Bring your karma
Join the waitlist today
HUMBLECAT.ORG

Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2017 - 09 - 28 - ID#72xrmu
6
Technical question: does the typical screen reader read the plain text or HTML version of emails? (self.Blind)
submitted by [deleted]
The subject line says it all, but if you want background: (obligatory I'm not blind, but) emails my bank sends are HTML, with fancy formatting and all that junk. However (as is the norm for reasonably sized companies) every email they send has a copy that's written in plain text, which should be great because I prefer plain text emails (largely because they're forced to use my default font / size / color settings). The only problem is that my bank's plain text emails are worse than useless: they omit critical information. For example, I got an email saying I had a debit transaction of "$ " dated " ", so if I actually want to find out when it occurred, or how much was charged to my card, I have to switch to the HTML version of the email. I'd finally decided to complain, when I realized that they'd more likely to fix it if it were an issue for their blind users, hence the question: does your screen reader read the plain text or HTML version of emails?
Amonwilde 3 points 5y ago
It reads HTML if HTML is available, but has no trouble with plain text emails. I feel you, I prefer plain text emails as well, but I think you should steer clear of saying you're blind for this. Honestly you probably wouldn't get a better response anyway, it's not like banks have any trouble ignoring accessibility concerns.
48683 1 points 5y ago
>It reads HTML if HTML is available

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, seeing as how at least one in ten emails looks awful unless the HTML version is used. Thanks for the info!



And btw, I was never planning on claiming to be blind. I'm just guessing that they'd be more likely to fix it if screen readers read the plain text version, as I there are at least a hundred people who use screen readers for every one person that prefers plain text.
fastfinge 2 points 5y ago
It reads HTML, and I much prefer them. It's much easier to press enter on a link, than copy a URL to the clipboard. Plus, when I'm just reading the email, it's nicer to here the link text, rather than several long URLs. Sorry!
48683 1 points 5y ago
Huh, I always assumed blind users would prefer plain text. Thanks for correcting me!
fastfinge 2 points 5y ago
The only advantage to plain text is that it's impossible to include images. However, HTML emails do allow for alt text.
jage9 1 points 5y ago
Most companies do Email badly with lots of unlabeled images or worse yet an entire message in an image. That being said, a few companies do HTML Emails well complete with proper markup and headings which can be easily navigated using a screen reader.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc   •   HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.