Do you work from a home office or run a small business that requires you to send out a lot of mailers and packages? Or maybe you enjoy sending out a lot of gifts, or still prefer to pay your bills the old fashioned way by dropping a check in the mail. If so, you're going to need a lot of postage, which means a lot of trips to the US Post Office or your local mailbox store to buy stamps, weigh packages, and pick up mailing supplies.
Happily, the Internet offers a number of ways to accomplish these chores from the comfort of your own home office. All you need is a Mac or PC computer and a connected laser or inkjet printer with at least 300 DPI resolution. In this article we'll take a look at three remote postage services, each with only minor accessibility issues: the United States Postal Service (USPS) website, Stamps.com, and a slate of services from Dymo Endicia, available for both Mac and PC.
The US Postal Service
The US Postal Service website allows you to purchase stamps for home delivery, print package labels, arrange for package pickup, and order free mailing supplies.
First, you'll need to create an account. The site goes out of its way to be accessible. The forms are properly tagged, and every graphic is described in detail. Nevertheless, it took me nearly a half hour to set up an account because the form contained a great deal of dynamic content that kept refreshing the screen and changing my cursor position. I was using Window-Eyes 8.2 with Internet Explorer version 10. The page behaved slightly better when I tried the latest Firefox, and better still using Safari on a Mac running VoiceOver. One particularly tricky spot was entering two security questions and their answers. The form only offers fields to select and answer one question. You have to press the "Confirm Answer" button, which was difficult to locate, and then move your cursor back up to move to the second question/answer.
Once I was logged into the site, navigation became significantly easier.
Buying Stamps and Ordering Free Supplies
Whichever stamps you need, you can find them on the USPS site. You can purchase a single Express Mail stamp all the way up to a roll of 10,000 Forever stamps that would probably more than live up to their name. You can also pick up pre-stamped cards and envelopes. Shipping is $1.25 for orders $50 and under and $1.75 for orders over $50.
The site also allows you to order free envelopes, padded envelopes, and boxes for Express and Priority Flat Rate letters and packages.
Printing Labels with Postage
You can enter an address and have the site create a shipping label with the postage included. Enter the recipient's address manually or select it from an address book, which you create by adding entries as you go. Other options include adding a reference number and requesting alerts for both yourself and for the recipient.
Unlike the other services we will describe, USPS.com does not interface with a digital scale and add the weight automatically. Instead, you must enter it manually or select a Flat Rate option.
Fields, buttons, and combo boxes are tagged well and easy to complete. You can print a generic sample label before you check-out, which does not include your "To" and "From" addresses, and print your completed label, but Acrobat Reader is required both on PCs and Macs. The PDF view of the labels is not accessible to screenreaders, so you will need sighted help or an OCR program to check your post-paid label.
Scheduling a Pickup
These days the US Postal Service will come to your home and pick up your Priority, Flat Rate, and Express packages. You can arrange for a pickup date and location on the website or via the USPS Mobile app for iOS and Android. (You can also order free supplies using the app, but on my iOS version, at least, I was unable to find a way to order stamps or to create and print a label.)
Conclusions
For those who only occasionally send out mail and packages, USPS.com can definitely eliminate a lot of travel time and waiting in lines. Consider ordering their Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes Variety Pack, so you'll have a variety of sizes on hand. For home office workers and business owners with more extensive shipping needs, read on.
Stamps.com Desktop Application
Stamps.com is by far the largest provider of online postage services. If you're a podcast listener, you've probably heard several ads for this company with promotions that increase the amount of free postage and supplies you receive when you sign up for a 30-day trial membership. You also receive a free digital scale, which you can keep even if you cancel your account. The service costs $15.95 per month plus the cost of postage, which you can pay for directly via the Stamps.com software.
The Stamps.com desktop application, must be downloaded from the site after creating an account. The application runs on Windows only (Mac users can use certain services through Stamps.com Online, or try Endicia, reviewed below). The download and installation went smoothly with one exception. During setup the app offers you the opportunity to import your address book from a number of different e-mail and contacts applications. Unfortunately, the list of choices appears in a scroll window with no cursor controls, so I was unable to get to the Outlook 2010 option, which was not on the first page. I did discover a sort of workaround, however, which I will describe later.
