A government agency sent an important benefits notification to millions of recipients. The email looked beautiful—clean design, clear hierarchy, prominent call-to-action. But for the 15% of recipients using screen readers, it was incomprehensible. Images had no alt text. The reading order was scrambled. Links said "click here" with no context. Thousands of people couldn't access information they needed.
Email accessibility isn't optional—it's essential. Beyond legal requirements in many jurisdictions, accessible emails simply work better for everyone. The practices that help screen reader users also improve mobile readability, low-bandwidth performance, and overall user experience.
Why email accessibility matters
Accessibility affects more people than you might think.
Visual impairments range from complete blindness to color blindness to low vision. Screen reader users need properly structured content. Color-blind users need information conveyed through more than color alone. Low-vision users need sufficient contrast and scalable text.
Motor impairments affect how people interact with emails. Some users can't use a mouse and navigate entirely by keyboard. Touch targets need to be large enough for users with limited dexterity.
Cognitive disabilities affect how people process information. Clear language, consistent structure, and focused content help users with dyslexia, ADHD, and other cognitive differences.
Situational limitations affect everyone sometimes. Reading email in bright sunlight, on a small screen, or while distracted creates temporary accessibility needs. Good accessibility practices help in all these situations.
Legal requirements exist in many places. The ADA in the US, the Equality Act in the UK, and similar laws elsewhere require accessible communications. While email-specific enforcement is limited, the legal landscape is evolving.
Semantic structure
Proper HTML structure is the foundation of accessible email.
Use semantic HTML elements appropriately. Headings (h1, h2, h3) should reflect content hierarchy, not just visual styling. A screen reader user navigating by headings should understand your email's structure.
Don't skip heading levels. Going from h1 to h3 without h2 confuses screen readers and users. Maintain logical hierarchy even if you want different visual sizes.
Use lists for list content. If you're presenting a series of items, use ul or ol elements, not just line breaks. Screen readers announce lists and their length, helping users understand the content structure.
Tables should be for tabular data only, not layout. If you must use tables for layout (email rendering sometimes requires it), use role="presentation" to tell screen readers to ignore the table structure.
Reading order matters. Screen readers follow the DOM order, not visual order. If your email uses complex layouts, ensure the HTML order makes sense when read linearly.
Images and alt text
Images need text alternatives for users who can't see them.
Every meaningful image needs alt text. Describe what the image shows and why it matters. "Product photo" is weak. "Blue running shoes, model X500, now 30% off" is useful.
Decorative images should have empty alt attributes (alt=""). This tells screen readers to skip them. Don't omit the alt attribute entirely—that causes screen readers to read the filename, which is worse.
Complex images like charts or infographics need detailed descriptions. Either provide comprehensive alt text or link to a text description. A chart showing sales trends needs the actual data conveyed in text.
Don't rely on images for critical information. If your CTA is an image, what happens when images don't load? Always have text alternatives for essential content.
Image-only emails are inaccessible by definition. Some recipients block images by default. Screen reader users get nothing useful. Always include real text content.
Color and contrast
Color choices significantly impact accessibility.
Maintain sufficient contrast between text and background. WCAG guidelines recommend at least 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Use contrast checking tools to verify.
Don't convey information through color alone. If you use red for errors and green for success, also use icons, text labels, or other indicators. Color-blind users may not distinguish red from green.
Be careful with light gray text. It's trendy but often fails contrast requirements. That elegant light gray on white might be unreadable for many users.
Test with color blindness simulators. Tools exist that show how your email appears to users with different types of color blindness. What's obvious to you might be invisible to them.
Dark mode affects color perception. If your email supports dark mode, test contrast in both modes. Colors that work on light backgrounds might fail on dark ones.
Links and buttons
Interactive elements need special attention for accessibility.
Link text should be descriptive. "Click here" and "Learn more" are meaningless out of context. Screen reader users often navigate by links, hearing them in a list. "Download the 2024 annual report" is much more useful than "Click here."
