How to Create Accessible Email and Ad Campaigns

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How to Create Accessible Email and Ad Campaigns

Posted October 29, 2024

AudioEye

Posted October 29, 2024

Stylized projection screen with a man standing and pointing at the accessibility icon and a sitting woman holding a bullhorn next to the screen. A large accessibility icon is also on the left-hand side of the screen.
Stylized projection screen with a man standing and pointing at the accessibility icon and a sitting woman holding a bullhorn next to the screen. A large accessibility icon is also on the left-hand side of the screen.

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Your email and ad campaigns are designed to enhance your brand's reach and boost sales. However, if your campaigns aren’t accessible, you limit their reach and overall success. Below, we’ll explain how to ensure your emails and ads are accessible and the benefits of prioritizing accessibility.

Even with the rise of social media and instant messaging apps, email and ad marketing are still powerful ways to reach potential and existing customers. Around 360 billion emails are sent worldwide every day, and the average person is exposed to between 6,000 and 10,000 ads (whether on television, radio, social media, search engines, etc.) every day.

These tried and true methods of reaching customers still yield tangible results for brands, meaning they’re likely not going anywhere anytime soon. However, there’s a key part of email and ad campaigns that many organizations tend to ignore — accessibility.

Roughly 16% of the world’s population has a disability (that’s around 1.3 billion people). If your email and ad campaigns aren’t accessible to individuals with disabilities, you’re missing out on a key demographic. Plus, you may be exposing your business to potential legal risks.

Below, we’ll explore the legal and business reasons your email and ad campaigns need to be accessible and how to create more accessible and inclusive campaigns.

What is Email and Ad Accessibility?

To understand what accessible emails and ads are, you first need to know what digital accessibility is. 

Digital accessibility is a set of design practices that remove barriers to digital content (such as websites, mobile apps, online documents, etc.) for people with disabilities. The goal of the approach is to design online materials that are functional with assistive technologies, such as screen readers or keyboard navigation. It should also provide alternative methods of access or use for individuals with sensory, cognitive, or physical disabilities or impairments.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide specific standards for digital accessibility, organized into three levels: A, AA, and AAA, with AA being the minimum level recommended for most organizations. Following these standards removes most accessibility issues that prevent users with disabilities from easily accessing or using online content. 

Organizations worldwide are also legally required to meet accessibility standards under various laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the European Accessibility Act (EAA), and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Each of these accessibility laws requires organizations to conform to the standards outlined in WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Additionally, adhering to these standards and laws not only reduces legal risks but also fosters a more inclusive environment.

When it comes to emails, accessibility means ensuring the contents of an email message are accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities. For example, if you send out a promotional email, you should ensure it includes alt text for images and descriptive links. The content should also be compatible with assistive technology.

The same accessibility practices also apply to advertisements. Including accessibility features like captions or transcripts for videos or ensuring content can be navigated by keyboard commands alone ensures ad content is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Why Does Accessibility Matter in Email and Ad Campaigns?

The primary purpose of your ad and email campaigns is to spread awareness about your product or service in hopes of increasing lead or sales opportunities. If your digital content isn’t accessible, however, you’re limiting the success of your campaign. 

Think about it this way: 16% of the world’s population has a disability. Of this population, 39 million people are blind, and 430 million have disabling hearing loss. The chances you’re sending emails with images or posting ads with audio content to individuals who have some type of visual or hearing impairment is highly likely. Essentially, you’re (inadvertently) excluding them from understanding and interacting with your content — and may be turning them away. 

By making your email and ad content more accessible, you’re opening up the door to the over one billion people who have a disability and tapping into a huge revenue stream. More importantly, you’re enabling these individuals to fully participate in online spaces. 

Some additional benefits of accessible ads and emails include:

  • Creating a better experience for all users as accessible digital content is easier to navigate, understand, and interact with.
  • Increasing user engagement and retention as today’s consumers are more likely to be loyal to brands who are committed to equality and inclusivity.
  • Boosting your competitive edge as you tap into a largely underserved market.
  • Improving your brand image and reputation.


Following digital accessibility standards also reduces your legal risk. As we mentioned above, digital accessibility is a legal requirement in most countries worldwide. Failing to adhere to these laws increases the likelihood of legal action, such as lawsuits or demand letters, which can quickly become expensive. For instance, non-compliance with the ADA in the U.S. can result in a fine of $75,000 for the first violation and $150,000 for subsequent violations.

