Some e-mail messages that are created by using HTML are difficult for some screen readers to read, especially if tables are used. The reason this occurs is partly because Outlook uses Microsoft Office Word 2007 to translate hypertext markup language (HTML), instead of using your browser, and partly because of the screen reader's ability to understand the elements that are on the page. Because Word only supports a part of what HTML offers, the content that is displayed might not look the way that it was designed. For example, you might subscribe to a newsletter that is delivered to your Inbox. When you open the e-mail message, screen readers, such as JAWS, reads "Table, table." When you try to read the information in the table, JAWS continues to report that there is a table, but does not read the contents of the table. If you are a sighted user, the information in the e-mail message might not look as aesthetically pleasing as the sender had intended. If you are a visually impaired person, the content in the table is completely invisible and unreadable.

The good news is that there is a workaround if you encounter an HTML e-mail message that your screen reader cannot understand. The following procedure only works for HTML e-mail messages, such as newsletters.

1. Open the e-mail message in Outlook 2007.
2. To view the e-mail message in a browser, press ALT, H, X, V.
3. If a dialog box appears, and to make sure that it does not display every time that you view an e-mail message in a browser, press TAB until the Please do not show me this dialog again check box is active, press SPACEBAR to select it, and then press ENTER.
4. To return to your e-mail message, close the browser by pressing ALT+F4.

 Note   If you are using Windows Internet Explorer 7 and have multiple windows open, press CTRL+W to close the active window. Press ALT+TAB to return to your open e-mail message.

Because you cannot view the information in the e-mail message in a browser by default, you must repeat these steps to read any HTML e-mail message that your screen reader cannot read. Personally, I have a hard time remembering the keyboard shortcuts used by the new Microsoft Office programs. As a result, I speak to my computer by using accessibility tools, instead of using the keyboard. When I open an HTML e-mail message that JAWS cannot interpret, I simply say, "View in browser," and voila, the e-mail message displays in a browser.