Hi all.

For those having issues with dropbox, you can get the latest desktop dropbox at https://dropbox/release_notes.

You should be able to get the latest dropbox full installer from there.

Anything stable is stable and getting that version right now is still using the older interface.

For the record using latest nvda on the two machines running Windows 7, the context menu merely opens the new interface and no matter what keys you use nothing whatever is spoken in it.
As its important to me to be able to have these machines connected and I see no mention of Dropbox dropping this support, I imagine once again they have not tested this very well at all before rolling it out.
We are back to needing to contact them, and I have no idea how to do this. If you use their helpdesk, you get people who have no idea what you are on about replying, it may even be a bot.
Brian

There evidently is a problem with your system.  I don't know what accounts for the difficulty.  I've tried the interface in Windows 7 using not the latest NVDA but the version immediately before and I'm extremely skeptical that anything has changed between the two versions that would affect whether you can hear the interface items read out as you move.  First, Windows 7 is out of support.  I am very skeptical that any company would try to correct a problem occurring on a Windows 7 machine.  Try a JAWS demo or some other screen-reader to see what happens. 

I very much doubt my machine is an exception and I believe that in general, those using Windows 7 will hear items spoken.

I am not saying Dropbox developers tested or didn't test for accessibility satisfactorily.  I am saying that at this point, this appears to be a problem that is likely to be not a general one.  Have you tried running NVDA with no add-ons? 

Gene

On 6/19/2022 3:29 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

For the record using latest nvda on the two machines running Windows 7, the context menu merely opens the new interface and no matter what keys you use nothing whatever is spoken in it.
As its important to me to be able to have these machines connected and I see no mention of Dropbox dropping this support, I imagine once again they have not tested this very well at all before rolling it out.
We are back to needing to contact them, and I have no idea how to do this. If you use their helpdesk, you get people who have no idea what you are on about replying, it may even be a bot.
Brian

Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

For the record using latest nvda on the two machines running Windows 7, the context menu merely opens the new interface and no matter what keys you use nothing whatever is spoken in it.

Try the COM Registration Fixing Tool in a recent version of NVDA (2021.3 or higher).

Then try again with add-ons disabled and enabled. Are you running the Dropbox add-on? I'm not sure how it interacts with the latest version, or whether it works on Windows 7, but it may help.

Luke

Also stopped is the alert from nvda when you copy a dropbox link to the system for later pasting into an email.

Brian

It appears that alerts are no longer announced. The interface is either
accessible or usable, I'm not sure what term should be used, though I
consider it not nearly as pleasant as the old one but it can be used.
But if you rely on notifications, it appears you won't hear them
announced. Perhaps you can check them by opening the notifications part
of the interface.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:38 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

Also stopped is the alert from nvda when you copy a dropbox link to
the system for later pasting into an email.

Brian

It appears that alerts are no longer announced. The interface is either
accessible or usable, I'm not sure what term should be used, though I
consider it not nearly as pleasant as the old one but it can be used.
But if you rely on notifications, it appears you won't hear them
announced. Perhaps you can check them by opening the notifications part
of the interface.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:38 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

Also stopped is the alert from nvda when you copy a dropbox link to
the system for later pasting into an email.

Brian

Since I cannot get anything from the interface on Windows 7, then that route is out. What on earth possessed them to remove alerts?
Brian

I don't know if they removed alerts.  They aren't announced.  I have no idea how or to what extent accessibility is checked by the developers.  The problems you are having have absolutely nothing to do with Windows 7.  There is something about your systems causing the problem of not hearing content when you move through the interface.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:46 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

Since I cannot get anything from the interface on Windows 7, then that route is out. What on earth possessed them to remove alerts?
Brian

I looked for, and after perhaps six searches, finally found this small article:
https://its.umich.edu/communication/collaboration/dropbox/update/notice-upcoming-changes-dropbox-desktop-app-window

I have no idea what it means and there may well be a lot of angry people.  But if there are, I didn't find any forums with searches where they are venting their complaints. 

Who knows why Dropbox or many other companies do what they do?  That's what happens when consultants and PR people decide what companies do and developers who just want to change things because they have to justify their employment. 

We'll see what happens over the next year.  Do you remember when Dropbox introduced its brave new file and folders interface perhaps a year or two ago?  What happened to it?  It was dropped at some point and everyone was switched back to the old file explorer interface.  They no longer had to change it from the new and obviously unpopular default interface Dropbox tried to foist on people.  Will they quietly revert this change?  We'll find out.