The Stamps.com software uses a standard Windows interface, so you can use the "Alt" key to call up the Menu bar and the arrow keys to navigate the menus. The work area is not totally accessible right out of the box, however. I had to rely on my Window-Eyes mouse cursor to review the screen and orient myself, but I was pleased to discover that many of the features can be enabled by hot keys, such as Alt + Z to call up the "Zip Code" field and Alt + C for the "Mail Class" selector.
Printing NetStamps
The easiest task to perform with the Stamps.com software is to print a sheet of NetStamps. To get started, open the View menu and select the "Stamps" option under the "Postage Wizard" heading. You'll need the serial number of the NetStamps Label sheet that was included in your Welcome Kit. (Without sighted help you can get this number by scanning the label sheet with your OCR application.) Make sure you know which way your printer feeds, so you print on the correct side. If you have doubts, consider punching a small hole in the top right corner of a sheet of paper, printing a sample page, and, then, orienting yourself by comparing the hole to the direction your printer usually discharges printed pages.
Each NetStamp Label sheet contains 25 labels, and you can choose to print the entire sheet or as few as a single stamp. That's why you need to enter your sheet's serial number, so the app can keep track of where to pick up printing the next time you want to print postage.
I started by printing an entire sheet of First Class stamps. After entering the sheet's serial number, I pressed the Alt + C "Mail Class" hot key and selected "First Class." Then I pressed Alt + M for "Mail Piece" and selected the "Letters" option. The default weight listed was one ounce, but I could have changed this manually or installed the free digital scale via the Tools menu to add the weight automatically.
Next, I pressed Alt + Q and entered the quantity of stamps I wished to print. I entered "25," which is the number of stamp labels on a single sheet. You can choose to enter a cost code to help organize your expenses. Then, at the bottom of the screen, you'll find three print options: "Print Postage," "Print Sample," and "Reprint."
The first few times you print NetStamps it's a good idea to use a sheet of plain paper to print a sample with voided postage and either verify the job with sighted help or use your OCR software to ensure it printed correctly. If your printer jams or you have some other problem, you are allowed one free reprint.
You can also easily print one stamp at a time using a label printer and NetStamps labels. You can purchase an appropriate label printer from Stamps.com, but for this review I only tested with my HP LaserJet 1200.
Printing Envelopes and Package Labels
You can print envelopes and package labels with the postage already affixed. Start out by opening the View menu and selecting "Envelope," "Package," or "International." Your return address will populate the "Return" field, and you can either enter the destination address manually and save it to your address book or select an address that you have already saved or imported. As mentioned previously, the import options are mostly inaccessible, but the Import Wizard does include the option to import a comma or tab delimited text file, and most address books offer the option to export your data in one of these formats.
Unfortunately, I found that the application's Contacts list was impossible to scroll using hot keys. I was able to use the search box to narrow my results, place the address I wanted near the top of the list, and use my mouse click hot key. Additionally, on the data screen after I pressed Alt + D to activate the "Destination" address field, I discovered that, if I typed in part of the name (either first or last) and pressed the "Down Arrow" key, the correct address would pop up along with the contact's e-mail address, so I could choose to send an optional shipping notification. I could also attach a small graphic, such as a company logo, alongside the return address and change the font, its size, and the color of both the return and destination addresses.
Another easy way to print postage is via plugins for both Microsoft Word and Outlook. Highlight an address in an open Word file or select one or more contacts in Outlook's Contacts list, then access the Add-Ins menu where you'll find the option "Print Postage with Stamps.com." This add-in will take you directly to the Stamps.com software with your return address and the recipient's address pre-entered.
From here you have many of the same options as before. You can choose a mail class (First Class, Priority, etc.) and the mail piece (Large Envelope, Flat Rate Box, Large Package, and so on). You can have the weight up to five pounds entered automatically via your digital scale and add a signature request, an instructions page for Customs information, and optional insurance. There are 25 label choices, including plain paper, generic labels, and labels from Avery and from Stamps.com.
