Email and Website Accessibility: Why Your Audience Can’t Read What You’re Sending

Most people don’t realize that when you attach a PDF to an email, you’re asking someone to open the email, tap the attachment, wait for it to download, wait for it to open, then pinch and zoom to read text that was formatted for an 8.5×11 page on a 6-inch screen—all while hoping their screen reader can even make sense of it.

Compare that to writing the information directly in the email body: they open it, they read it, they’re done.

The difference isn’t just about convenience. It’s about whether someone can access your information at all. When we make people jump through hoops—even unintentionally—we’re deciding who gets to participate and who doesn’t.

Let me share what I typically find when I do an accessibility audit, and more importantly, how small changes can help your message reach everyone you’re trying to serve.

The Thing About Empathy

When we talk about accessibility, we’re really talking about empathy in action. You already care about your audience. You wouldn’t be sending those weekly updates or building that website if you didn’t want to connect with people. Accessibility just means making sure those good intentions actually translate into experiences that work for everyone.

And here’s the part that might surprise you: accessible design helps everyone, not just people with disabilities.

Common Mistakes (And Why They Matter)

The PDF Problem

A school sends out a weekly update as a PDF attachment. A business shares an important announcement the same way. It seems efficient—one file, everything in there, done.

But here’s what happens on the other end:

For someone using a screen reader (and more than 2.2 billion people worldwide live with some form of vision impairment), that PDF is often just… unreadable. Screen readers cannot read scanned PDFs or image-based PDFs unless they’ve been properly tagged and formatted. Most PDFs sent as email attachments aren’t.

For someone on a slow internet connection or limited data plan, that attachment means waiting for a download that might not even work.

For someone checking email on their phone (which is most people these days), PDFs are clunky. Pinching and zooming to read text that was formatted for an 8.5×11 page doesn’t work well on a 6-inch screen.

Here’s the thing: PDFs were designed in the early 1990s to preserve fixed layouts—to make sure a document looked exactly the same whether you viewed it on a Mac, Windows, or Unix system, and whether you printed it or viewed it on screen. That made sense then. But now we live in a world of responsive design, where text adapts to whatever screen size you’re using. PDFs work against that. They’re rigid and fixed in a world that needs flexibility.

For parents juggling multiple things (and I say this as a mom of four), having to open an attachment, wait for it to load, and then try to find the one piece of information you need—like tomorrow’s practice schedule—adds unnecessary friction to an already full day.

For people with limited data plans, downloading a PDF attachment eats into their monthly data allowance. For families managing tight budgets who prioritize having a phone over home internet, every megabyte counts.

What to do instead:

Put the most important information directly in the body of your email. Write it out in plain text. If you need to share additional details, consider linking to a web page instead of attaching a PDF. If you absolutely must use a PDF, make sure it’s accessible by using proper document structure, adding alternative text for images, and ensuring text is searchable rather than image-based.

The Flyer-as-JPEG Issue

Beautiful event flyers or announcements designed in Canva or Photoshop, exported as a JPEG, and dropped into an email or website.

The design might be gorgeous. The information might be crucial. But when text is locked inside an image, it’s invisible to screen readers. Someone using assistive technology literally cannot access that information.

It also means:

• People using translation tools can’t translate the text
• People with dyslexia or other neurodivergent conditions can’t adjust the text size or spacing to make it easier to read
• Search engines can’t index the information, so no one can find it
• Anyone with low vision who needs to zoom in just gets a blurry mess

What to do instead:

Always include a text summary or caption that contains all the key information from the image. Think of it this way: if someone couldn’t see the image at all, what would they need to know? Write that out.

All important information like event details—date, time, location—should be included in the body text of the email, not just in the image.

And when you’re adding images to your website or email, use descriptive alt text that conveys the content and purpose of the image. Alt text should be succinct and include any text that appears in the image.

If you don’t have access to add alt text directly (or don’t know how), a simple practice that helps: name your image files descriptively before you upload them. Instead of “IMG_2847.jpg,” name it something like “spring-fundraiser-flyer-march-2025.jpg.” While this isn’t a replacement for proper alt text, it gives assistive technology something to work with, and it helps you stay organized too.

The QR Code Problem

QR codes make perfect sense on printed flyers—someone sees your poster at the coffee shop, pulls out their phone, and scans. But when you design one flyer for both print and digital use (which is efficient, I get it), that QR code becomes a barrier in the digital version. What saves time in design ends up costing your audience access.

Here’s the issue: if someone is reading your email on their phone—which is where most people read emails—they cannot scan a QR code that’s displayed on that same screen. They would need a second device (another phone, a tablet, a computer) to scan the code, and many people don’t have that available in the moment, or at all.

Think about a parent checking their email at school pickup, or someone on their lunch break scrolling through messages on their phone. They see your event announcement with a QR code to register. They can’t do anything with it right then, and by the time they get home or have access to another device, they’ve forgotten about it.

