Accessible content makes it easier for everyone to read and access your materials and can improve their overall quality and usability. Accessible communication benefits your audience by ensuring that the information clear, direct, and easy to understand. The following article will walk you through some basic tips for improving accessibility in your emails and communications. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Email and Attachments
  • Accessibility in Microsoft Outlook
  • Create your message
  • Write clearly
  • Ensure that your text is easy to read
  • Avoid using tables
  • Organize content with bulleted and numbered lists
  • Use descriptive links
  • Add alternative text descriptions to images 
  • Create accessible attachments
• Social Media
  • General guidelines for social media accessibility
  • Use CamelCase hashtags
  • Use emojis sparingly
  • Use color strategically 
  • Use image descriptions
  • Caption your media content
  • Avoid animated GIFs
• Additional Resources
  • Microsoft Office
  • Social Media

Email and Attachments

Accessibility in Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is the university's supported email client and contains built-in tools designed to help you make your email accessible to all users. 

• All members of the Lesley community have access to Outlook on the web. Simply login to your Lesley email at lesley.edu/email.
• All current and active students, staff, core-faculty, and emeritus-faculty are eligible to download and install Microsoft Office on their personal computers and tablets while they are attending or working at Lesley.  
• Adjunct-faculty, alumni, and retirees may use the web version of Microsoft applications or purchase the Microsoft Office Suite for their personal devices. 

Microsoft provides detailed information and tutorials designed to help you make your emails accessible to all users:

• Make your Outlook email accessible to people with disabilities. 
• Video: Improve email accessibility in Outlook.
• Improve accessibility with the Microsoft Accessibility Checker.

Create your message

As a best practice, include all important information in the body of your email, not in the subject line, in an image, or an an attachment. This ensures that all users can access the information.

• Subject: Start with a clear and concise subject line. Your subject should be short, informative and specific, allowing users to know what the email is about without having to open it. Keep in mind that long subject lines may be truncated when viewing email on different devices.
• Message Body: All important information should be typed out in the body of the email. If your message contains images, especially images that convey information, be sure to include this information in text within the body of the email. 
• Attachments: If you are including attachments, provide information about the attachment in the body of the email. Let users know that there is an attachment and what it contains. Your attachment should be accessible to all users and compatible across devices (ex DOCX, PDF).

Write clearly

Your message should be written and organized so that your audience can easily understand the content and find the information that they need.

• Use plain language whenever possible. Simple concise language ensures that users can easily understand your message.
• When introducing topics, define and spell out abbreviations, acronyms, or jargon.
• Organize your information and lay out your content in a logical order.
• Use the Microsoft Editor to check your spelling and grammar before sending your message.

Ensure that your text is easy to read

Pay special attention to your font, size, color, and spacing to ensure that your content is easy for users to read and understand.

• Choose a font that is easy to read, such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, and Verdana. Avoid using decorative fonts, as these can be difficult for users to read.
• Use 12 point font or larger. 
• Avoid using multiple fonts and font sizes.
• Avoid using all capital letters and underlined text. Use italics and bold text sparingly. 
• Be sure to use adequate spacing. Avoid overly tight or loose letter spacing and include ample white space between sentences and paragraphs. 
• Use color and contrast wisely. As a best practice, avoid using color as the only way to convey information, as this can be problematic for visually impaired and color deficient users. You will also want to ensure that there is sufficient contrast between the background and foreground of your text or graphics. 
  • If you are using color to convey meaning, use a second indicator as well, such as bold and italics. 
  • Check your color and contrast with a tool such as WebAIM's Contrast Checker.
  • Penn State's Accessibility article on Color Coding provides information and examples for using color coding.

Avoid using tables

Avoid using tables, if possible, and present your data in a different way. Consider presenting your information using bulleted or numbered lists. Tables should be used only when your information or data is too complicated to describe with text. 

• Do not use tables to create a visual layout of your content!
• If you must use tables, create simple tables with no more than one header row and one header column. Refer to the Add accessible tables and lists to Outlook email support articlefor more information.
  • Ensure your header makes sense as it relates to the content. Screen readers speak one cell at a time and reference the associated header cells so that the reader doesn't lose context. 
  • Avoid complex tables with multiple levels of row or column headers or headers that span multiple rows or columns. Instead, consider creating multiple tables to present your data.
  • Do not merge or split cells! Merged and split cells may confuse the reader and cause readability and accessibility issues.
  • Avoid empty cells, especially if those cells are used for formatting. If you need to add additional white space, consider creating multiple tables.
  • Avoid fixed width tables as these can present challenges across screen sizes and devices.

Organize content with bulleted and numbered lists

Use Outlook's built-in bulleted and numbered list tools to create well structured lists. Properly created lists inform screen readers how many items are in the list and, in the case of numbered lists, it also reads the number for each item. 

Microsoft provides detailed information and tutorials designed to help you make your emails accessible to all users: 

• Video: Add accessible tables and lists to Outlook email.
• Make your Outlook email accessible to people with disabilities. Select your version of Outlook at the top of the page and use the table of contents to select your topic.

Use descriptive links

As a best practice, ensure that your links convey clear and accurate information about the destination. 

• Web addresses or URLs are not considered informative and decrease readability of your content. Additionally, screen readers will read each letter, number, and symbol individually, making it difficult to understand.
• Avoid generic link text such as "click here" or "learn more." Instead, include the full title of the destination page or a description of the page.

