How can I make my emails accessible? (e.g., contrast, ALT text, semantic HTML)
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You've probably never seen an email designed for someone using a screen reader. But roughly 1 in 4 adults lives with some form of disability, and plenty of your subscribers are reading your emails in ways you haven't tested for. Making your emails accessible isn't just a nice-to-have. It's how you make sure your content actually reaches everyone on your list.
The good news is that you don't need to rebuild everything at once. Here's how to work through it, layer by layer.
Start with color contrast
The minimum contrast ratio for body text is 4.5:1 against the background. For large text (18px and up, or 14px bold), 3:1 is the floor. This matters for readers with low vision and anyone opening your email in bright sunlight. Test your text and button colors with a free contrast checker before you finalize a design. If your brand palette fails, adjust the shade slightly. You don't have to redesign. You just have to check.
Write real ALT text for every image
But when an image doesn't load, or when a screen reader processes your email, ALT text is all your reader gets. Don't write "image.png" or leave it blank (unless the image is purely decorative, in which case use alt="" so screen readers skip it). Write what the image communicates. If it's a button that says "Shop Now," your ALT text should say "Shop Now," not "orange button." If it's a product photo, describe what's shown and why it matters in context.
Use semantic HTML correctly
Proper heading tags give your email structure that screen readers can navigate. Use <h1> for your main headline, <h2> for section headers, and so on in logical order. Don't skip levels. Use <p> tags for body text rather than bare <div> elements. This isn't about visual appearance. It's about how assistive technology parses your content when it reads it out loud.
Make your link text descriptive
"Click here" tells a screen reader user nothing. When someone tabs through links in your email, they hear only the link text in isolation. "Download the full report," "View your order," "Read the case study" all work. "Click here" and "Learn more" (repeated five times) do not. Write link text that makes sense out of context.
Set font sizes that actually work
14px is the minimum for body text. 16px is better. Anything smaller is hard to read on mobile even for people without vision impairments, and it's genuinely inaccessible for many low-vision readers. Don't use tiny disclaimer text at 10px and call it fine. If it's worth including, it's worth making readable.
Size your tap targets generously
Buttons and links should have a tap target of at least 44x44 pixels. A tiny text link buried in a paragraph is nearly impossible to tap accurately on a phone. Give your calls to action enough breathing room to be usable for everyone, not just people with perfect fine motor control.
Set the language attribute
Add lang="en" (or the appropriate language code) to your <html> tag. Screen readers use this to select the right pronunciation engine. Without it, a reader set to French might try to read your English email in French phonetics. It's a one-line fix that makes a real difference.
Check your reading order
Now many email templates use multi-column layouts. When those collapse on mobile, or when a screen reader linearizes the content, the order matters. Read through your email as if it were a single column from top to bottom. Does it still make sense? If your call to action appears before the context that explains it, that's a problem worth fixing in your template structure.
Test before you send
You can use our free accessibility checker to catch common issues before your email goes out. It won't replace manual testing, but it will flag contrast failures, missing ALT text, and structural problems in seconds. If you want to go deeper, screen reader testing with NVDA (free, Windows) or VoiceOver (built into Mac and iOS) will show you exactly what your subscribers hear.
Start with contrast and ALT text. Those two alone will cover the majority of accessibility problems in most email programs. Then add semantic structure, then check your tap targets. Each pass makes your emails more inclusive, and more likely to land well across every kind of inbox and reader.
Curious how your current template holds up? Run it through our free accessibility checker and see what comes back.
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