Alt text is often overlooked and doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It is revolutionary in terms of accessibility and is a last-resort email marketing strategy as it can be used in 2 different ways. Firstly, when a user uses a screen reader, it allows them to get a description of the image. Secondly, when an image is unable to be rendered, the Alt text will appear in its place.

The Importance of Alt Text

Alt text has become a standard practice within email marketing due to some email providers blocking images as a default setting. However, email subscribers can also opt-in to block the images. For example, Gmail will give users an option to block images being shown within the email. Also, there is a possibility that broken links can stop your images from displaying within the email.

Digital Accessibility

As mentioned earlier, users who use screen readers regularly rely on alt text. So with that in mind, it is vital to ensure you conduct an inclusive email marketing practice to guarantee digital accessibility.

Screen readers rely on information such as alt text to tell the user what is displayed within a website. Therefore, not including alt text within your image can exclude a proportion of your email subscriber base.

Best Practices

Be Direct - Including only the necessary information is crucial to ensure relevant information is portrayed.

Use Punctuation - Correct grammar usage makes it easier for the screen reader to understand and thus relay the information to the user.

Don’t describe decorative images - These images are used to break up pages with long text. An excessive amount of images with alt text can add unnecessary noise to a page.

In a nutshell, ensuring you have provided your email subscribers with appropriate alt text is essential to getting the most out of your email campaigns as well as making sure your content is accessible. 

Are you looking to enhance your email marketing? Get in touch with mira marketing today. Our Newcastle digital marketing agency has a team of experts ready and waiting to help.