To make your emails and pages accessible to all of your recipients, make sure to follow the guidelines:
- use a simple layout and keep a clear and consistent hierarchy
- don't be afraid of having space between your elements
- have a good ration between your copy and your images
- use high color contrast between text and background color
- have an easy to read copy, avoid long sentences
- use large font size, at least 14px
- avoid justified copy (because of uneven spacing)
- use center-alignment only for very short text
- use the right font (not too condensed and evenly spaced)
- add descriptive alt-text to all your images (images used for spacing or as a divider can have an empty alt-tag)
- don't use images as buttons
- avoid having key information as text within an image
- underline your text links (and not text that is not a link)
- use descriptive text for all links (not just "buy" but "buy the summer deal here")
- select the emails language in the email editor settings
In case you accessibility test your email/boilerplate and get the feedback that alt-tags or role="presentation" is missing, you are using a too old boilerplate/skins set up. Please create new emails by using our default email boilerplate or contact your Customer Success Manager at Symplify to order an up-to-date version of your custom boilerplate.
Here at Symplify we are very aware of the new accessibility regulations, however we would like to point out that most of the new accessibility regulations are primarily web-focused, and in this regard it's important to note that HTML emails inherently come with more technical limitations compared to websites. For instance, broader support from platforms like Gmail and Outlook is necessary for some accessibility improvements to take effect, regardless of the implementation done on our end.