Overview

This lesson addresses the problems with image-based emails and how to ensure your message reaches all users.

Core Concepts

Avoid Image-Only Email

A commonly-used strategy when creating email to advertise events is to simply send an image of the poster for the event. This has two major drawbacks. The first problem is that the text will not be accessible to readers who have visual impairments. Second, readers may be blocking images from their email--this is quite common with mobile phones.

To fix this problem, email authors should provide a text-based equivalent to the information contained in the poster image. Begin your email with all of the relevant information typed in, in text, then add your image. This approach privileges the information over the method of presentation.

You could begin with the poster image, but people using screen readers may completely ignore your message, assuming that the message is inaccessible. When providing alternate formats, it's always best to lead with the most accessible information or at least an indication that an alternate format is available.

Another strategy you could use is to provide the text equivalent in the body of the email and then attach the poster (as an accessible Word doc or PDF).

Image-Only Email on Mobile Devices

Image only emails do not always present as intended on mobile devices. For instance, when authors upload multiple images the message may display in problematic ways for folks on a mobile device. See the image below for example. The text is not only so small that it's impossible to read, but it's actually a screenshot of text. It's intended to display inside of the other image, a square of ivy border. The experience is confusing and unusable for any user, regardless of the presence of a disability.

image based email described in the text

Image-Only Email and Spam Filters

One last reason to avoid image-only emails is that they are associated with and used by email spammers. Such emails are more likely to be flagged by spam filters or the image may be blocked by the email client. Additionally, without text, a preview of the first few lines is not available and the email will not come up in search results.

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