
- In the message list, three modes for Reading the text of messages without leaving the list:
- Clean quick preview of message text with space, Alt+down arrow or F4: large block headers in message quotes are replaced with the phrase "Sender's name wrote". NVDA will also announce "clickable link" instead of the long link address.
- quick preview of quotes in their chronological order, from bottom to top, via Shift+Space, Alt+up arrow or Shift+F4;
- Easy access to attachments using the shortcut Alt+PageDown or the number 1 on the alpha-numeric keyboard;
- Window for writing a message:
- Alt+1 announces the Sender, Alt+2 the recipient, Alt+3 attachments, etc. Two presses places the focus on one of these fields;
- In the spell check dialog:
- the misspelled word is announced before the suggested word. NVDA+Tab or Alt+up arrow shortcuts announce misspelled and replacement words: 1 press spells the words at normal speed, 2 presses spells them fast, 3 presses copies the misspelled word to the clipboard for analysis in another edit field;
- various combinations of the enter key operate the Replace, Replace All, Ignore buttons,Ignore all or Add word to dictionary have been added to make this dialog more comfortable;
- Improved spell check while typing: two shortcuts to go to next and previous misspelled word. This does not yet work on NVDA versions 2022.1 and above;
- Quick filter bar made accessible and tag management simplified. :
- It is possible to navigate among Filter options using the vertical arrows. The Enter key allows you to check or uncheck an option;
- adding or removing labels is done by simply pressing Shift+a number on the alphanumeric keyboard. For example, press 4 to add the label "To do" to a message. You can then filter the list of messages by tags via the quick filter bar which is now accessible;
- Miscellaneous Features:
- The choice of columns as well as their layout in the list of messages is made accessible through a simple dialog;
- Consultation of the columns of the list of messages: allows you to listen again, spell or easily copy the name of the sender, the subject or the date of a message by pressing a number on the alphanumeric keyboard: for example, 1 or & announces the sender, 2 presses spells the name and 3 presses copies it to the clipboard;
- Consultation of the headers of the headers pane displayed with F8: with Alt+a number, 1 press speaks a header containing the addresses of the sender or the recipients, 2 presses opens a dialog allowing them to be copied, 3 presses opens the context menu native Thunderbird associated with the header;
- Automatic add-on update;
- And many other things that you will discover by reading the rest of this documentation;
2. Download and install
If the "Mozilla Apps Enhancements by Javie Dominguez" add-on is installed on your computer, you must first disable it before installing Thunderbird+:
Download Thunderbird+ v4.5 for Thunderbird 102 only;
3. Support and mailing list
To ask a question or submit an issue, go to the main Thunderbird window then press the grave key then Enter on "Write to support". This will tell us exactly which versions of Thunderbird and Thunderbird+ you are using.
Please write to us in French or English;
4. Thunderbird startup improvement
Natively, after the last closure of Thunderbird, it starts on the last active tab and without activating anything, which is rather unpleasant.
To get a comfortable start, there are two add-ons that install directly on Thunderbird:
Chichi developed by Yannick: this module is recommended because it offers many other accessibility features and Thunderbird+ is designed to interact with it;
Start with inbox: if you don't use Chichi, this module does a good job;
4.1. With Chichi
To use Chichi,read the Download and Installation section and the Set Startup Folder section of [Chichi's page àodvthunderbird-chichi-en.html];
4.2. With Start with inbox
As of October 2022, the latest version of this add-on for Thunderbird 102 is 2.5.2.
