Accessibility at Postail

Last updated: August 5, 2026

Postail is built to be usable by everyone, including people who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, high-contrast modes, or magnification. This page states plainly where it stands and where it falls short, because a statement that only lists successes isn't much use to someone deciding whether the software will work for them.

Standard we aim at

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA. This also covers the substance of Section 508 for software user interfaces.

Conformance status

Partially conformant. Most of the add-in meets Level AA. The known gaps are listed below rather than omitted. Postail has been checked by its developer against the criteria below by code review; it has not yet been verified with a screen reader in every supported Outlook host, and it has not had an independent third-party audit. Both are planned, and anything you report that contradicts this page will be treated as a bug.

What is in place

• Keyboard. Every control is reachable and operable by keyboard, in a logical order, with a visible focus indicator. No keyboard traps.
• Focus management. Opening a panel moves focus to that panel's heading; closing a panel returns focus to whichever control opened it.
• Screen readers. Status messages, progress ("Drafting reply…"), errors, and results are published to a live region that stays in the page, so changes are announced without stealing focus. Form fields have real labels. Decorative status dots are hidden from assistive technology and the text beside them carries the same information, so status is never conveyed by color alone.
• Contrast. Text meets the AA 4.5:1 threshold and controls and boundaries meet 3:1. Non-text indicators are always paired with text, so no information depends on color alone.
• High contrast mode. Windows High Contrast is supported; focus indicators and status dots stay visible.
• Reduced motion. The loading spinner stops animating when your system asks for reduced motion.
• Zoom and reflow. The panel reflows down to narrow widths and at 200% zoom without loss of content.
• Time limits. None, other than the sign-in window during mailbox connection, which can be restarted at any time with no penalty.

Known limitations

Limitation	Effect	Workaround
The surrounding Outlook interface is Microsoft's, not ours	Accessibility of the ribbon, message list, and reply window is governed by Microsoft's own implementation, which we cannot modify	See Microsoft's accessibility documentation for Outlook
Mobile Outlook is not supported	The panel's reply feature relies on an API absent on mobile	Use Outlook on the web or desktop; automatic reminders arrive as ordinary email and work anywhere
The Microsoft sign-in window during mailbox connection	That page is served by Microsoft; its accessibility is theirs	None needed for Postail's own pages before and after it
No independent audit yet	Conformance claims are self-assessed	Report anything that doesn't work and it gets fixed

Tell us what doesn't work

If any part of Postail is difficult or impossible for you to use, email tgorman93@gmail.com and describe what you were trying to do and what assistive technology you use. Accessibility reports are treated as bugs, not feature requests. Expect a reply within five business days.