Mass email accessibility
Not everyone uses mass email services, but nearly everyone does use email, including people with disabilities. Whether you’re sending a highly polished marketing communication to tens of thousands of people or an important communication to students in a particular class, it is important to pay close attention to the accessibility of your HTML emails.
Accessible HTML email templates
If you use a service like Emma, MailChimp, or a similar solution for creating a more designed experience for mass emails, you must make sure your template is accessible. Depending on the service you use, you should be able to search for accessible templates and find one that will meet your needs. If you are developing your own template, keep in mind that University policy requires that your template meets or exceeds WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.
You can request that OIT evaluate your template for accessibility by creating a ticket in the Technology Help Center.
Platform accessibility
The platform you are using to manage your HTML emails should have instructions and tips for creating more accessible emails. If it does not, then contact the vendor and make sure it is possible to create a template using their service that conforms to the web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA. If you are using a template provided by the vendor, search for one that is accessible. Whether you are building your own template or using one provided by your vendor, you must ensure it is WCAG 2.1 AA compliant. The content you add to it must also be accessible.
Here are some key guidelines from WCAG to help improve the accessibility of HTML email content:
Images of content
It might be tempting to use a graphics program to create your entire email message and send it out. Images of content are not accessible. Beyond accessibility concerns, if the link for your image is broken or the recipient turns off images, no one will be able to see your content. If someone is viewing your email on a mobile device, the image will not “respond” the way a well-formed HTML email would so it may be difficult or impossible for anyone to read.
Provide alternative text for images
Alternative text (or alt text) is a short description of an image that describes its purpose.
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If the email program you are using does not allow for alt text to be added to images, you'll need to find a provider that does
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Generally, if you right click on an image, you can find an option called alt text. Click on it and add your description
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There should be a field in the "add image" section for alt text. Consult your vendor's support documentation.
Use descriptive links
Descriptive links help everyone know where the link will take them. Using key words or short phrases in your copy may also support search engine optimization.
Make sure there is enough color contrast
A lack of sufficient color contrast is one of the most common accessibility issues. Fixing this issue will not only benefit people with disabilities, but everyone who views your content. In general, text should have a 4.5:1 ratio between the color of the text and the background. If the text is large like a large heading and for user interface elements, that ratio minimum is 3:1. People with low vision and people with colorblindness will benefit the most from fixing this issue as well as people who view your content in dark mode (which you should test!) and people viewing your content in bright locations.
Plain Language
Learn about and use the principles of plain language. By organizing your content and presenting in clear, simplified language, not only do you help people with cognitive and learning disabilities, but also people who are busy and overloaded with information.
Use headings correctly
Use the text editor to designate text as a heading using outline form (heading 1-6 or h1-h6), don't just make the text look like a heading, it must be programmed as a heading. This allow people without vision who use screen readers to browse your content using your headings. You can then style those headings however you wish.
Check accessibility
Your email service should provide a way to check accessibility before sending your message. If it does not, you will need to discuss this with your vendor representative. You can also check accessibility by going to the web version of your email and running a web accessibility checker on it. There are several great web accessibility checkers that you can use (these links are for Chrome extensions; you can search for these or similar extensions for your browser):
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Outlook Accessibility (For Mac on the desktop, you can check accessibility when you create a new message by choosing Edit on the Outlook ribbon, and then choosing “Check Accessibility”).
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WAVE from Web AIM
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SiteImprove Accessibility Checker
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Lighthouse in Chrome developer tools
Additional resources
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