Features :
- Installation: via a search on its name in the Add-ons" tab of Thunderbird;
- Startup folder: always the same, the incoming mail folder of the account chosen in the module settings or the unified folder;
- Auto-focus: on the last message in the message list or on the "Incoming mail" folder in the tree structure, depending on the setting in the module options. This second option is selected by default;
- Adjustments: less easy access. You have to go to the Add-ons tab, select "Start with inbox" in the list of installed add-ons then press enter on the "Modules options" button, which opens a new "Settings Start with inbox" tab,
A drop-down list allows you to choose the email account for which the incoming mail folder will be selected when Thunderbird starts,
Three radio buttons will allow you to choose the focus between the last message or the first unread message in the message list or the folder in the tree;
Installation
- in Thundderbird, open the "Tools" menu then validate on: Add-ons and themes;
- In the Module Manager page, place yourself in the search field. In navigation mode, you can press the letter e to reach it quickly;
- write: Start with Inbox then press Enter;
- If you have Thunderbird+4, wait a moment for it to select the module you are looking for in the results tab;
- Otherwise, manually select the "Start with inbox::Search::Modules for Thunderbird" tab for example. then press the 3 or quotation mark key until you reach the level 3 title titled by the name of the module you have searched for;
- With the down arrow, scroll down to the "Add to Thunderbird" link then press Enter on it;
- Follow the procedure then restart Thunderbird;
- If everything went well, Thunderbird will open on the main tab and give focus to the message list;
Set options for Start with Inbox"
- Go back to the "Additional modules manager" tab;
- If necessary, leave the search field to place yourself in navigation mode;
- Press the 3 key as many times as necessary to reach the level 3 title entitled "Start with Inbox in the list of installed modules;
- Then validate on the button: Module options. This opens a new tab titled: Start with Inbox, Settings;
- Here is what is displayed by default:
In English :Start with Inbox - Settings
Please select the account, for which its inbox shall be displayed after start of Thunderbird.
drop-down list: <your first email account>
Select and put the focus on:
unchecked clickable radio button: the latest* message.
radio button unchecked clickable the inbox folder in the folder tree.
empty
radio button checked: the first unread message.
* Definition of "latest": The last message that was put into the inbox (independent from the date
of the message).
If the inbox contains no messages, the inbox folder in the folder tree will be selected and
focused.
If the Incoming Mail folder contains no messages, this folder will receive focus in the folder tree;
After making your settings, restart Thunderbird.
Integrated Thunderbird launcher with Control+Alt+grave or AltGr+grave
For convenience and speed, you can launch Thunderbird by pressing Control+Alt+grave or AltGr+grave.
This hotkey is configurable via NVDA's Command Gesture Manager which offers greater freedom of choice of modifier keys than Windows hotkeys, which are limited to Control+Alt or AltGr;
Follow these steps to add another control gesture:
- First place the Thunderbird window in the foreground;
- Open the NVDA menu and select "Preferences";
- In the sub-menu, validate on: Control gestures";
- In the dialogue, press the letter t until you hear: "Thunderbird, Launcher";
- Press the right arrow to expand this branch;
- Scroll down to the item: "Launch Thunderbird" then press the right arrow to expand this level;
- Tab to the "Add" button, validate then press a control gesture in the new dialog;
- Press Enter to validate your choice;
- Back in the list of commands, check the presence of your new command gesture;
- Close the dialog via the OK button.
Remarks:
- The Thunderbird launcher is only intended for the installed version of Thunderbird whose Thunderbird.exe paths are predictable.
- In a 64-bit Windows configuration, the add-on will not launch the 32-bit version of Thunderbird if both versions, 64 and 32-bit, are installed on your system;
5. Navigating Between Main Window Panels
- TAB: go to the next panel. Tree,message list and header panel text and message preview if displayed with F8;
- Escape: go back to the previous panel;
Remark :
When tabbing from the message list to text, the headers area is skipped. To reach this header area, press Alt+a number on the alphanumeric keyboard three times quickly then Escape to exit the header context menu. These Alt+number shortcuts reduce the need to go to the headers area. For more details, see the "Viewing headers" section below.
6. Quick and uncluttered reading of messages
- Commands for quickly reading a message are available in three contexts: from the list of messages, from an open message in a tab or in a separate window;
- They are now all compatible with messages from Framalistes;
- Most of the speed reading hotkeys have been concentrated to minimize the movement of the hands during a reading session of many messages;
- A single press on the main key of a shortcut launches the uncluttered reading of the message, ie with the headers of the quotes greatly shortened.
