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There’s a misconception that implementing email accessibility is hard. Many marketers think you need a coding background to make your emails more inclusive.
The code behind emails plays an important role in accessibility, but it’s not the only factor. A lot of the time, revisiting email copy can greatly improve the experience for subscribers.
Ensuring your copy is readable and easy to understand goes a long way in making your email campaigns more accessible. With these nine tips, you can make it happen!
Table of contents:
- What is writing with accessible language?
- 9 best practices for writing with accessible language
- Accessible copywriting FAQs
- Accessibility tools and resources for writers
What is writing with accessible language?
Accessible language is a form of communication using words that reach a diverse audience, including those with disabilities, non-native speakers, or limited literacy. For example, it’s inclusive of people with disabilities—like visual impairments—and populations with different language needs or reading abilities.
When it comes to writing with accessible language, it means writing in a way that is easy to understand for all audiences, regardless of their ability, background, or education level. At its core, it removes barriers to ensure a wide audience can understand what is being communicated, no matter their ability or circumstance.
Techniques for writing with accessible language
There are several approaches to help with inclusive writing, many of which share overlap. These include:
- Readability testing, such as the Flesch Reading Ease test
- Writing for web accessibility, following The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines
- Using plain language, which is mandated for federal agencies in the United States and similarly in other countries
This brings us to our next topic: best practices for accessible writing.
Accessibility made simple
Creating accessible emails is no longer optional—it’s required. Learn about accessibility’s impact on brands from two industry experts.
9 best practices for writing with accessible language
1. Keep your copy concise.
It’s tempting to cram as much copy and content in an email as possible. But there are many reasons why shorter, more concise copy is desirable.
Our research found that on average, a subscriber spends only 8.97 seconds reading an email. If an adult can read around 238 words per minute, then the ideal length of copy in an email is just 36 words.
But it’s not just attention spans, either. Many people suffer from cognitive disabilities that make reading difficult. Everything from traumatic brain injuries and dementia to dyslexia can affect a person’s ability to read. Longer texts often make the matter worse.
2. Use shorter sentences.
Long, complex sentences can make your email copy difficult to read. Short sentences are easier to understand, allowing your audience to focus on the content.
Aim for 20 words or less per sentence, and whenever possible, split longer sentences into two.
3. Limit your use of jargon and difficult words.
What’s true for sentences is true for individual words, too: shorter is better. Longer words are harder to absorb and require more concentration from your readers. If you can, replace complex words with simpler, shorter synonyms.
4. Define complex terms, abbreviations, and acronyms.
Sometimes, using specialized terms is necessary. Consider writing out the definition in your email or linking to a glossary for clarity. The same goes for abbreviations and acronyms.
For example, at Litmus, we write emails about email marketing—a field that’s full of acronyms. We host an email personalization glossary and email deliverability glossary on our site that can easily be referenced in case we use industry-specific terms in our emails.
5. Create a strong content hierarchy.
Which is easier to read: a block of continuous text, or a block of text separated by sections?
Many people find it difficult to read long, uniform blocks of text—and that’s especially true for people who live with cognitive and situational disabilities. That’s where hierarchy comes in: it’s creating visual differences that reinforce importance. This helps readers quickly consume and understand the content of your email.
Visual hierarchy may be part of email design, but it starts with your content and copywriting. Strong headlines and well-structured paragraphs create a clear content hierarchy, making it easier for subscribers to scan and engage with your message.
- H1: Your primary headline (H1) should be styled dominantly so it stands out—typically using a larger font size and heavier weight. This ensures it stands out against other elements.
- H2: Secondary headlines should be in a smaller font size than the H1. Consider additional styling, such as a lighter font weight or a different color to differentiate.
- H3: Tertiary headings should have the least prominent styling.
6. Localize your content for global audiences.
If you’re sending to global audiences, translate your copy into local languages.
Whenever possible, supplement operating system or browser translations with additional resources. This will help prevent translation errors, catch cultural insensitivities, and make tone and language more conversational.
If you don’t have translation resources in-house, using a respected translation service can help.
Remember to localize copy with language and content that fits your audience. For example, consider if certain expressions make sense when translated to other languages, like “spill the beans” or “under the weather.”
7. Write in active voice.
Active voice makes your writing clearer, more direct, and easier to translate. It helps keep your message strong and makes it easy to follow.