Microsoft provides detailed information and tutorials designed to help you make your emails accessible to all users: 

• Customize the text for a hyperlink in Outlook.
• Create or edit a hyperlink in Microsoft Office. This article will walk you through creating different types of links, including links to files, email addresses, and locations in a document.

Add alternative text descriptions to images 

When using images, be sure to add alternative text (or alt text) to describe the content and purpose of the image. This ensures that users with visual disables understand the images and graphical content.

• Your alternative text should be a short description that accurately conveys the meaning and purpose of the image, rather than simply describing how the image looks.
• If the image is decorative and provides no meaning to your content, mark the image as decorative.
• Avoid using images containing text as the sole method of conveying information. If you must use the image, repeat the text in the body of the email.
• For complex images that convey substantial information (such as charts, graphs, diagrams, etc.), provide a short description of your image using the alt text as well as a longer description in a caption or within the surrounding text. Refer to the Complex Images for All Learners: A Guide to Make Visual Content Accessible [PDF] for detailed information.

For more information and detailed instructions on adding alternative text, please refer to the following support resources:

• Microsoft Office: Everything you need to know to write effective alt text.
• Video: Improve image accessibility in Outlook.
• Microsoft Office: Add alternative text to a shape, picture, chart, SmartArt graphic, or other object.

Create accessible attachments

If your email contains attachments, ensure that these files are accessible to all users and compatible across devices.

• If your email contains attachments, provide information about the attachment in the body of the email. Let users know that there is an attachment and what it contains. 
• If you are attaching a Microsoft Office file (ex Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, etc.), Use the Microsoft Accessibility Checker to find and fix any accessibility issues before attaching your file.
• If you are attaching a PDF, be sure that your file is accessible to all users.
  • Don't use scanned PDFs! Scanned PDFs provide one of the biggest accessibility challenges. When you scan a text, such as a book, journal article, newspaper article, etc., the resulting document is an image of the text. These scanned PDFs are considered completely inaccessible to all users.
  • Ensure that your PDF is tagged to allow screen readers to understand your file's reading order, where headings fall, and which objects in the document are tables, images, footnotes, etc.
  • If you are creating your PDF using a Microsoft Office application (ex Word, PowerPoint), be sure to make your file accessible first, before you convert to PDF. 
    • Use the Microsoft Accessibility Assistant to find and fix any accessibility issues before converting your file to PDF.
    • Be sure to Save your Microsoft Office file as an accessible PDF.

Social Media

General guidelines for social media accessibility

Following the principles of inclusive design will allow more users to have equal access to your content. How to be More Accessible on Social Media will walk you through tips for making your posts more inclusive as well as information and instructions for becoming more accessible on every social media channel.

Use CamelCase hashtags

Use CamelCase Hashtags for better readability. Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag. This is better for readability and will also allow a screen reader to read the hashtag aloud. For example, write hashtags #LikeThis instead of #likethis.

Use emojis sparingly

A screen reader is set up to automatically read emojis aloud and reading a string of emojis may be distracting to users. 

Use color strategically 

Use color and contrast wisely. As a best practice, avoid using color as the only way to convey information, as this can be problematic for visually impaired and color deficient users.

• If you are using color to convey meaning, use a second indicator as well, such as bold and italics. 
• Check your content's color and contrast with WebAIM's Contrast Checker. 
• Penn State's Accessibility article on Color Coding provides information and examples for using color coding.

Use image descriptions

When sharing images, be sure to add image descriptions or alternative text (or alt text) to describe the content and purpose of the image. This ensures that users with visual disables understand the images and graphical content.

• Your alternative text should be a short description that accurately conveys the meaning and purpose of the image, rather than simply describing how the image looks.
• If the image is decorative and provides no meaning to your content, mark the image as decorative.
• Avoid using images containing text as the sole method of conveying information. If you must use the image, repeat the text in the alt text.
• For complex images that convey substantial information (such as charts, graphs, diagrams, etc.), provide a short description of your image using the alt text as well as a longer description in a caption or within the surrounding text. Refer to the Complex Images for All Learners: A Guide to Make Visual Content Accessible [PDF] for detailed information.

For instructions on adding image descriptions on various social media platforms, refer to the following articles:

• X (Twitter): How to make images accessible for people.
• Facebook: How do I edit the alternative text for a photo?
• Instagram: Edit the alternative text for a post.
• Linkedin: Add alternative text to images for accessibility.

Caption your media content

Make sure that the videos you're linking to are captioned. If you're creating your own videos, caption them before posting.

• YouTube: Add your own subtitles & closed captions
• TikTok: Auto Captions
• Facebook: How do I add captions to my Page's video?
• Instagram: Manage Reels and Video Captions
• Linkedin: Add Closed Captions to Videos

Avoid animated GIFs

Avoid using animated GIFs unless they are fully accessible. Accessible GIFs:

• Stop playing after 5 seconds.
• Offer users a way to pause the animation if it doesn’t stop after 5 seconds.
• Have accurate image descriptions.
• Do not contain rapid blinking or flashing.
• Have appropriate contrast between the background and any text.

If you do include an animated GIF, be sure to include alt text.

Additional Resources

Microsoft Office

• Video: Making Your Microsoft Office Content Accessible.
• Video: Improve Accessibility with the Microsoft Accessibility Checker.
• Make your Outlook email accessible to people with disabilities.
  
• Create accessible PDFs in Microsoft Office.

Social Media

• Create Accessible Social Media. Section508.gov has created a list of guidelines for social media accessability.
  
• Accessible Social. Accessible Social is a free resource shares best practices for creating accessible and inclusive social media content.