In 2024, GMail discontinued their Basic HTML layout. Why? I have no idea. They were probably using the same lack of logic that Youtube used in 2017, when they shut down their mobile site, and that Facebook used in 2024, when they shut down their Basic Mobile site. After all, why keep something that's easy, uncluttered, and that actually works, both with and without screen readers? I absolutely hated GMail's Standard site, and switched to Thunderbird 102 (I still prefer that version) because of it, though I hadn't used an e-mail client since 2006. After being forced to use their main site to fix something the other day, I began looking for another e-mail provider with a basic/plain html version. I found it in Yahoo Mail! I had actually signed up for an account with them in 2023 but never really used it. Tonight, I reactivated my account and tried it. It's wonderful! Note: Basic Yahoo Mail is not the same as Old Yahoo. I had to switch to Old and then go to Basic from there. However, you may be able to access it by going here.

https://mail.yahoo.com/b/

PS. I know that some other blind people use regular GMail, but quite honestly, I don't care. I shouldn't have to learn a whole new set of commands just to access my e-mail and have to deal with a million features that I don't need. One of my mottos is don't fix what's not broken. Oh, and to my Windows XP and 7 friends, Basic Yahoo Mail works there, too.

#accessibility #BasicHTML #blind #e-mail #GMail #NVDA #ScreenReaders #technology #Windows7 #WindowsXP #Yahoo

HTML Codes

https://sideshowhost.wordpress.com/2026/03/23/html-codes/

Lilbits: Google Podcasts and Gmail’s Basic HTML head to the Google Graveyard #BasicHtml, #Gmail, #GoogleGraveyard, #GooglePodcasdts, #KilledByGoogle, #Lilbits, #Linmob, #Linuxsmartphones, #Piwrite

https://liliputing.com/lilbits-google-podcasts-and-gmails-basic-html-head-to-the-google-graveyard/

It was always my dream to be quoted in The Register.

The decision has been criticized by Pratik Patel, who describes himself on #Mastodon as "a blind technologist … who finds himself championing #accessibility for fun and necessity."

"I know many #blind people who use #GMail's HTML view. Not only will they be confused but will be unhappy," he wrote.

Google killing #BasicHTML version of Gmail In January 2024

https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/25/gmail_basic_html_discontinued/

#accessibility

The decision has been criticized by Pratik Patel, who describes himself on #Mastodon as "a blind technologist … who finds himself championing #accessibility for fun and necessity."

"I know many #blind people who use #GMail's HTML view. Not only will they be confused but will be unhappy," he wrote.

Google killing #BasicHTML version of Gmail In January 2024 • The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/25/gmail_basic_html_discontinued/