Active voice  | Passive voice  |
|---|---|
| The dog chased the ball. | The ball was chased by the dog. |
| She wrote the email. | The email was written. |
| My manager explained the project. | The project was explained by my manager. |
A quick test to check whether something is written in passive voice is adding “by zombies” to the end of a sentence. If it still makes sense, then it’s likely passive voice.
8. Use plain language.
Plain language is writing designed to help readers quickly and easily understand, used by federal agencies in the United States and other countries around the world.
“Plain language makes it easier for the public to read, understand, and use government communications.”
While there is considerable overlap between the best practices mentioned earlier, here are a few examples of what plain language practices look like:
- Organize text logically. Similar to having a strong content hierarchy, start your email with the most important piece of information.
- Use familiar vocabulary. Avoid jargon and legal language, favoring everyday language.
- Place words carefully. Keep subjects and objects close to their verbs to reduce ambiguity.
9. Use descriptive text for calls-to-actions (CTAs).
Your email CTAs should be written as descriptive text for email accessibility. Populations using screen readers navigate content by tabbing through it, quickly scanning to find relevant information. Providing context for your links helps them determine whether they want to click through.
In practice, this means hyperlinks should explain what the link is or where it will lead to. Avoid using “click here” as copy for your links when possible.
Accessible copywriting FAQs
How do I test my writing for accessibility?
Readability tests are an easy way to find out how easy it will be for someone to read your text. The Flesch Reading Ease test is the most popular one. It’s based on the average length of sentences and words in your document and ranks copy on a scale from 0 to 100. The higher the number, the easier it is to read your email copy.
A score of 60-70 is considered plain English that’s easily understood by 13- to 15-year-olds. That’s the score you should aim for with most marketing copy.
How does accessible writing differ from inclusive writing?
Accessible writing focuses on the mechanics and functionality of an email, ensuring it can be used by everyone, regardless of visual impairments, learning differences, or cognitive disabilities. This includes structuring content so screen readers can interpret it effectively and writing concisely with using plain language that supports comprehension for all readers.
On the other hand, inclusive writing embraces the full range of human diversity—considering factors like ability, language, culture, gender, and age.
In short, the distinction between accessibility vs. inclusion is in the different roles they serve. Accessibility ensures an email can be consumed by all, while inclusion ensures that everyone feels represented and valued within the content itself. Both are important for writing, working together to create experiences that are not just usable but welcoming to all.
“I define inclusion as design that embraces the full range of human diversity, with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age, and other forms of human difference. Although it encompasses a lot of aspects of accessibility, it tends to be more about strategy and content.
Whereas accessibility ensures anyone can use an email, inclusion ensures everyone is thoughtfully considered before sending an email campaign.”
How can I make my emails more accessible?
There are many components to consider when it comes to email accessibility. This includes everything from design accessibility and coding for accessibility to imagery and storytelling.
We created a pre-send checklist to help marketers make their emails accessible to all. Run your email against 20 checks, written according to guidelines in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
Accessibility tools and resources for writers
Readability testing
Readable.io’s free tool lets you test your readability score for free and shows where you can improve. Tools like Grammarly or Yoast offer readability scoring, too.
NVDA screen reader testing
Do you know how your email sounds? You want it to sound good, especially to those using screen readers or assistive devices. That’s where screen reader accessibility comes in.
Reading emails aloud—whether through a screen reader or another assistive tool—can reveal issues that might not be obvious visually, like missing alt text, unclear link descriptions, or complex sentence structures that make comprehension harder.
Litmus’ NVDA screen reader integration supports over 80 languages. Listen to a screen reader recording of your email before it’s sent, and optimize the screen reader performance of your email when you run a Litmus test.
Image blocking and alt text previews
How does your email look when images are turned off? With Litmus’ email builder, you can preview your email as subscribers will see it with images turned off. Just toggle with a click a button!
You can also easily check the alt text of your images to ensure screen readers describe them accurately.
Heading hierarchy
You can also check the content hierarchy of your email with Litmus to ensure the order of headings is semantically correct.
Automated accessibility checks
With Accessibility Testing in the Litmus Checklist, you can quickly check if your email is accessible to all subscribers and get clear advice on how to improve it. The tool checks your email against 44 accessibility best practices and highlights any issues for easy review.
Here’s how it works:
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Source: From compliance to connection: Why businesses must embrace email accessibility
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