The Outlook 2000 E-mail Attachment Security Update provides unprecedented security protection for Outlook and other Microsoft Office 2000 programs that use Send and other e-mail features, but it may also interfere with some voice input systems and assistive aids. Many assistive aids and voice input systems use Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA). MSAA is used in assistive aids and voice input systems to programmatically click the Send button. The Outlook 98/2000 E-mail Security Update protects against programmatically clicking the Send button because this action is often exploited by viruses and worms.

In order to use assistive aids with the Outlook 98/2000 E-mail Security Update, you can use the mouse or a pointing device to click the Send button, or you can use keyboard shortcuts to perform these actions. For example, Alt+S or Ctrl+Enter are keyboard shortcuts for the Send button, and will cause a mail file to send. If your aid can map to these key sequences, they will be able to activate the Send button. You could also write a macro to simulate the keyboard action, and activate it with your assistive device (to learn more about macros, type macro in the Office Assistant and then click Search).

If you are using Outlook with an Exchange server, your administrator may be able to modify all or part of the protections offered by the Outlook 98/2000 E-mail Security Update, allowing some assistive aids to work.

You may also want to contact the manufacturer of your assistive aid to see if an upgrade is available. Some assistive aid manufactures may also be able to offer additional ways to use their assistive devices with this security update.

More Information

Accessibility   The Microsoft Accessibility Web site can help you learn more about Accessibility and Microsoft products. To learn about the affect of the Outlook 98/2000 E-mail Security Update on assistive aids, read the article Outlook 98/2000 Security Patch May Break Assistive Aids. More information is available in the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article (Q268176) BUG: accDoDefaultAction blocked by Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 SR-1 E-mail Security Update, which explains the technical details behind the interaction.

Security   For general information about the Outlook 98/2000 E-mail Security Update, Knowledge Base Article (Q262634) OL2000: Known Issues with the Outlook E-Mail Security Update summarizes how the Microsoft Outlook E-mail Security Update affects Outlook 2000, and Article (Q262618) OL98: Known Issues with the Outlook E-Mail Security Update details the affect on Outlook 98.

Administrator   Administrator information for this update is available in the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article (Q263297) OL2000: Administrator Information About the Outlook E-mail Security Update and on the Office Resource Kit journal in the article Customizing the Outlook 98/2000 E-mail Security Update.

Download   You can also read more about the update or download it from Microsoft Office Online from the Outlook 2000 SR-1 E-mail Security Update page.