In Notifications you could try checking ‘do not disturb’ Also in Notifications preferences there is a table of applications that will give notifications when active, you could remove Mail. TF On 15/07/2014, at 7:39 am, Carlos Taylor <cetaylor1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: In OS 10.9, I have a situation that I hope can be modified. If I have mail open but am working in another window such as Safari, VoiceOver speaks each incoming email message's sender, subject, and the first sentence or so of the message. How can I prevent this as I really don't want to hear this while I'm working in another application. Thanks. Carlos Taylor > > Click on the link below to go to our homepage. > http://www.icanworkthisthing.com > > Manage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below. > //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > Users can subscribe to this list by sending email to > macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web > interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > > Click on the link below to go to our homepage. > http://www.icanworkthisthing.com > > Manage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below. > //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > Users can subscribe to this list by sending email to > macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web > interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover >