The Importance of Email Accessibility August 31, 2021, | Posted by Kia Zalewski

One of the key issues that email marketers often face is ensuring that their content and messaging is  accessible to everyone. The need for accessible design and features in email campaigns is paramount as more shoppers have turned to e-commerce and online retail following the pandemic. Companies must create content for all of their customers, including those who normally would rely on phone-based services or in-person shopping. 

It’s always important to make your email marketing campaigns accessible, and it’s key to remember that there’s no way to know whether or not someone who uses an assistive device to convert images to text, or who uses text-to-speech or other tools has received your email. It’s simply good practice to incorporate some basic principles of accessibility into your email design to ensure that everyone you send to has the ability to get your message. Accessibility at the most basic level ensures that no matter who receives your email, they are able to get your message. And most importantly, it’s both sensitive and insightful to take people’s disabilities or challenges into account to help them receive your content.

Many of the basic accessibility features that you would want to include in your email design are very simple to make accessible. Providing embedded image descriptions and alt text will allow text-to-speech and text-reader applications and other software to provide more detailed information to visually impaired recipients. Making your call to action button easier to tap or click on is another feature that is very easy to implement, and can make a huge impact on your customer’s experience. Some of the best accessibility features simply come down to strong and thoughtful design, which has the added benefit of making your campaign stronger overall.

As more prospects look to shop online, the use of accessible design principles and methods in email marketing creative and development has become increasingly important. Marketers want all of their recipients to be able to act on emails with a minimum of fuss, and accessibility makes that possible. 

Contact Site Impact to hear how we can help you make your emails accessible for all.