There is a preview option, but this creates a graphic image of your label, which is completely inaccessible. However, a "Print Sample" option is also available, and you can use your OCR if you need to confirm that the label will print correctly.
Additional Features
You can request package pickups directly from the app and order free USPS Flat Rate containers and other supplies from the Stamps.com online store.
One last feature that will be of particular interest to individuals who engage in e-commerce is the ability to import shipping information directly from Access, Excel, or delimited text files. The application will also interface directly with a number of popular e-commerce platforms, including eBay, PayPal, Etsy, Amazon, Yahoo, Bing Commerce, Google Checkout, Buy.com, and others. Since I do not sell online, I was not able to put this feature through a real stress test, but there are accessible wizards to walk you through the setup process.
Conclusions
I had to do a lot of mousing around to become comfortable with the Stamps.com software. At first you may need sighted help to confirm your print samples, especially if you do not have a scanner and OCR software. Also, if you print on plain paper, you will need help folding or cutting away the blank part of the page so you can tape the label to your package. However, as to the software interface itself, I didn't find any accessibility deal breakers.
Dymo Endicia
Dymo Endicia, a division of Newell Rubbermaid, offers a number of postage printing options, including plans with no monthly subscription fees. As is the case with Stamps.com, you'll need to install software to use any of Endicia's services, but unlike Stamps.com the software is available for both PC and Mac. Unfortunately, you cannot use both platforms on a single account. The PC and Mac software each require that they be associated with separate accounts, so the only way to switch between PC and Mac is to set up two different accounts. This might make sense if you're using Endicia's free services described later in this review, but you will still have to purchase postage for each account separately. The paid accounts offer 30 days free with sign up, but there is no welcome kit with sample labels. Also, if you want to weigh your packages, you'll have to purchase a scale.
Endicia for Mac
Endicia for Mac costs $15.95 per month plus postage, and it offers most of the same features as Stamps.com. Like most software for the Mac, installation was a breeze. All I had to do was download the disk image, open it, and copy the .APP file into my app folder.
Select the toolbar's "New Label" option to create and print postcards, envelopes, and shipping labels. There are also buttons to purchase additional postage for your account and print stamps by the sheet or individually, depending on your printer.
Integration with my Mac's address book was automatic, and the very first pop-up button offered me the choice to use my Mac address card, my Endicia account address, or a different address as my default return address.
When I clicked the "Addresses" toolbar icon, an element simply labeled "Drawer" appeared in my label-creating window. The element was not clickable, however, and it took me a while to discover that, if I interacted with the element using VoiceOver's Shift + Ctrl + Option + Down Arrow hot key, I was shown two tables, the first being a subset of all of the contacts for which I had addresses and the second containing every contact in my Mountain Lion Contacts list. Interacting with this table and double tapping a contact name added the information in the "To" field perfectly.
Endicia for Mac includes most of the same mailing and stamp printing options as Stamps.com. You can select your envelope or package type, choose the postage class, purchase insurance, validate addresses, add a reference number, and request delivery or signature confirmation. You can also print postage-paid customer return labels with the "To" and "From" addresses reversed.
The "Web Stores" option on the app's toolbar allows you to import sales and shipping information directly from your e-commerce platform. Oddly, to date eBay is the only supported platform, but the fact that they use the plural "Web Stores" suggests they will be adding more in the future.
None of the Endicia plans include a free scale. You can purchase one from Endicia or install one of several third-party scales. Unfortunately (but for obvious reasons), the Stamps.com scale is not installable. However, if you're like me and do most of your shipping using USPS Flat Rate shipping boxes and padded envelopes, the only reason you might need a scale would be to tell if that envelope you just stuffed is less or more than one ounce, and this is hardly worth the $50 or so a scale would cost.
All of the Endicia plans allow you to print a preview of your work, but unlike with Stamps.com, you do not get a do-over if your printer jams or you encounter another problem while printing. Refunds are available under certain circumstances, but you will have to complete a form and submit your request via mail. Endicia does not accept electronic refund filings.
