Summary: Organize your emails to make them easier to read

Who it helps: Recipients who use screen readers or have cognitive disabilities.

Additional benefits: Recipients who are tired or have limited time are able to read and understand your email more quickly.

A well organized email helps a reader understand your intent, even when they are tired, rushed, or have a disability which may otherwise make communication more difficult. Follow the tips below to create accessible emails:

1. Use a descriptive subject heading. If you are exchanging emails and the topic changes, change the subject heading so it reflects the new topic.
2. State the most important information first. Add details that explain or support your point afterwards.  If someone only reads the first few sentences, they should still leave with the key idea or request you are making. 
3. Use headings to organize longer emails.  Email clients like Outlook allow you to add headlines to your emails. Use these to organize the email contents if they extend beyond a few paragraphs. 
4. Use lists to show relationships. Whenever possible, use lists to organize email contents. Numbered and bulleted lists show relationships between information. They also add spacing which makes the email easier to scan quickly.
5. Bonus tip: If you use AI to create emails, request headings, lists and plain language as part of your prompts.

Even though emails often only contain text, learning these practices will improve your communications.

Take a few minutes and look over emails you’ve sent this past week.

Are you using these strategies? If not, how could they be improved?