- A double press launches the reading of the message in its original form. The term "unfiltered reading" is synonymous;
6.1. Quickly read messages' from the list without leaving it
You must first display the message reading pane with the F8 key. By pressing this key, you will hear whether this pane is present or absent;
Then go to the list of messages and use the following keys:
- Space, Alt+Down arrow or F4: read the body of the message without leaving the list. After reading a message, press down arrow then Space or Alt+down arrow or F4 to listen to the next message;
- In double press, displays the list of message links if Chichi is active. If an RSS feed article is selected, it will be opened in the web browser;
- Shift+space, Alt+Up arrow or Shift+f4: same but reading quotes in their chronological order (from bottom to top);
- letter n or Alt+Right arrow: select the next unread message, even across folders;
- Alt+PageDown or Alt+p from the list of messages: allows you to directly reach the attachments area, without having to tab in the text;
6.2. Quickly read a message in a separate tab or window
When opening a message in a new window, the body of the message is read automatically by default. However, the following shortcuts allow you to listen to the message again at any time.
- F4 or Alt+down arrow: fast reading of the body of the message;
- Shift+F4 or Alt+up arrow: same but in reverse;
As a reminder, a double press on these shortcuts launches the reading of the original message.
Autoplay may block NVDA on some PCs, especially if the account is set to IMAP. In an attempt to solve this problem, the shortcut Alt+d opens an input box that allows you to lengthen the delay between the opening of the window and the start of autoplay;
If setting this delay does not solve the problem, you can disable this autoplay via the shift+grave / Options menu for the main window / separate playback window: do not automatically play the same message if it causes NVDA hangs;
Note:
To make the most of uncluttered reading and at the same time protect you from remote content that does not respect your privacy, display the body of messages in simple HTML. To do this, open the View menu, go down to Message body and in the sub-menu, validate the simple HTML option.
7. Quick navigation between folders containing unread messages
When you are in the folder tree, you can press:
- Alt+down arrow: to go to the next folder with unread messages;
- Alt+up arrow: to go to the folder with previous unread messages;
- Space: If the selected folder contains unread messages, selects the first unread message in the list. If it does not, the list of unread folders is displayed if Chichi is active. By pressing enter on an unread folder in this list, this folder will be activated in the tree.
This allows you to quickly see which folders have received messages before deciding which one you want to start reading from;
In this vein, see also these two dialogs:
Account and Folder Filtered Lists Dialog (F12);
List of main tree folders, according to 4 types (F7, NVDA+F7 or Shift+F12)
+SmartReply: reply to all mailing lists by pressing Control+r+
If you are one of those who forget to press Control+Shift+l to reply to a list message like GoogleGroups, this function will save you from this error, you can always press Control+r as follows:
- with a Single press: to reply to the list;
- double press: to reply privately to the sender of the message;
- with a Single press to reply to the sender of a message not coming from a list;
Remarks :
The distinction between single or double press on these shortcuts works on GoogleGroups, Framalistes and FreeLists.
With a single press, on one of these three lists, you will hear "to the list" before the editing window opens.
it will also be advisable not to use the "Reply to all" command to reply to a list so that the sender does not receive your reply in private;
And finally, if you want to find the usual behavior of Control+r,open NVDA's control gestures dialog;
Select the Thunderbird+4 category;
Select the line "Smart reply to reply to a reduced recipient or mailing list 8 of 8 level 1" and expand it with the right arrow;
remove shortcut Control+r;
You can of course add another shortcut;
8. Alerts made accessible
Alerts that require your intervention: the buttons are accessible and can be navigated between them with the arrow keys:
- installation of modules for Thunderbird: the "Install" button is selected and you just have to press Enter on it to continue the installation;
- New Thunderbird update: this alert is also accessible;
- Request for an acknowledgment of receipt of the message: this can be ignored via a menu option shift+grave / options for the main window;;
- Blocking the display of remote content in messages: the "Options" button is selected and the following sentence is added to the message: Tip: Open the View menu, go down to Message body and validate simple HTML in the sub-menu . By applying the proposed settings, this alert will no longer be displayed;
Alerts interfering with browsing the message list:
- Alert This is a draft: this useless alert is deleted;
- Thunderbird thinks this message is junk mail : this announcement is replaced by two short tones with a frequency close to the human voice (200 Hertz). To make the message as not junk or junk, press the grave key and select the desired action from the "Alert" submenu;
9. options and commands
To display the add-on's command menu, press the grave key and for the options menu, press shift+grave.
