{"id":3583,"date":"2024-03-25T13:32:41","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T17:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-does-your-email-sound\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T16:43:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T21:43:57","slug":"how-does-your-email-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-does-your-email-sound","title":{"rendered":"How Does Your Email Sound?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t
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As email marketers, designers, and developers, we care a lot about how our emails look in our subscribers\u2019 inboxes. But have you ever asked yourself how your email sounds? It\u2019s not something we think about a lot, but it\u2019s a critical component of email accessibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Can screen readers read emails?<\/h2>\n

The short answer is: Yes.<\/p>\n

Screen readers and their underlying software translate the interface and content seen on a screen into audio. More and more people rely on screen readers to help them consume digital content\u2014including emails\u2014so optimizing your messages for screen readers and writing with accessible language<\/a> is crucial for brands. You don\u2019t want your email to sound like a garbled mess that listeners can\u2019t understand or take action on.<\/p>\n

With screen readers on the rise, the sound of your email matters<\/h2>\n

The World Health Organization estimates<\/a> there are around 2.2 billion people with visual impairments, many of whom are considered blind. This has increased the need for screen readers to read content aloud, allowing people with low vision and blindness to use modern devices.<\/p>\n

Founder and Executive Director of the free screen reading software NV Access<\/a>, Mick Curran, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those of us without sight, computers don\u2019t work straight out of the box. Software called a \u2018screen reader\u2019 is needed to translate visual information verbally, so we can make sense of what is on screen. Screen readers open up so many doors and, for example, allow us to learn, interact, or shop online.\u201d<\/p>\n

Screen reader software isn\u2019t exclusive to people with disabilities, though. The recent proliferation of voice assistant software\u2014like Amazon Alexa, Apple\u2019s Siri, and Google Assistant\u2014mean that assistive technologies have effectively gone mainstream. According to industry tracker Voicebot.ai, smart speaker users rose to nearly 150 million in the U.S. alone in 202<\/a>3. Their research also indicates that half of smart speaker owners respond positively to advertising they hear<\/a> through their speaker.<\/p>\n

More people than ever are using voice assistants to get news, do their shopping, and, yes, even check and reply to their emails. But, too often, brands don\u2019t consider the audible email experience and fail to make their emails with accessible design<\/a> for screen readers.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t sound right: When emails don\u2019t work with screen readers<\/h2>\n

Screen readers work by looking at the underlying code of an interface\u2014in our case, an email\u2014and translating it into audio for the user. For any online content, if your code isn\u2019t complying with accessibility best practices<\/a>, the screen reader\u2019s audio output may not be usable. But the quirkiness of email development comes with unique challenges for people relying on screen readers.<\/p>\n

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Want more email accessibility tips?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t \n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t

Our Ultimate Guide to Email Accessibility has the insights and step-by-step advice you need to write, design, and code emails that can be enjoyed by anyone\u2014regardless of their ability.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t \t\t <\/div>\t\t\t \t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload the Ebook\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t \t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\t
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For example, many emails contain images. However, without ALT text, screen readers have no way of properly describing the image out loud.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at this really simple email header from one of our own emails. This header contains an image of the Litmus logo without ALT text.<\/p>\n\"litmusemailheader\"\n

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Here\u2019s how a screen reader will read out our email header, if we hadn\u2019t optimized it for accessibility.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/no-img-alt-text-screen-reader.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

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That isn\u2019t very helpful, is it? Now imagine an email full of images. Subscribers would have to wade through a lot of markup garbage to get to the actual content. The screen reader\u2019s audio would likely be unusable\u2014and your email\u2019s content would be inaccessible for anyone relying on a screen reader.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to access content that doesn\u2019t comply with key accessibility best practices is a frustrating experience,\u201d remarked James Boreham, General Manager at NV Access, \u201cand many content creators aren\u2019t even aware that they\u2019re excluding a significant portion of their audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to how your email sounds on a screen reader in Litmus<\/h2>\n

The first step to optimizing your email for screen readers is knowing how your email actually sou<\/span>nds. In the end, you can\u2019t fix what you don\u2019t know!<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019ve integrated NVDA<\/a>, a leading open-source screen reader technology developed by NV Access that over 70,000 people rely on to consume digital content, into the Litmus platform. You can also use our email accessibility checker<\/a> to solve any accessibility issues!<\/p>\n

Now, you have the power to listen to a screen reader recording of your email right within Litmus. As part of our accessibility optimization tools<\/a>, our screen reader integration lets you check and optimize the screen reader performance of your email when you QA your campaign.<\/p>\n

Integrating screen reader optimization into your email workflow has never been easier!<\/p>\n

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Is your email accessible?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t \n\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t

Litmus\u2019 Accessibility Checks make it easy to test your email against accessibility best practices. See how you can improve and make better emails for everyone.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t \t\t <\/div>\t\t\t \t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t \t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\t
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 <\/p>\n

James Boreham shared, \u201cGiving content creators insights into how screen readers translate their content helps surface the need for accessibility optimization to the people in charge of content creation. NV Access is supportive of more accessible and inclusive content being developed and distributed for blind and vision-impaired audiences.<\/p>\n

We are excited to see how NVDA is used by companies like Litmus in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sample a screen reader recording of the Litmus newsletter<\/h3>\n

We\u2019ve used our new accessibility testing tools to optimize our newsletters for screen readers. Curious to hear how the result sounds? Listen to a screen reader recording of this newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/litmus-newsletter-screen-reader-recording.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

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Ready to start making your emails more accessible?<\/h2>\n

Accessibility checks for over 40 elements are available in every Litmus plan. Book a demo<\/a> to see how you can. make your emails better for everyone.<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n \t\t<\/div>\n \t<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How your email sounds out loud is a critical part of email accessibility. Learn why it makes a difference and how to optimize the way your email sounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[520],"blog_category":[549,53],"class_list":["post-3583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-email-accessibility","blog_category-product","blog_category-tips-resources"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Does Your Email Sound on a Screen Reader? - Litmus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How your email sounds out loud is a critical part of email accessibility. 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