The Essential Guide to Email Accessibility for Email Marketers
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 5:21 am
The Essential Guide to Email Accessibility for Email Marketers
As an email marketer, you want every subscriber to have a positive and inclusive experience when interacting with your campaigns. But if your emails aren’t designed with accessibility in mind, you risk excluding a large percentage of your audience with disabilities. This is where email accessibility best practices come into play. By implementing them, you can ensure that all of your subscribers can understand and interact with your emails.
This article will cover why email accessibility is essential and provide 10 best practices for creating accessible emails. I’ll also share tools to help with email accessibility and tips for testing and measuring your campaigns. So, let’s dive in and make sure your emails are inclusive for everyone.
Why Email Accessibility Matters
Every person deserves the right to access and interact with content phone number list , regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities. When it comes to email marketing , accessibility isn’t just a legal requirement, it’s a moral obligation that every email marketer should take seriously. Accessibility means designing emails that everyone can easily consume, including those with visual, hearing, physical, or cognitive disabilities.
Email Accessibility Illustration
Image source: FreePik
Importance of accessibility in email marketing
Inclusivity: Accessibility ensures that people with different abilities can understand and interact with the content of your email. This expands your audience reach and promotes inclusion.
Legal Compliance: Many countries have laws and regulations that require that digital content, including emails, be accessible. Complying with these laws is essential to avoid potential legal issues.
Improved User Experience: Accessible emails provide a better user experience for all recipients. This, in turn, increases open and click rates and ultimately improves the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
Brand Reputation: Prioritizing accessibility demonstrates your brand’s commitment to inclusion and builds a good reputation for your brand.
Mind-blowing statistics on disabilities
The statistics speak for themselves about the importance of accessibility. According to the World Health Organization WHO , approximately 1.3 billion people have significant disabilities, constituting 16% of the world’s population, which is equivalent to 1 in 6 people. In addition, more than 2.2 billion people worldwide have a near or distance vision impairment, and it is estimated that, by 2050, 700 million people will suffer from disabling hearing loss. These numbers highlight the importance of designing emails with accessibility in mind.
Ten best practices for creating accessible emails
Every email marketer’s goal is to get their emails to as many people as possible. But if your emails aren’t designed and written with accessibility in mind, a large portion of your audience with permanent or temporary disabilities may not understand or engage with your emails. So how can you make sure your emails are accessible to everyone?
Here are 10 best practices you can follow to make your emails more accessible:
1. Follow a logical structure: Your emails should be structured logically to help readers easily understand their flow. Use descriptive headings, subheadings, and bullet points to organize information.
2. Use descriptive subject lines: A descriptive subject line helps users decide whether they want to open your email. Additionally, people who use screen readers rely on subject lines to determine which emails to read and which to skip.
3. Don't rely on color as focal points: Not everyone can see colors the same way, so don't use color alone to convey important information. Use other visual cues like icons, shapes, and contrast.
4. Use responsive design: Your email designs should be responsive to different screen sizes and devices. This is especially important for people using mobile devices.
5. Test your code: Use proper coding practices to ensure your emails render correctly across different email clients and devices.
6. Label your images with alt text: Alternative text, also known as alt text, is a written description of an image. When an image has alternative text, assistive technologies such as screen readers can read it aloud to users, giving them an understanding of the image’s content or purpose. This allows people with visual impairments to access and understand information presented in images, including graphics, photographs, and icons. See a sample of an image with alt text below.
Sample image with alt text for email accessibility
7. Check text size and spacing: Make sure your text is easy to read by using a minimum font size of 14 pixels and potentially 16 pixels or larger for mobile devices. Space between lines and paragraphs should also be appropriately sized to avoid crowding and confusion.
8. Use emojis wisely: Emojis can add a fun element to your emails, but some people may not be able to see them. Use them sparingly and only if they add value.
9. Check your font: While decorative or fancy fonts may be visually appealing, they can be difficult to understand, especially for people with visual or cognitive disabilities. Stick to simple, legible fonts to ensure clarity. Choose a simple, easy-to-read font like Arial, Tahoma, or Calibri. Avoid fancy or illegible fonts.
10. Prioritize quality content: The ultimate goal of any email marketer is to deliver information that benefits subscribers. Make sure that the content they are reading actually adds value. Avoid wasting their time with unnecessary information as that might lead them to unsubscribe or mark your emails as spam.
By implementing these best practices, you can improve the accessibility of your emails and make them easier for people to read, understand, and act upon. Remember, the goal is to make your emails accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of their impairments or disabilities. So, strive to create a positive experience for everyone who interacts with your email campaigns.