9.1. Change some hotkeys
Keyboard shortcuts whose location depends on the keyboard language, such as grave, can be changed as follows:
- Press NVDA+n, select "Preferences" and validate on "Command gestures" in the sub-menu;
- Press the letter t until you reach the "Thunderbird" branch of the tree structure;
- Press the right arrow to open this branch and modify the keyboard shortcuts according to your needs;
++Options Menu, shift+grave++Options for Main window:
Group multiple 'RE' mentions into one: for example, Re: Re: Re: will be transformed into 3Re: ;
Delete the 'RE' mentions in the subject column s:
Delete the 2 dots in the mentions 'RE':
Clean up the names of correspondents in the message list: remove numbers and some special characters in order to make listening to names of correspondents less tiring;
Add punctuation between columns:a comma is added between certain columns in order to mark a small pause between them when announcing a line of the message list;
Hide mailing list names: suppresses announcement of list names in brackets or braces for more pleasant listening when using a different folder for each mailing list. Otherwise, the name of a mailing list is spoken only once if it appears more than once in the subject of a message;
Announce 'junk' if displayed in the 'junk mail status' column: if the "junk mail status" column is present in the message table, this option allows or not to announce "junk";
Space on a folder with unread searches for the first unread message from the beginning of the message list: By default, the script relative to this option sends the command "n" to select the next unread message in the message list . Thunderbird does not necessarily select the first unread message in the list. By checking this option, the add-on will select the first unread message in the folder by making a detour which can be heard on some PCs;
Do not use initial navigation in the folder tree: this option is useful if you use the "Quick folder key navigation" add-on;
Indirect initials navigation: displays a folder name input box as soon as you press a letter or number in the folder tree. If this option is disabled, you can display this search box by pressing the letter z;
Ignore acknowledgment requests: if this option is enabled, the acknowledgment request pane will be silenced when a message is selected in the message list;
Do not emulate Shift+F6 with escape: disable use of the escape key when navigating between panels in the main window;
Show only folders with unread in the 'Folders in tree' dialog a: allows to display only folders with unread messages each time you display this dialog via the F12 key;
- separate reading window: do not automatically read the mmessage if it causes NVDA crashes: By default, when opening a message by pressing Enter from the message list, a clean reading of the message starts when the window is opened. new window. On some computers and when the email account is set to IMAP, NVDA may crash. When this option is checked, this automatic reading is deactivated to avoid any blocking.
If you do experience a freeze when opening this window, you can lengthen the delay before autoplay begins. To do this, press Alt+d to enter another value. If you are unable to remove this blockage,then check this option;
Options for Write window:
Spell check: spell misspelled word and suggested word: this option modifies the announcements in the spell check dialog;
Enable improved Spell Check while typing: the command related to this option does not work yet in NVDA version 2022.1;
The Esc key closes the message being written; ticked l
Single press to display the context menu, double press to write grave or shift+grave or their replacements: this option allows to display the contextual menu by pressing the grave key, which will be more practical if you very rarely write the characters grave and shift+grave;
Update options:
This option allows you to disable Thunderbird+ automatic updates or re-enable them;
Disables for Chichi and Thunderbird+:
The main purpose of these options is to allow a good coexistence between Thunderbird+ and Chichi by avoiding duplicate features. But you can use them without fuss to suit your preferences;
The term "folders" below refers to the folder tree;
Folders: Space does not select the next unread message in the list and does not display the list of unread folders d: Chichi does not yet have a standalone equivalent;
Folders: no navigation by initials d: by activating this option, Chichi will be used. It only works top-down and does not speak the name of the account to which the activated folder belongs;
List messages: Space does not read the message from the preview pane l: if you check this option, Chichi will speak the message from the preview pane. Unlike Thunderbird+, this playback will not be sanitized. On the other hand, F4 and Alt+down arrow will continue to appeal to the uncluttered reading of Thunderbird+;
List messages: no SmartReply: disables the functionality which allows to reply to a mailing list with Control+r in single press or to the sender with Control+r in double press,
