Email Etiquette II: Accessibility Emphasis

What is accessibility?

Accessibile are designed to be effective in communicating to all users. While accessibility has applied primarily to people with disabilities, it has also expanded to include mobile device and software compaitibility. In short, keep your audience in mind!

Why Email?

It’s an important question! In general, email correspondence is used best for the following:

• Quick Q & A
• “FYI” information
• Negotiating complex schedules
• Sending digital documents quickly

To maximize these strengths, the sender should keep the following tips in mind:

Be readable

• 14-point font size is the new standard
• Use high contrast color between text and background. Avoid using images as background, as images increase the size of the message.
• Use clear, standard fonts: Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, Cambria

Be simple

• Underlined text is discouraged due to its similarity to a hyperlink. Using color for emphasis is also discouraged for the same reason.
• If you must attach a PDF or embed an image, put key information into the body of the text.
• Use italics for emphasis. Bold is typically reserved for headings. Bold italics is acceptable, but rarely necessary.  ALL CAPS READS LIKE SHOUTING.

Be clear

• Write to the proper language level of your audience.
• Use short sentences and paragraphs with clear topic and focus.
• Anticipate your response, and try to avoid extended exchanges.
• Be cautious of humor and sarcasm, which is often lost in the translation to text and particularly to screen reader.

Links

• How People with Disabilities Use the Web – Details web-specific interaction experiences for a variety of disabilities
• Readability index calculator: determines general readability level and score for inputted text.
• Plain English Campaign: An organization devoted to making public information readable
• Think Before You SEND: the web extension of Schipley and Schwalbe’s Send: Why People Email So Badly
• WebAIM – A comprehensive resource of web accessibility information

Prepared for the 2010 Northwest eLearning conference. For general email Etiquette Tips, Click here for the original Email Etiquette post.

Is PowerPoint dangerous?

The solution to the war in Iraq.

Does this chart mean anything to you? PowerPoint has been scrutinized nearly as long as it’s been utilized. One author proposes that the problem isn’t the program itself, but with the learning philosophy.

This New York Times article proposes that the fundamental flaw with PowerPoint is not that it’s boring (which it often is), linear (when minds aren’t), or static (by design). The problem is that PowerPoint encourages complex topics–such as military strategy–to be stripped of meaning and relegated to “dumb dumb bullets.” While bullet points can be effective in creating a foundation or providing an outline, it is the responsibility of the learners to create meaning.