As an email marketer, you want every subscriber to have a positive and inclusive experience when interacting with your campaigns. But if your emails aren’t designed with accessibility in mind, you risk excluding a large percentage of your audience with disabilities. This is where email accessibility best practices come into play. By implementing them, you can ensure that all of your subscribers can understand and interact with your emails.
This article will cover why email accessibility is essential and provide 10 best practices for creating accessible emails. I’ll also share tools to help with email accessibility and tips for testing and measuring your campaigns. So, let’s dive in and make sure your emails are inclusive for everyone.
Why Email Accessibility Matters
Every person deserves the right to access and interact with content phone number list , regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities. When it comes to email marketing , accessibility isn’t just a legal requirement, it’s a moral obligation that every email marketer should take seriously. Accessibility means designing emails that everyone can easily consume, including those with visual, hearing, physical, or cognitive disabilities.
Email Accessibility Illustration
Image source: FreePik
Importance of accessibility in email marketing
Inclusivity: Accessibility ensures that people with different abilities can understand and interact with the content of your email. This expands your audience reach and promotes inclusion.
Legal Compliance: Many countries have laws and regulations that require that digital content, including emails, be accessible. Complying with these laws is essential to avoid potential legal issues.
Improved User Experience: Accessible emails provide a better user experience for all recipients. This, in turn, increases open and click rates and ultimately improves the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
Brand Reputation: Prioritizing accessibility demonstrates your brand’s commitment to inclusion and builds a good reputation for your brand.
Mind-blowing statistics on disabilities
The statistics speak for themselves about the importance of accessibility. According to the World Health Organization WHO , approximately 1.3 billion people have significant disabilities, constituting 16% of the world’s population, which is equivalent to 1 in 6 people. In addition, more than 2.2 billion people worldwide have a near or distance vision impairment, and it is estimated that, by 2050, 700 million people will suffer from disabling hearing loss. These numbers highlight the importance of designing emails with accessibility in mind.
Ten best practices for creating accessible emails
Every email marketer’s goal is to get their emails to as many people as possible. But if your emails aren’t designed and written with accessibility in mind, a large portion of your audience with permanent or temporary disabilities may not understand or engage with your emails. So how can you make sure your emails are accessible to everyone?
Here are 10 best practices you can follow to make your emails more accessible:
1. Follow a logical structure: Your emails should be structured logically to help readers easily understand their flow. Use descriptive headings, subheadings, and bullet points to organize information.
2. Use descriptive subject lines: A descriptive subject line helps users decide whether they want to open your email. Additionally, people who use screen readers rely on subject lines to determine which emails to read and which to skip.
3. Don't rely on color as focal points: Not everyone can see colors the same way, so don't use color alone to convey important information. Use other visual cues like icons, shapes, and contrast.
4. Use responsive design: Your email designs should be responsive to different screen sizes and devices. This is especially important for people using mobile devices.
5. Test your code: Use proper coding practices to ensure your emails render correctly across different email clients and devices.
6. Label your images with alt text: Alternative text, also known as alt text, is a written description of an image. When an image has alternative text, assistive technologies such as screen readers can read it aloud to users, giving them an understanding of the image’s content or purpose. This allows people with visual impairments to access and understand information presented in images, including graphics, photographs, and icons. See a sample of an image with alt text below.
Sample image with alt text for email accessibility
7. Check text size and spacing: Make sure your text is easy to read by using a minimum font size of 14 pixels and potentially 16 pixels or larger for mobile devices. Space between lines and paragraphs should also be appropriately sized to avoid crowding and confusion.
8. Use emojis wisely: Emojis can add a fun element to your emails, but some people may not be able to see them. Use them sparingly and only if they add value.
9. Check your font: While decorative or fancy fonts may be visually appealing, they can be difficult to understand, especially for people with visual or cognitive disabilities. Stick to simple, legible fonts to ensure clarity. Choose a simple, easy-to-read font like Arial, Tahoma, or Calibri. Avoid fancy or illegible fonts.
10. Prioritize quality content: The ultimate goal of any email marketer is to deliver information that benefits subscribers. Make sure that the content they are reading actually adds value. Avoid wasting their time with unnecessary information as that might lead them to unsubscribe or mark your emails as spam.
By implementing these best practices, you can improve the accessibility of your emails and make them easier for people to read, understand, and act upon. Remember, the goal is to make your emails accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of their impairments or disabilities. So, strive to create a positive experience for everyone who interacts with your email campaigns.