As a blind user, I don't want to assume that notifications are gone, but this meaningless brief notice from Dropbox may mean they are.  To really know may require sighted verification.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:49 AM, Gene wrote:

I don't know if they removed alerts.  They aren't announced.  I have no idea how or to what extent accessibility is checked by the developers.  The problems you are having have absolutely nothing to do with Windows 7.  There is something about your systems causing the problem of not hearing content when you move through the interface.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:46 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

Since I cannot get anything from the interface on Windows 7, then that route is out. What on earth possessed them to remove alerts?
Brian

I found a forum where a lot of angry people are telling Dropbox to bring the old interface back.  Its a classic new Coke moment.  Don't companies ever learn anything? 
https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Why-is-the-Dropbox-Desktop-App-no-longer-available/td-p/571525

On page 1, people evidently representing Dropbox talk about how much they love to hear from people because they learn what people want.  Isn't that backwards?  Shouldn't the company find out before  imposing change on people?

I don't know if Dropbox becomes more responsive in the page after page that follows.  I've only read page 1.  for those curious or interested, here is a place to see how the dialog develops, if it does.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 4:07 AM, Gene via groups.io wrote:

I looked for, and after perhaps six searches, finally found this small article:
https://its.umich.edu/communication/collaboration/dropbox/update/notice-upcoming-changes-dropbox-desktop-app-window

I have no idea what it means and there may well be a lot of angry people.  But if there are, I didn't find any forums with searches where they are venting their complaints. 

Who knows why Dropbox or many other companies do what they do?  That's what happens when consultants and PR people decide what companies do and developers who just want to change things because they have to justify their employment. 

We'll see what happens over the next year.  Do you remember when Dropbox introduced its brave new file and folders interface perhaps a year or two ago?  What happened to it?  It was dropped at some point and everyone was switched back to the old file explorer interface.  They no longer had to change it from the new and obviously unpopular default interface Dropbox tried to foist on people.  Will they quietly revert this change?  We'll find out.

As a blind user, I don't want to assume that notifications are gone, but this meaningless brief notice from Dropbox may mean they are.  To really know may require sighted verification.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:49 AM, Gene wrote:

I don't know if they removed alerts.  They aren't announced.  I have no idea how or to what extent accessibility is checked by the developers.  The problems you are having have absolutely nothing to do with Windows 7.  There is something about your systems causing the problem of not hearing content when you move through the interface.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:46 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

Since I cannot get anything from the interface on Windows 7, then that route is out. What on earth possessed them to remove alerts?
Brian

A brief clarification.  Last night, I wasn't defending the changes Dropbox made.  I don't use Dropbox in ways where the changes matter to me to any extent.  I was saying that the interface is either usable or accessible.  But its a very bad interface and you can see complaint after complaint in the forum I linked to.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 4:26 AM, Gene wrote:

I found a forum where a lot of angry people are telling Dropbox to bring the old interface back.  Its a classic new Coke moment.  Don't companies ever learn anything? 
https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Why-is-the-Dropbox-Desktop-App-no-longer-available/td-p/571525

On page 1, people evidently representing Dropbox talk about how much they love to hear from people because they learn what people want.  Isn't that backwards?  Shouldn't the company find out before  imposing change on people?

I don't know if Dropbox becomes more responsive in the page after page that follows.  I've only read page 1.  for those curious or interested, here is a place to see how the dialog develops, if it does.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 4:07 AM, Gene via groups.io wrote:

I looked for, and after perhaps six searches, finally found this small article:
https://its.umich.edu/communication/collaboration/dropbox/update/notice-upcoming-changes-dropbox-desktop-app-window

I have no idea what it means and there may well be a lot of angry people.  But if there are, I didn't find any forums with searches where they are venting their complaints. 

Who knows why Dropbox or many other companies do what they do?  That's what happens when consultants and PR people decide what companies do and developers who just want to change things because they have to justify their employment. 

We'll see what happens over the next year.  Do you remember when Dropbox introduced its brave new file and folders interface perhaps a year or two ago?  What happened to it?  It was dropped at some point and everyone was switched back to the old file explorer interface.  They no longer had to change it from the new and obviously unpopular default interface Dropbox tried to foist on people.  Will they quietly revert this change?  We'll find out.

As a blind user, I don't want to assume that notifications are gone, but this meaningless brief notice from Dropbox may mean they are.  To really know may require sighted verification.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:49 AM, Gene wrote:

I don't know if they removed alerts.  They aren't announced.  I have no idea how or to what extent accessibility is checked by the developers.  The problems you are having have absolutely nothing to do with Windows 7.  There is something about your systems causing the problem of not hearing content when you move through the interface.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:46 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

Since I cannot get anything from the interface on Windows 7, then that route is out. What on earth possessed them to remove alerts?
Brian

It appears that alerts are no longer announced. The interface is either
accessible or usable, I'm not sure what term should be used, though I
consider it not nearly as pleasant as the old one but it can be used.
But if you rely on notifications, it appears you won't hear them
announced. Perhaps you can check them by opening the notifications part
of the interface.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:38 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

Also stopped is the alert from nvda when you copy a dropbox link to
the system for later pasting into an email.