List messages: do not manage the quick filter bar: suppress access to filter options with the down arrow;
- main window: Tab does not move to the next pane: this option concerns navigation between the folder tree, the list of messages and the headers and message pane;
Main window: restore the default behavior of the escape key. This concerns in particular the navigation between the sections mentioned above;
Allow Thunderbird to close with Control+w or Control+F4: By checking this option, these two shortcuts close Thunderbird when only one tab remains open. This behavior is embarrassing for some people;
Backup and restore options:
Save current configuration s: copy the add-on's .ini file to an .inibak file;
Restore the saved configuration r: copies the .inibak file to the .INI file and reloads the parameters;
Reset configuration r: reloads the add-on's default settings. Beforehand, make a backup if one does not yet exist;
9.2. Commands context menu: grave
Choose and arrange message list columns: Displays the Thunderbird checkbox menu named "Choose columns to display". From a column name, press the right arrow to open the column layout dialog;
Write to support: this command opens a writing window pre-addressed to the support of the add-on. This only works if Thunderbird is correctly set as your default email client;
10. Keyboard shortcuts for tabs and main window
- Control+Tab and Control+Shift+Tab: go to the next or previous tab;
- Control+a number: selects the tab corresponding to its sequence number in the tab bar. If you press a number greater than the number of open tabs, you will be placed in the last one;
- Control + Equals: displays the list of open tabs in a menu. Press enter on a tab name to move to it;
- Alt + Equals: displays the contextual menu of the tab bar. It notably includes the commands: Close the active tab and Close my other tabs;
- Control+w, Control+backspace or Control+F4: close the active tab;
- Control+j: opens the "Saved files" tab which groups the attachments and downloads saved on your hard drive;
11. Filtered Lists of accounts and folders dialog: F12
This dialog displays accounts and their associated folders in two separate lists. You can filter them based on a keyword or restrict the list of folders to those with unread messages.
Configuring the default display mode:
If you plan to display folders with unread messages only most of the time, first go to the folder tree or the message list, then press the shortcut shift+grave and in the options submenu for the main window, validate the element entitled: Show only folders with unread messages.
Basic dialog usage:
- From the main window, press F12 to display the dialog.
- If you have configured the default display of folders with unread messages, these will be displayed in the list named: Account folders;
- Otherwise, all the files of all the accounts will be included in this list;
- You can move in this list by pressing the first letter of the name of a folder;- Note that folders that are not displayed in the tree structure will not be listed here either. This happens for example when folders belong to a collapsed account in the accounts and folders tree;
- If you have found the folder you are interested in at this stage, press Enter on it to select it in the tree structure. You can also press Alt+g to simulate a single left-click on the folder or Alt+d to simulate a single right-click;
Switch display modes:
- To remind you at any time in which display mode you are, press the "Backspace" key. After hearing the information, press this button again to return to the list of folders;
- To switch the display from "only with unread folders" mode to "all folders" mode and vice versa, press F12;
- In the "all folders" mode, the accounts are displayed in the list on the left and the folders of the selected account in the one on the right. To move from one list to another, use the left and right arrows;
- a virtual account named "All accounts" is selected and the focus is placed in the list of folders which contains all the folders of all accounts. For each folder in this list, the name of the account to which it belongs is mentioned;
Using keyword filtering:
- Beforehand, you will most likely benefit from switching to "All folders" mode as explained above;
- Below, you can use the "PageUp" and "PageDown" keys interchangeably;
- From a list, press the "PageUp" key to go back to the field for editing the filter expression;
- Enter an expression and then validate it with the "PageDown" key to perform the filtering;
- The results are displayed in the list of folders. If no folders were found, you hear: No results found. If you weren't expecting it, you may have forgotten to switch to the view mode of all folders;
-Finally, press enter on the desired folder to select it in the folder tree. As mentioned above, you can simulate a left- or right-click on the folder by pressing Alt+g or Alt+d;
11.1. Exclusion of some folders from the list of folders with unread
As mentioned above, you can exclude rarely or never accessed folders from the list of folders with unread messages.
