Provide equivalent and accurate alternatives for media so that people can access it in the way most appropriate for them.
Media is used in emails to help convey ideas, aid understanding, and add personality.
People with cognitive disabilities and those who are blind or have low vision may use assistive technologies such as text-to-speech software, screen readers, or screen magnification programs to read emails. When emails contain visual media such as photographs, graphs, or diagrams, they must provide text descriptions that thoroughly describe the media. The alternative content helps people understand what’s in the media and brings the most important details to their attention.
An email client can often block media content in emails or sometimes fails to load it. Providing alternatives for media means that if the content is not available, people can still access the information, albeit in a different way.
Practices
- Alternatives for media: Provide text descriptions for media such as photographs, illustrations, graphs, and diagrams. Ensure the descriptions are succinct, accurate, and convey the meaning of the original media. A few tips might be to describe a lifestyle image or write out the words contained in a logo. Decide how best to describe the media in text within the context of the email.
- Summaries for audio/video media: When linking to an external piece of audio or video content from an email, provide a short description of the audio or video content to help someone understand what the content is about and help decide if it’s relevant to them.