Blog Email Marketing and SMS

Make your email campaigns accessible

Imagen Make your email campaigns access

There are 2 million people with sight problems in the UK¹. Are you going to leave them out of your email marketing strategy?

Electronic accessibility or e-accessibility can be defined as the extent to which all ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) users can access electronic contents in equality of conditions.

There are different degrees of visual impairment: from light visually impaired to deep visually impaired... It is important to know the obstacles that people might face when using new technologies in order to make our contents more accessible.

Here are some easy tips to implement that will help you reach all your audience:

1. Text content: Always include the text version of your html campaign, so your subscribers are able to decide which is the most convenient reading format for them.

2. Images. Use descriptions in your images (alternative text). This is especially important if they entail embedded text messages.

3. Colors. People with visual disabilities may have a difficult time reading your emails depending on the colors you've chosen. Always use color combinations with sufficient contrast so that the words can be easily read. The best option is to use monochromatic palettes, choosing a lighter shade for the background and a darker one of the same color for the text. For example, light orange for the background and dark orange for the text. Thus, a sensitive person to this color, even he cannot distinguish it, will be able to read the text thanks to the contrast between both tones.

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Picture on the left, normal vision. Picture on the right, people with protanopy (red is perceived as beige and in a darker tone than the original. Greens tend to be seen like red)

4. Fonts. Do not use fonts with sizes less than 14 pixels and try to avoid those that are very condensed and do not have a uniform spacing, they often lose readability. In their standard version, Arial and Verdana fonts are usually the easiest to read.

5. about justified texts. Do not justify texts: unjustified texts are easier to read since the length of the lines are different. A good practice is to align the text to the left and try not to write more than 50-70 characters per line.

6. Structure of contents. Create a clear hierarchy of contents, putting the most important information in the upper part of your newsletter. It may also be helpful to your subscribers that you use a predictable structure, as this helps to focus and navigate more conveniently.

7. Balance between text and image. While sighted users are able to discard at a glance those contents that are not of their interest, blind users have to listen to the entire contents of the email. With this in mind, make sure there is a good balance between text and images in your design, adapting the texts to convey the main message. You can test the accessibility of your design with a screen reader such as JAWS.

8. Links. Your links must have a reasonable size, so it is not necessary to have a pinpoint accuracy with the mouse to click on them. They should be located in easily recognizable places without many visual distractions. This will also help you increase your CTR.

9. Transcription. When including video or audio into your campaigns, provide a link to the written transcription. There are apps on the market that can help you do it automatically.

10. Forms. When you provide your users the ability to subscribe to your lists with subscribe forms, make sure they are able to move between fields using the tab key. It is important to keep tabs in a logical order, so the user can complete the form faster and more conveniently.

11. Unhealthy contents. Blinking content, geometric shapes and patterns may cause problems for users with photosensitive epilepsy. The recommendation of the WAI (W3C Accessibility Initiative) is to avoid flashing, moving or autoplay contents... unless the user can control it. Should it be vital for your campaign to include animated or moving contents, keep in mind that users with photosensitive epilepsy can be triggered by flickering or flashing that range from 4 to 59 flashes per second (Hz), with maximum level attacks with 20 flashes per second as well as quick changes from dark to light (like strobe lights).

So remember, if you want your email marketing campaigns to perform at 100%, start thinking about e-accessibility, the result will be even more comfortable for everyone.

¹ RNIB

Protanopy Photo: https://accesibilidadweb.dlsi.ua.es

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