Laptop showing a piece of paper with the accessibility symbol on top and three checkmarks next to lines of text.

How to Make Your Email and Ad Campaigns Accessible

Considering the benefits of accessible ad and email campaigns (and the risks of inaccessible content), let’s examine how to create accessible emails and ads.

Include Alt Text for All Non-Text Images

Any time you include an image in your email, it must have alt text (also known as alternative text). Alt text is a written description of what the image contains and is what allows individuals using assistive technologies such as screen readers to understand images. 

There are a few different ways you can add alt text to email images, depending on the platform. For example, if you’re using Gmail, open a new Google document, insert the image you’re including in your email, right-click the image, click on ‘Alt Text’, and write the text you want to use. You can then copy and paste that image into your email. Microsoft Outlook and Hubspot have similar processes.

Add Captions to Videos

If you’re running an ad campaign that includes a video, be sure it has captions. This allows viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing to understand what’s happening in the video and what their next steps are. It’s also beneficial for users with situational disabilities, such as those in crowded environments or those without headphones. You can either use platforms that support captions (like Google) or add them using a caption file on your desktop or mobile device.

Make Sure You Have Sufficient Color Contrast

You want the colors in your ads and emails to look clean, crisp, and vibrant, right? The best way to do that is to ensure it has good color contrast. Under WCAG, all normal text should have a color contrast ratio of 4.5:1 against background elements, with larger text having a 7:1 ratio. Striking this balance ensures individuals with visual disabilities (such as low vision or color blindness) can distinguish between various web elements.

Keep Text Simple, Easy to Understand, and Inclusive

Both your ad and email copy should be inclusive, allowing everyone to be a part of the conversation. Use an accessible font that is easy to read and accessible to those with visual or cognitive disabilities. Keep your copy concise and direct so users know exactly what you’re after and what their next steps are. Finally, use a reasonable font size (no smaller than 11 point) to further enhance readability.

Avoid Using Animations Wherever Possible

While you might be tempted to use flashy GIFs or images in your email or ad content, use them sparingly. Flashing content can trigger seizures in individuals with epilepsy or distract those with ADHD or other cognitive disabilities. If you do include flashing content, keep flashes to a minimum — no more than three flashes per second — and give users the ability to pause, stop, or hide flashes via a control button.

Include Descriptive Links and Buttons

Your CTAs are what get users to start their journey with you. Be sure these links and buttons are accessible to individuals with disabilities by making them easy to locate, easy to understand, and easily clickable. Consider making your button sizes bigger with adequate padding around it; your CTA buttons and hyperlinks should also be descriptive, clearly telling users what action will be performed once it’s clicked on.

Provide Accessible Documents

Anytime your emails include a web-delivered document such as a Word document, PDF, or PowerPoint, it must be accessible. These documents likely provide additional information about your business or users’ next steps. If they’re not accessible, individuals with disabilities are unable to continue your customer journey and will likely take their business elsewhere. Providing accessible documents draws users deeper into your brand and strengthens their trust in you — something that may result in additional revenue opportunities.

Ensure All Content is Compatible with Assistive Technology

Not all individuals with disabilities use a mouse to navigate the web. Some rely on assistive technology, including screen readers, keyboard commands, or text-to-speech software, to browse the web. Ensuring your ads and emails are compatible with these methods enhances the overall usability of your site and draws people deeper into your customer journey.

White envelope with a green ribbon that has an accessibility icon in the middle

Test Your Emails and Ads for Accessibility with AudioEye

Making your email and ad campaigns more accessible isn’t just about meeting legal requirements; it’s about building stronger connections, enhancing brand reputation, and extending your audience reach. The benefits of enhancing accessibility are clear: by ensuring all users can interact with your messages, you increase trust, drive engagement, and create a more inclusive experience for everyone.

The good news: Making small, deliberate changes — like adding alt text to images or using high-contrast colors — can significantly improve your content’s accessibility and broaden its impact. For larger, more complex changes, there’s AudioEye. 

AudioEye incorporates AI-driven technology into your digital content and finds and fixes accessibility issues in real-time. Our team of experts supplements our automated testing to identify more contextual issues negatively impacting your user experience and provides expert guidance on how to resolve them. By using both automation and human testing, AudioEye offers the highest level of legal protection in the industry and helps you create a more accessible experience for all.

Ready to get started? Use our free Web Accessibility Scanner below to check your digital content for 30 WCAG violations — more than any other tool on the market.


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