Accessibility of thunderbird 8

[David Bailes]

I've been looking at the accessibiltiy of thunderbird 8 for the users
of screen readers and came across a problem which has already been
logged as a bug:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=673860
When more than one address is added, then the autocompleted addresses
aren't read, and the to/cc/etc combo boxes aren't read either. Ok,
there's a sort of work around, but it's not easily discoverable, and
so most users will probably go back to using version 3.1 of
thunderbird, so missing out on all the bug fixes since that version.
If this bug affected sighted users the same way it affects the users
of screen readers, then mozilla would have fixed it before letting it
out of the door.
As it is, the bug remains unfixed, and with no one assigned to fix it.
So what happens when mozilla stop supporting thunderbird 3.1? Will
this bug be fixed by then?
For screen readers wanting a free email client on windows 7, there are
two main options: windows live mail and thunderbird. Given that
windows live mail has its own accessibility problems and appears to be
quite buggy, it would be great if mozilla was committed to providing
a good accessible alternative.

[carla....@gmail.com]

Yes, I am experiencing this problem with windows 7, Jaws 12 and 13 and Thunderbird 9.0.1

And, you are right about whether or not Mozilla would have fixed this problem before releasing the newer versions. The problem interferes greatly with usability.