All you have to do is rename a folder to be excluded by adding a dash to the end of its name.
It is necessary to point out here that if this renamed folder was part of a message filter, Thunderbird will automatically modify this filter to take this change into account.
12. List of folders in the main tree structure, according to 4 types: F7,NVDA+F7 or Shift+F12
When you are in the folder tree or the message list, this command displays a dialog with a list of folders which can adopt the following four layouts:
- With unread messages only (flat list), Alt+n;
- All folders (flat list), Alt+t;
- With unread messages only (full tree structure), Alt+o;
- All folders (full tree structure), Alt+u;
For folders with unread messages, Drafts, Trash, and folders with names ending in a hyphen are excluded from the list;
To activate one of these types, you can press the associated hotkey or Shift+Tab then the arrow keys to change mode.
The chosen type will be memorized and activated the next time this dialog is displayed;
You can also filter the list by keyword. Press Tab or empty Alt+e to reach the input area.
Navigation in a flat list or a tree structure is done with the up and down arrows as well as by the initial of a folder name;
To activate the selected folder in the main tree, simply press Enter on it.
Tip: if you pressed Enter on a folder with unread messages, then press Space to select the first unread message in the message table;
Note:
The hotkeys that bring up this dialog can be removed and another can be added through the Gesture Setup dialog. Do the following from NVDA:
- First place the Thunderbird window in the foreground;
- Open the NVDA menu and select "Preferences";
- In the sub-menu, validate on: Control gestures";
- In the dialog, press the letter t until you hear: Thunderbird;
- Press the right arrow to expand this branch;
- Scroll down to the item: "Display the list of folders in the main tree structure of Thunderbird, according to several types. reduced 2 out of 4 level 1" then press the right arrow to expand this level;
- Tab to the "Add" button, validate then press a control gesture in the new dialog;
- Press Enter to validate your choice;
- Back in the list of commands, check the presence of your new command gesture;
- Close the dialog via the OK button.
13. Message List Keyboard Shortcuts
They are only active when the focus is on the message list. In addition to the message quick preview (space) shortcuts, the following shortcuts are available:
In addition to the keyboard shortcuts for quickly reading messages seen above, the following shortcuts are available:
- Alt+PageDown: if the preview panel is displayed (via F8), Opens the list of attachments of the selected message. ;
- Alt+9 or the number 1 or 2:one press announces the number of attachments, two presses opens the list of attachments;
- a: Archive this message, with vocalization. Press Control+z to cancel this operation;
- j: mark this message as spam, with vocalization;
- Shift+j: mark this message as not junk, with vocalization;
- m: marks the selected messages as unread. Shift+m marks them as read;
Consultation of columns and headers:
A distinction should be made here between columns and headers: the word "column" is used below to designate the value of a cell of a line in the message table. The word "header" refers to the message itself. Headers can be viewed both in the message preview pane and in the tab or separate window of an open message;
13.1. Column consultation: a number from the alphanumeric keyboard
These keys affect the columns of the message list only. Press a number on the alphanumeric keypad without pressing the Shift key:
- A simple press: states the name and value of the corresponding column;
- Pressing a number twice: spells the value of the corresponding column;
- Three quick presses: copies the column value to the clipboard. To copy the addresses of the various senders and recipients, use the consultation of the headers seen below;
NB: in reality, the keys to press correspond to the letters and symbols of the French-France keyboard:
1: &
2: star
3: quotation mark
4: apostrophe
5: left parenthesis
6: dash
7: è
8: underlined
9 : ç
0 : to
-right parenthesis
egal;
13.2. Consult headers: Alt+a number from the alphanumeric keyboard
These shortcuts can be used from the main window if the preview panel is displayed (via F8) and from the tab or separate window of an open message. One press speaks the header and two presses displays a contextual menu as the case may be;
- Alt+1: announces the name of the sender and his e-mail address. Pressing twice opens a box for editing these values. You can edit them and then press Enter to copy them to the clipboard. 3 presses: opens the popup menu of the header;
- Alt+2: Subject with the name of the mailing list if applicable;
- Alt+3: date of the message;
- Alt+4 for: main recipients of the message, If several recipients, 3 presses positions the focus on the first recipient, then tab allows you to move on to the next one, applications on each recipient displays the contextual menu;
- Alt+5: recipients in copy;
- Alt+6: hidden copy recipients;
