Accessibility and Email
The aim of all the emails we send is to get people to read them and take action. So don’t deliberately hide your content from up to 20% of your audience – in the UK anyway!
1 in 5 people have some kind of accessibility issue, not including temporary accessibility issues, imagine holding a baby, breaking your arm, or not being able to reach your phone – maybe you ask alexa to read your email, or you’re using your off hand to click buttons.
Top 5 Accessibility Tips
#1. Use live text, not text in images – you’ll hear all the excuses: “it’s easier to leave the text in an image”, “but our brand font!”.
But – as Anne Tomlin said:
“When you put text in an image instead of using live text, you’re telling part of your audience that you care more about your font than you do about them.”
#2. Text size should be at least 14px – but ideally 16px minimum. Use a clear font that is not too condensed and if it is over 3 lines, ensure it is left aligned.
There are a large number of visually impaired users worldwide and by having a minimum font size you are making sure all of your readers can understand it. Choosing a good font and adjusting the alignment will make it easier to read and help your users engage with your content.
#3. Color contrast – The Web Content Accessibility Group (WCAG)has three levels of accessibility and the top two specify a contrast ratio for text on background colours.
AA standard – 4.5:1
AAA standard – 7:1
You can check the contrast of your colours using a tool such as the WebAIM contrast checker.
#4. Make sure your Call to Actions are styled so they are obvious to the recipient and if you make them buttons, ensure they are at least 44pt in height so that on mobile they can be tapped easily.
#5. Have a clear layout – this is an important design guideline for all emails, even if you are not focusing on accessibility, having a logical layout such as the inverse triangle or your content reads from left to right.
These are all easy to implement when designing and building your emails, helping your recipients have the best experience and help engage your audience.
For even more information on accessibility checkout the topic on the Email Design Review blog.
Jay Oram – Senior coder & Interactive email specialist at Action Rocket.