Give people a choice in how they consume emails.
Most email clients, webmail clients, and apps display the HTML version of an email by default. However, people can and will configure their email clients to show a plain text version instead. It is essential to send both HTML and a plain text version of an email to ensure customers receive Nationwide email communications in a format of their choice.
For some people with cognitive, language, or learning disabilities, viewing a plain text email may be easier and more comfortable to read than an HTML email.
Plain text emails do not contain images, colours, and custom fonts or use layout techniques such as columns or borders, all of which may impact someone’s ability to read the email.
As text is the foundation of email, it is important to consider the content hierarchy in both a plain text email and its HTML version. A well-designed content hierarchy that surfaces and guides people to the most relevant information will help produce more accessible content for both email versions.
Provide an option to view the email in a web browser, as some people may find this a more comfortable way to read their emails.
Practices
- Provide a plain text format: Make the plain text format as clear and as readable as possible. Ensure the content of the plain text email is equivalent and consistent with the HTML version.
- Use sub-headings to title different sections of the email and help break up the text making it easier to scan.
- Use whitespace to provide spacing between paragraphs and sentences to help people understand where different sections of the email start and finish.
- Include the full URL in the email as they will not act as links otherwise. Place the text description of the button or link above the URL, followed by a colon or arrow to indicate where the link leads.
- Use typographic characters such as equal signs, asterisks, and underscores to recreate common design patterns such as borders and spacing to make the plain text email easier to scan. Use these sparingly so they don’t distract people from reading the content.
- Use dashes to replace bulleted list markers and use numbers or letters for ordered lists.
- View in a browser: Provide an option to open the email in a browser, rather than an email client, as some people may find this a more comfortable way to read the email. For people whose first language isn’t English, opening the email in a browser allows them to use browser-based tools to translate the content into a language of their choice. Adding a link at the top of the email is one way to achieve this.