You can create emails within mere minutes in our Email builder, and by adding a few selected Layout blocks, you can really make your newsletter pop with a unique design. A real delight for the eyes!
But some of your readers may need extra help to enjoy your newsletters. They might use assisted technologies, like a screen reader, to read aloud your email to them.
Screen readers can scan and read text, but they can't see text embedded into images.
And as Layout bocks render as images in the final design, to make your content accessible to as many subscribers as possible, use alt text to describe your Layouts.
What is Alt text?
It stands for alternative text and it's used to describe the appearance and function of an image—on a web page or, in this case, in your email.
Where to find the Alt text accessibility feature in Layouts?
Step 1. Add a Layout block to your email.
Step 2. Make it your own by adding your copy text and uploading your image(s) to the placeholder area.
Step 3. Once you've finished designing the Layout, click on the Block settings and scroll down to the Accessibility section.
Use this space to add a description of your layout that can be read aloud by screen readers.
Alt text best practices
Keep it as short as possible
Be concise. Most screen readers cut off alt text at 125 characters, so use this space wisely.
Avoid phrases like "image of" "picture of" in your alt text
If the image or the whole layout is purely decorative, leave the alt text blank.
Describe the layout as best as you can
Use the description to explain what's on the Layout for subscribers who cannot see them in your emails. You can reuse the text that you embedded into the Layout or rework it to fit into the available 125 characters.
Read your email aloud, and when you arrive at a Layout block, think about what kind of short text could explain the best way what's there.
Focus on your readers
If you're in the good habit of writing alt text for images on your website, you heard the advice to use your relevant keywords wherever feasible.
But unlike images on a website, images in your emails are not crawled and ranked by search engines like Google. So instead, focus on your readers.
Let's sum it up!
To add an alt text to a Layout, click on the Block settings and scroll down to the Accessibility section.
You can add a description of up to 125 characters for your Layout.
More to learn:
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