Brian

Well to be honest while I use dropbox I have not used it for much of
late bar my own stuff and shares I already own and use as well as a few
backups.


But most of my family has left it for google drive.

Google drive has its own issues one of which is that after any major
windows update at least the last 2 months worth, it will not autostart.

You can fix this by running google drive, waiting for its drive to
repopulate then it seems to be ok but there is that and the interface
and addon startup is a bit of a peeve.

However its drive letter and google's use all over the place could see
me switching in the future.

I only have 3 shares I use now in dropbox and all could be transfered
over to something else.

In the future rumor is that I will be getting a nas and at that point
since I don't share on dropbox right now my family shares could be moved
to that for when they are needed.


On 20/06/2022 9:43 pm, Gene wrote:

A brief clarification. Last night, I wasn't defending the changes
Dropbox made. I don't use Dropbox in ways where the changes matter to
me to any extent. I was saying that the interface is either usable or
accessible. But its a very bad interface and you can see complaint
after complaint in the forum I linked to.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 4:26 AM, Gene wrote:

I found a forum where a lot of angry people are telling Dropbox to
bring the old interface back. Its a classic new Coke moment. Don't
companies ever learn anything?
https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Why-is-the-Dropbox-Desktop-App-no-longer-available/td-p/571525

On page 1, people evidently representing Dropbox talk about how much
they love to hear from people because they learn what people want.
Isn't that backwards? Shouldn't the company find out before
imposing change on people?

I don't know if Dropbox becomes more responsive in the page after
page that follows. I've only read page 1. for those curious or
interested, here is a place to see how the dialog develops, if it does.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 4:07 AM, Gene via groups.io wrote:

I looked for, and after perhaps six searches, finally found this
small article:
https://its.umich.edu/communication/collaboration/dropbox/update/notice-upcoming-changes-dropbox-desktop-app-window

I have no idea what it means and there may well be a lot of angry
people. But if there are, I didn't find any forums with searches
where they are venting their complaints.

Who knows why Dropbox or many other companies do what they do?
That's what happens when consultants and PR people decide what
companies do and developers who just want to change things because
they have to justify their employment.

We'll see what happens over the next year. Do you remember when
Dropbox introduced its brave new file and folders interface perhaps
a year or two ago? What happened to it? It was dropped at some
point and everyone was switched back to the old file explorer
interface. They no longer had to change it from the new and
obviously unpopular default interface Dropbox tried to foist on
people. Will they quietly revert this change? We'll find out.

As a blind user, I don't want to assume that notifications are gone,
but this meaningless brief notice from Dropbox may mean they are.
To really know may require sighted verification.

Gene
On 6/20/2022 3:49 AM, Gene wrote:

I don't know if they removed alerts. They aren't announced. I have
no idea how or to what extent accessibility is checked by the
developers. The problems you are having have absolutely nothing to
do with Windows 7. There is something about your systems causing
the problem of not hearing content when you move through the interface.

Gene

On 6/20/2022 3:46 AM, Brian's Mail list account via groups.io wrote:

Since I cannot get anything from the interface on Windows 7, then
that route is out. What on earth possessed them to remove alerts?
Brian

Not a route open to us as we have at least five shared users and of different folders on my account alone. Trying to untangle this will mean that many batch files will not work any more.

At the moment the main two complaints are that the interface and alerts went silent a short time ago, and the only changes have been imposed by Dropbox so in my view the whacky now you see it now you don't accessibility is in their court, fairly and squarely, Granted I could remove the program reinstall it and probably either end up worse or no further forward, as if they have tweaked the registry, they have a track record of not removing changes when they do an uninstall.
There are a lot of improvements they could have made in the old system such as sorting as is done in the mobile app, but chose not to do it seems in favour of a flashy new interface off of the tray icon.
Will I soon hear tht they  will stop supporting Windows 7? They cut off XP for no good reason given the security could still be protected by third party software after all, just one assumes because they wanted to use a different compiler, the exact same problem will occur to Python soon.
Brian

I'm not sure what you mean by it still uses the old interface.  Are you talking about what you see when you open the system tray interface?  Even if it still uses the old system tray interface, that is worthless as a solution.  Dropbox automatically updates itself and there is no way to stop it.  So even if you install an older version that doesn't use the new system tray interface, it will automatically update and you will have accomplished nothing.

Gene

On 6/18/2022 2:51 PM, Shaun Everiss wrote:

Hi all.

For those having issues with dropbox, you can get the latest desktop dropbox at https://dropbox/release_notes.

You should be able to get the latest dropbox full installer from there.

Anything stable is stable and getting that version right now is still using the older interface.