Ever get an email with an important Subject line only to open it and the content is not in a form you can read or it's just missing? That's frustrating! Did others get it? What info was I supposed to get?
That can happen quite easily to people if you attach a document that has all the content such as a pdf or an image.
Pdfs are pretty standard, but some people will not open them because of the worry of being scammed or hacked. Links within emails can be a concern for this reason as well.
But for anyone that has trouble seeing well or is blind, content in an image is worse than no content at all. If a screen reader is being used, it will not read the content in the image. They will only be alerted that there is an image but that's it. This includes your contact info at the bottom. Make sure it is actual text, not an image with text in it. Screen readers can also have difficulty with pdfs as well.
To help with these issues, please include all relevant info in the body of the email so that everyone can understand your message in addition to any pdfs or images that might be helpful. If you would like more info on addressing these concerns, please see Creating Accessible Emails from Harvard University.
- Shawn Spearman