- Alt+7: "reply to" address;
- Alt+8: user agent, if full headers are enabled via the View / headers / full menu;
- Alt+9: 1 press announces the number of attachments, 2 presses opens the list of attachments;
- Alt+0:list of tags placed on the message;
- Alt+ Minus or Alt+end: speaks an abbreviated version of the status bar: number of unread messages, total number of messages as well as the quick filter expression;
- Alt+ Equals: opens the context menu of tabs;
- Control + Equals: Displays the list of open tabs in a menu that allows you to select the chosen tab;
13.3. Adding and removing labels: Shift+a number from the alphanumeric keyboard
This feature allows you to mark a message as important or to do, for example. Then the quick filter bar will show only messages with one or more tags. For example, display only important messages in the message list;
To check the tags already placed on the message, press Alt+0 on the alphanumeric keyboard.
To add or remove a label, press Shift+ a number from 1 to 9;
13.4. Quick filter bar, letter f or Control+Shift+K
- letter F or Control+Shift+K: displays the quick message filter bar in the current folder;
- Filtering by keyword: enter a keyword then press Tab to browse the filtered list with the arrows;
- The down arrow from the keyword entry area gives you access to the list of options below:
- 1: Keep filters when changing folders? vs
- 2: Show only unread messages l
- 3: Show only starred messages
- 4: Only display messages from people in my address book d
- 5: Show only messages with star tags
- 6: Show only messages with attachments j
- etc.
- Press enter to activate or deactivate one or more of these criteria;
- Alt+end or Alt+ Equals: allows you to hear a summary of the active filters as well as the number of messages filtered. Both of these shortcuts also work from the message list, not just from the quick filter bar;
- when a quick filter is active, a WAV audio file is played when the list or tab it belongs to receives focus. The sound resembles a breath;
The filter.wav file is located in the folder:
"%appdata%\NVDA\TB+sounds"
You can place a sound there to your liking as long as your file is called: filter.wav. After this change, restart NVDA;
13.4.1. Filtering By Label
when the focus is on the edit area of the quick filters bar:
- Press the down arrow until you hear "labels" then press Enter to check this option;
- Then press the Tab key to reach the drop-down list of label filtering modes. For example, if you choose "to do", only messages tagged as "to do" will be listed in the message table;
13.5. Column layout:Alt+c
This feature allows you to choose the order of the columns in the message list and to add or remove columns. Unlike the old Arrange Columns function, these operations are based on real dialogs.
To use it, first go to the message list or the folder tree then press Alt+c (the NVDA+u grave accent shortcut still exists);
The column layout dialog appears. It consists of the list of columns as well as the "Help", "columns" and "Close" buttons.
The "columns..." button displays the native Thunderbird "Choose columns to display" menu
When you are in the column list, the following keyboard shortcuts are available:
- Left arrow: displays the checkbox menu named "Choose columns to display". This shortcut corresponds to the "Columns..." button;
- Space: to move the selected column, press Space then place yourself on another column and press Space again to place the column there. This operation is similar to a cut and paste;
You also have these direct movement shortcuts:
- Control + up arrow or down arrow: raises or lowers the selected column by one unit;
- Control + Home or End: moves the selected column up or down the list;
- Control PageUp or PageDown : raises or lowers the selected column by three units;
To perform these moves, the columns are actually moved by dragging and dropping with the mouse. A one-millisecond beep occurs for every 10 pointer moves;
When the "Choose columns to display" menu is present, you have the following new keyboard shortcuts:
- Right arrow: displays the column layout dialog;
- Space: checks or unchecks the column selected in the menu. The Enter key still produces the same behavior;
With the left and right arrows, it is therefore very easy to switch between the menu for choosing the columns and the dialog for their layout ;
14. Write window
When the editing window opens, nothing special is noticeable although the following keyboard shortcuts are available:
- Escape: closes the editing window;
- Consultation of editorial headers: pressing Alt + a number announces the header, two presses gives focus to the corresponding input area:
Alt+1: Sender: one of your e-mail addresses appearing in the list of your e-mail addresses;
Alt+2: for:
Alt+3: the names of the attachments. Two presses gives focus to the list of attachments;
other digits give access to optional headers like: copy to, blind copy to and reply to;
- grave in the text of the message: displays the following contextual menu:- Mail toolbar then in the sub-menu: Send, Spelling, Attach, Security, Save.