You can print stamps one by one but only if you have a DYMO LabelWriter and a roll of stamp labels. To use a laser or inkjet printer, you'll need to purchase stamp label sheets from the Endicia store. Unfortunately, Endicia does not keep track of your label use, so it can't resume printing right where you left off. The only way to limit the number of stamps you print is to tick off the ones you don't want to print by clicking your mouse on an image of the stamp label sheet, which is completely inaccessible. If you plan to use any of the Endicia programs to print stamps, you'll either need a label printer or simply plan to only print stamps entire sheets at a time.
Conclusions
If you are a home worker or small business owner who relies on a Mac, Endicia for Mac may be just what you are looking for. The only accessibility issue I discovered was the inability to print single stamps on a label sheet, so if you are considering signing up, you should definitely also consider purchasing a label printer and perhaps a scale.
Endicia for Windows
Endicia offers several service plans for Windows users, including Endicia Standard ($9.95 per month), Endicia Premium ($15.95 per month), Endicia Professional (34.95 per month), and Endicia Platinum Shipper (99.95 per month). For this review I tested the Endicia Standard plan since it is the lowest cost option and also because it is designed to appeal to home users.
When you start the Endicia Standard software, you are placed in "Quick Print" mode with your cursor on the "To" address field. You can type in an address or paste in an address from your clipboard, but when I went looking for an address book option, I was stymied at first. I was unable to find a menu option or hot key. A screen read revealed an "Address Book" icon near the top, but when I used my mouse cursor to try to locate it, everything went silent. A "Find" command landed me on the icon, however, and when I performed a mouse click, the application called up my Outlook address book. However, I had to give permission every time I wanted to retrieve a new address. My screen reader's speech often stuttered at this point, and several times I was forced to reboot. I fared no better using System Access to Go, and even Microsoft Narrator acted unpredictably.
You can print DYMO Printable Postage (either full sheets or individual stamps) with a Dymo LabelWriter, but when I tried using the "Menu" command to switch between these modes, the option refused to toggle. After an hour speaking with tech support, including a LogMeIn session during which the tech took control of my PC, we discovered that the option worked fine with no screen reader, but with my screen reader running the toggle, it consistently failed to work. When I suggested this was something he might want to report as a bug, he responded, "I don't think this is something they would want to spend any time on."
Conclusions
Endicia Standard offers some interesting features. For example, you can create mailing templates with the destination address and package type saved for later use, and you can add graphics and digital rubber stamps, such as "Fragile" and "Do Not Open Till Christmas." You can also link your eBay account to download and process your sales. If you are a high volume eBay seller and cannot afford an extra $6 per month for a Stamps.com account, you can probably slog your way through the accessibility issues. Otherwise, I don't recommend the use of Endicia Standard.
DYMO Stamps for Mac and PC
One last home postage option we'll discuss here is Endicia's DYMO Stamps for Mac and PC. These options are both free, and the software is accessible except for the "Sheets/Rolls" toggle in the PC version.
Basically, DYMO Stamps lets you pick a mail class (First Class, Priority Mail, etc.) and print a single stamp using a DYMO LabelWriter or a laser or inkjet printer using their proprietary labels. The labels add approximately $0.20 to the cost of each stamp, however, so I would advise readers to consider this platform only if they already own a DYMO LabelWriter and enjoy the convenience of printing single stamps of various denominations.
The Bottom Line
If you are a small business owner or home office worker and you send out frequent mailings and packages, you may want to give serious consideration to opening an account with Stamps.com or Endicia for the Mac. Each offers a 30-day trial, though you will have to enter payment information to take advantage of either offer. Both services offer discounts for certain Express and Priority Mail services, so if your mail volume is high enough, both services could wind up paying for themselves.
For the rest of us, USPS.com will likely meet all of our postage needs. Consider placing an order for a collection of stamps of various denominations and adding a free Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes Variety Pack, so you don't have to worry about calculating size and weight.
Postage Services Information
United States Postal Service, 800-ASK-USPS (800-275-8777)
Stamps.com, 888-434-0055
DYMO Endicia, 800-576-3279
