mail providers
Gmail (OAuth), Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Proton Mail Bridge, and custom IMAP/SMTP—routed through the local sidecar so credentials stay on your machine.
Blind, low-vision, and sighted users—respectfully served
Mailbuiltfor
blindusersfirst.
Screen readers, Blind Sight, and keyboard shortcuts are not add-ons—they define how we ship. A Tauri desktop and optional Expo companion talk to a local FastAPI sidecar so mail stays on your machine; calendar import and Insight AI for attachments are there when you turn them on.
Engineering choices
Accessibility-first mail with a local sidecar—not another webmail tab.
BlindBox is for blind and visually impaired people first: the desktop pairs a Nuxt + Vue shell (Tauri) with a FastAPI sidecar on your machine for Gmail, IMAP/SMTP, SQLite sessions, calendar import, and Polar-backed billing gates.
Screen readers feel at home
Skip links, landmarks, aria-live regions, and focus management are implemented in the desktop shell so list moves, sends, and syncs announce what changed—not just what looks different.
Sound that supports you
Optional success, error, and navigation sounds—plus cues when you page through long lists—mirror the audio layer described in the desktop accessibility settings.
Keyboard-first, human-paced
The same global shortcuts documented in the repo (refresh, compose, folder jumps, help) keep triage off the trackpad—Blind Sight is always one Alt+Shift+V away on desktop.
Insight AI, only if you want it
Paid tiers unlock downloads plus AI descriptions, summaries, and transcripts for PDFs and images. The sidecar enforces monthly read caps so finance and assistive-tech teams can plan usage honestly.
Your comfort matters
Dark mode is the default. Light mode is always a tap away.
We start in a soft dark theme to ease eye strain. If a brighter canvas helps you focus—or matches the rest of your day—you can switch to light anytime. The same care for structure, shortcuts, and assistive tech carries through either look.
Dark (default)
Keyboard-firstAudio cuesProvider-ready
BlindBox keeps orientation obvious.
Read the thread, hear state changes, jump between folders, and move into compose without losing your place.
Light mode
Keyboard-firstAudio cuesProvider-ready
BlindBox keeps orientation obvious.
Read the thread, hear state changes, jump between folders, and move into compose without losing your place.
Mission
Email software that treats blind users as the primary audience.
BlindBox exists because browser webmail and bolt-on accessibility rarely survive real workloads. We combine a disciplined desktop UI with a local API you can audit, plus optional mobile modes that respect when generic IMAP must stay on the sidecar.
- Tauri desktop bundles the UI with the FastAPI sidecar—mail credentials and SQLite live on your device.
- Calendar import uses ICS payloads + documented Google, Microsoft Graph, and Apple CalDAV setup.
- Basic covers one mailbox without AI reads; Insight tiers add multi-inbox and metered attachment AI.
- We ship markdown operator guides next to the code so claims stay checkable.
Principles
What we optimize for while the codebase evolves.
These are product commitments—not paid quotes. They mirror how BlindBox is architected today and what we refuse to compromise.
Blind and visually impaired people are the primary audience—sighted users benefit from the same clarity, but we never invert that priority.
A local FastAPI sidecar owns mail transport, SQLite sessions, billing gates, and Insight usage so credentials and AI metering stay server-side to the app—not in a mystery cloud inbox.
We document real setup (OAuth, CalDAV, Polar products) in the repo, ship honest tier limits, and prefer accurate READMEs over vague “enterprise-ready” claims.
Download the builds, read the repo, send feedback.
BlindBox is under active development: start with the desktop sidecar path in the README, file issues when accessibility regresses, and reach out if you need help wiring OAuth, CalDAV, or Polar.