Ensuring emails are accessible helps recipients with disabilities engage with your content effectively. This guide outlines best practices for writing and formatting accessible emails.

 General Best Practices

  • Use clear and concise language for easy readability.
  • Structure emails with headings and short paragraphs for better navigation.
  • Ensure plain text alternatives are available for HTML emails.
  • Provide accessible attachments (e.g., tagged PDFs and accessible Word documents).

 Formatting and Readability

  • Use a minimum font size of 12-14px for body text.
  • Choose high-contrast colors for text and background.
  • Avoid using all caps or excessive italics and underlining.
  • Use bullet points for clarity instead of long paragraphs.

 Links and Attachments

  • Use descriptive link text instead of generic phrases like “click here.”
  • Ensure hyperlinks are underlined and in a distinguishable color.
  • Attach files in accessible formats (e.g., structured Word, tagged PDFs, or HTML pages).

 Images and Alternative Text

  • Add alt text to all meaningful images.
  • Avoid using images to convey essential information without a text alternative.
  • Use HTML text instead of embedded text in images where possible.

 Email Accessibility Tools and Testing

  • Microsoft Outlook Accessibility Checker – Built-in tool to check email accessibility.
  • WebAIM Contrast Checker – Ensures sufficient text/background contrast.

 Additional Training and Learning Resources

  • Creating Accessible Emails (1h 20m) [LinkedIn Learning]
  • Microsoft Outlook Accessibility Features (1h 10m) [LinkedIn Learning]
  • Accessible Digital Communication (2h 00m) [LinkedIn Learning]