In an increasingly digital environment, ensuring that our communications are accessible is not just good practice: it is a legal requirement. The Accessibility Act, both at national and European level, sets out a number of clear requirements and guidelines to ensure that all people, regardless of their abilities, can access information equally.
Why is it crucial to apply these guidelines in customer-facing emails?
HTML e-mails are a key tool, widely and increasingly used in customer communications. However, if they are not designed with accessibility criteria, they can exclude people with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor disabilities. This not only violates their rights, but can also have legal implications for organizations.
Best practices for accessible Emails
We highlight, by way of summary, some of the obligations and requirements included in Directive (EU) 2019/882, in relation to Accessibility, for communications through the E-mail channel and that affect content, design and programming of resources:
- Correct use of semantic tags to facilitate navigation with screen readers.
- Incorporation of alternative text in images, buttons and links, describing their content.
- Adequate contrasts between text and background to facilitate reading.
- Avoid excessive use of colors to convey information.
- Responsive design aligned to the channel’s technology and that adapts to the different electronic devices, as well as to the main mail managers.
- Clear and direct language, messages and semantics, avoiding unnecessary technicalities.
- Inclusion of alternative means of access to the communication, such as the accessible web version of the communication.
- Adequacy of the sizes of the different text structures, such as headings, paragraphs, lists, etc., in order to ensure easy reading, comprehension and transmission of messages.
- Avoid excessive use of capital letters or italics as they make reading difficult for people with low vision or dyslexia.
Complying with the law, but also betting on values that strengthen your brand.
Implementing the Accessibility Act is not just about complying with a regulation: it is about demonstrating that organizations value inclusion, diversity and respect for all their customers. And to build a brand that listens, adapts and cares about delivering a fair and inclusive digital experience.
Accessibility should not only be seen as a legal obligation, but as a strategic opportunity that expands the market by reducing barriers.
Do you need your emails to be accessible?
At MailComms Group’s Tech-Agency, we can help you validate compliance with this standard in your emails (HTML) and correct them if necessary. These types of interventions and improvements represent a clear commitment to your customers, providing fairer and more universal access to information.
