Accessibility Checkers and Email Tips

Make sure that all emails you send to other people are accessible before you hit Send.

Check Your Accessibility

Microsoft Outlook:

1. After you finish drafting your email, click the “Check Accessibility” button in the Review tab of Outlook.

Open

2. The built-in accessibility checker will appear on the right side of your screen.

3. Fix any accessibility issues by clicking on the links under the issue in the accessibility checker.

Gmail

If you use Gmail to send emails, you can check the accessibility of your Gmail using the WAVE browser extension.

Write Accessible Emails

• If you include images in your email, add alt text that accurately describes the image. This is helpful for anyone who turns images off in their email for privacy or bandwidth reasons, and people with visual disabilities who cannot view the image.

  • Outlook: Right-click on the image and select “Edit Alt Text”

  • Gmail: After adding an image, your image options will be displayed directly below the image. Select "Edit Alt Text" to add.

• Use a legible sans-serif font, such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Tahoma, or similar.

• Keep text at a reasonable size, typically at least 11 or 12pt.

• Align text to to the left, instead of centered or justified.

• Avoid using all caps or underlined text to improve readability.

• Break up text into short paragraphs.

• Use plain language that is easy to understand.

• Write descriptive link text that describes what happens when someone clicks your link.

• If you are attaching documents to your email, make sure your document is accessible before sharing it.