This particularly affects:

• Mobile-only users who don’t have a computer or tablet at home
• Lower-income families who may only have one smartphone in the household
• Older adults who might not understand how QR codes work or feel comfortable using them
• Anyone with vision impairments using screen readers, since QR codes are images that can’t be read aloud

QR codes can be a helpful option, but they should never be the only way to access information. Always include a clickable link and/or the full URL in text form right next to the QR code. That way, someone on their phone can simply tap the link, and someone on a computer can type in the URL or click it.

Better yet: put the link in the body of your email as live text, not just in an image.

Who This Really Helps

When I talk to clients about this, they think we’re talking about a small group of people. But accessibility improvements help a much wider audience than you might expect.

Think about the people who are already part of your community:

The grandmother with vision impairment who uses a screen reader to stay connected with her book club’s newsletter and the community center’s event updates. When your flyer is a JPEG with all the text locked inside an image, she hears nothing. She doesn’t know when the next meeting is or what book was chosen.

The business owner whose first language isn’t English and relies on translation tools to understand communications from the school district, local government, and community organizations. Text in images can’t be translated. Neither can PDFs that are just scanned documents.

The young professional with ADHD who finds dense blocks of text overwhelming and relies on screen readers or text-to-speech to help him process information when reading feels like too much. Accessible formatting helps him stay focused and engaged.

The high school student recovering from a concussion who temporarily can’t look at screens for long periods without getting headaches. She’s relying on her phone’s screen reader to keep up with homework assignments and club announcements while she heals.

The numbers tell the story too: At least 2.2 billion people globally have a near or distance vision impairment. About 10% of Americans—33 million people—rely solely on smartphones for internet access. It’s estimated that 30% of those with dyslexia have coexisting ADHD. Most people with vision impairment and blindness are over the age of 50. And 90% of American households own smartphones, with many people checking email primarily on their phones.

Your community includes all of these people. When we make our communications accessible, we’re simply making sure everyone who wants to connect with us actually can.

A Few More Quick Wins

Beyond these big-picture changes, there are a few smaller fixes that make a real difference too.

Link Text That Says “Click Here”

Screen readers can scan a list of just the links on a page. When every link says “click here” or “learn more,” that list becomes meaningless.

Better: Instead of “Click here to register,” write “Register for the spring workshop.”

Poor Color Contrast

Light gray text on a white background might look sophisticated, but text and other elements should have a color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against the background to be readable for people with low vision or color blindness.

Large File Sizes and Heavy Images

Uncompressed images and heavy attachments create barriers for people relying on mobile data with limited monthly allowances. When someone is accessing your email on their phone because that’s their only connection to the internet, file size directly impacts whether they can even open what you sent. Optimize images, compress PDFs if they’re necessary, and consider the data cost your content requires. A 5MB PDF might seem small to you, but to someone managing a limited data plan, it’s a significant chunk of their monthly budget.

No Heading Structure

Using proper heading tags (H1, H2, H3) helps organize content and makes it easier for screen readers to navigate. Just making text bigger and bold isn’t the same thing.

A Mindset Shift

Here’s what I hope you’ll take away from this: accessibility isn’t about adding extra work or making things complicated. It’s about thinking through your communication with empathy.

Before you send your next email update, ask:

• If someone couldn’t see this, would they still understand it?
• If someone is using their phone in the grocery store line, can they quickly find what they need?
• If someone is using a screen reader, will this make sense?
• If someone has ADHD and gets overwhelmed by dense blocks of text, is this scannable?

Where to Start

You don’t have to fix everything at once. Here are three changes you could make this week that would have immediate impact:

1. Stop attaching PDFs to emails when you can put the information directly in the message body.

Start with your most frequent communications—weekly updates, newsletters, announcements. Just write the content directly into the email instead of creating a separate document.

2. Add text captions to any images that contain important information.

Going forward, any time you share a flyer or graphic, include a text summary with the key details: who, what, when, where, how to register or participate.

3. Review your link text.

Next time you’re adding links to an email or webpage, make sure the link text itself describes where it goes. “Read the board meeting minutes” instead of “Click here.”

Pick one that feels manageable and try it. You’ll start to see how much easier it makes things—for you and for the people you’re trying to reach.

The Bigger Picture

Remember that PDF at the beginning—the one that required seven steps and several minutes just to read a simple announcement?

When we remove those barriers, something shifts. Information flows. People participate. The parent checking email at school pickup can actually register their kid for the day camp right then. The grandmother with vision impairment hears the book club meeting details and marks her calendar. The business owner translates your message and understands what you’re asking.

Accessibility isn’t just a technical checkbox. It’s what happens when we design with everyone in mind from the start. It’s the web feeling more human and reflecting our beautiful diversity.

Every time we make our communications more accessible, we’re saying: you matter, your access matters, and we want you here.

That’s worth two steps instead of seven.