Don't use URLs as link text unless the URL itself is the point. "Visit https://example.com/really/long/path/to/page" is hard to read and listen to. Use descriptive text instead.
Buttons should look like buttons. If something is clickable, make it visually obvious. Don't rely on hover states alone—mobile users and keyboard navigators don't hover.
Touch targets should be at least 44x44 pixels. Small links and buttons are hard to tap accurately, especially for users with motor impairments.
Keyboard navigation must work. Users should be able to tab through all interactive elements in a logical order. Focus states should be visible.
Content and language
How you write affects accessibility as much as how you code.
Use plain language. Short sentences, common words, and clear structure help everyone, especially users with cognitive disabilities or those reading in a second language.
Front-load important information. Put the key message at the beginning. Users scanning or using screen readers benefit from knowing the point immediately.
Break up long content. Use headings, short paragraphs, and bullet points. Walls of text are hard for everyone and especially challenging for users with dyslexia or attention difficulties.
Specify the language. Use the lang attribute on your HTML element. Screen readers use this to pronounce content correctly. An English screen reader mispronouncing French text is confusing.
Avoid justified text. Full justification creates uneven spacing that makes reading harder, especially for users with dyslexia. Left-aligned text is more accessible.
Testing accessibility
You can't know if your emails are accessible without testing.
Use screen readers yourself. NVDA (free for Windows), VoiceOver (built into Mac/iOS), and TalkBack (Android) let you experience your email as screen reader users do. Even brief testing reveals obvious problems.
Automated testing tools catch some issues. Tools like WAVE, axe, and Lighthouse can scan for accessibility problems. They won't catch everything, but they find common issues quickly.
Test without images. Disable image loading and see if your email still makes sense. This simulates both accessibility scenarios and common email client behavior.
Test with keyboard only. Can you navigate your email without a mouse? Can you activate all links and buttons? Is the focus order logical?
Test at different zoom levels. Increase browser zoom to 200% and see if your email remains usable. Many low-vision users browse at high zoom levels.
Email client limitations
Email accessibility faces unique challenges due to client limitations.
CSS support varies wildly. What works in web browsers might not work in Outlook or Gmail. Test across clients to ensure accessibility features survive.
ARIA support is limited. Advanced ARIA attributes that work on the web often don't work in email clients. Stick to semantic HTML rather than relying on ARIA.
Interactive elements are restricted. JavaScript doesn't work in email. Accessibility features that depend on scripting won't function.
Dark mode handling varies. Some clients invert colors automatically, potentially breaking your carefully designed contrast ratios. Test in dark mode across clients.
Despite limitations, the fundamentals work everywhere. Semantic structure, alt text, sufficient contrast, and clear content are supported across all email clients.
Building accessible email workflows
Sustainable accessibility requires process, not just knowledge.
Include accessibility in your email templates. Build accessible patterns into your base templates so every email starts from a good foundation.
Create an accessibility checklist. Before sending, verify alt text, contrast, link text, and structure. Make this part of your standard review process.
Train your team. Everyone involved in email creation—designers, copywriters, developers—needs to understand accessibility basics.
Gather feedback. If possible, include users with disabilities in your testing. Their real-world experience reveals issues that automated testing misses.
Frequently asked questions
Is email accessibility legally required?
It depends on your jurisdiction and organization type. Government agencies and many businesses have legal obligations. Even without legal requirements, accessibility is good practice that improves experience for all users.
Do screen readers work with email?
Yes. Screen reader users access email through their email client or webmail, and the screen reader reads the content. How well this works depends on how accessibly the email is coded.
What's the most important accessibility fix?
Alt text for images is often the biggest quick win. Many emails have images without alt text, making them incomprehensible to screen reader users. Adding meaningful alt text is straightforward and high-impact.
Does accessibility hurt email design?
No. Accessible design is good design. Sufficient contrast, clear hierarchy, and readable text improve the experience for everyone. The best-designed emails are also the most accessible.