Email Accessability
I’ve been incredibly curious in the area of computer accessibility over this past year and these past few weeks I’ve begun researching how users interact with webpages, email, multimedia and overall technology.
I read a recent article that was written by an individual with visual impairment in which he said:
I find the benefits of HTML-based emails to be that they are easier for me to navigate through links, headings, and tables.
This was quite a shock to me personally because I thought that plain text would have been the obvious solution. Thinking about what this individual is saying though makes sense. There is much more definition in a formatted document than a plain text document. More options are available to the user and quicker navigation is available if the HTML email is formatted correctly.
The conclusion was a good one that clarified a plain text email is better if only basic information is being sent (meaning not a lot of links) - their still seems to be quite a problem with how people respond to emails though.
Bill Says:
I agree that html email can communicate more clearly. It can add emphasis to important details, and more clearly separate details. The problem with subscribing to html emails is that it generally means accepting images, web bugs, and larger files, that slow the system down.
I would think there would have to be particular study about the types and presentation of html email.