- Text formatting then in the sub-menu: (Styles of) Paragraph, Apply or remove a bulleted list, Apply or remove a numbered list, Fonts, Indents, insert a link, an image, an anchor, a line horizontal or a table.
Note: This menu is obtained by one or two presses of the grave key depending on the setting in the options menu for the Write window obtained by pressing once or twice quickly shift+grave;
14.1. Spell check dialog: F7
Added hotkeys that restrict hand movement. When the focus is in the replacement word edit field, you can press the following hotkeys:
- Enter: Activates the "Replace" button;
- Shift+Enter: Activates the "Replace all" button;
- Control+Enter: Activates the "Ignore" button;
- Shift+Control+Enter: Activates the "Ignore all" button;
- Alt+Enter: activates the "Add word to dictionary" button;
To remember these combinations of the Enter key, Control refers to the "Ignore" action and the presence of Shift indicates "all occurrences".
In addition, the shortcut Alt+up arrow spells the words:
- 1 press spells the words at normal speed;
- 2 presses quickly spells words;
- 3 presses copies the misspelled word to the clipboard in order to analyze it in another edit field;
14.2. Improved mode of spell checking while typing
Despite the spellings added to the spell check dialog, it is sometimes necessary to close the dialog to hear the context of the error in the text. This done, this dialog restarts the verification from the beginning and stops again on the words that we had voluntarily ignored previously.
Spellchecking while typing avoids these inconveniences but can distract the writer with "Misspelling" announcements.
In order not to be distracted by spelling mistakes while writing, this checking mode has been improved by adding three keyboard shortcuts:
Before activating them, it is necessary to switch to navigation mode by pressing ;: NVDA+space ;
- w and Shift+w to go to the next and previous error respectively;
- NVDA+F7 to display the list of errors. You just need to press enter on an error to jump to it in the text;
This mode of operation allows you to disable NVDA announcing spelling errors;
Before using this improved mode of verification while typing, it is necessary to carry out a small configuration.
14.2.1. Preliminary configuration
1. In Thunderbird, Enable spell check while typing in preferences:- In the main window, open the Options menu, scroll down to Preferences and confirm;
- In the preferences tab, tab to reach the options search field, enter the word "ortho" then press Tab;
- In the results, tab then check the box entitled: "Enable verification while typing";
- Finally close the Preferences tab with Control+w or Control+Backspace;
2. Disable spelling error reporting in NVDA
This setting is of course optional. If you prefer to hear an announcement about a spelling error, you can also shorten this announcement by replacing in your pronunciation dictionary "Spelling error" by "graf", for example;
To disable this ad:
- Open the NVDA menu, Preferences then validate on: Parameters;
- In the settings dialog, go to the "Document formatting" category;
- Tab until you hear: "Spelling mistakes" then press space to uncheck this option;
- Close the dialog by validating on the OK button;
14.2.2. Using the shortcuts w, Shift+w and NVDA+F7
- Before using these hotkeys, you must first activate browse mode by pressing NVDA+space;
- Then press the letter w to move to the next error or Shift+w to move to the previous error or press NVDA+F7 to select the word to be corrected from a list;
- When the faulty word is selected in the text, You can press the Applications key to display the contextual menu of replacement suggestions;
- You can also easily listen to the sentence containing the faulty word before correcting it;
- To manually correct a word, first press NVDA+space to return to form mode;