Why Is Plain-Text Email Important?
Understanding the importance of plain-text emails for accessibility and deliverability
Table of Contents
Why Is Plain-Text Email Important?
Plain-text email is essential for accessibility, deliverability, compatibility, and user experience. Including plain-text versions ensures all recipients can read emails regardless of their email client capabilities, preferences, or accessibility needs.
Emails without plain-text versions may be filtered as spam, inaccessible to users with disabilities, or unreadable in clients that don't support HTML. Plain-text provides a reliable, universal format that works everywhere.
Extract and analyze plain text from emails using our extract email text tool to ensure proper plain-text versions are included in your emails.
Accessibility Benefits
Screen Reader Compatibility
Plain-text emails are fully compatible with screen readers and assistive technologies, ensuring visually impaired users can read email content.
Universal Access
Plain-text ensures all users, regardless of disabilities or assistive technology needs, can access email content.
Legal Compliance
Including plain-text versions helps meet accessibility requirements and legal compliance standards (ADA, WCAG).
Better Reading Experience
Plain-text provides a clean, distraction-free reading experience for users who prefer or require text-only content.
Email Client Compatibility
Universal Support
Plain-text works in all email clients, including those that don't support HTML or have HTML disabled for security reasons.
Legacy Client Support
Older email clients that don't support modern HTML features can still display plain-text emails reliably.
Security Restrictions
Some email clients block HTML for security reasons. Plain-text ensures emails are still readable in these environments.
Mobile Compatibility
Plain-text emails load faster on mobile devices and work reliably across all mobile email clients.
Deliverability Impact
Spam Filtering
Emails without plain-text versions may be filtered as spam. Including plain-text improves spam scores and deliverability. Test emails with our SpamAssassin test to check spam scores.
Email Best Practices
Including plain-text versions follows email best practices and signals to ISPs that you're a legitimate sender.
Reputation Benefits
Properly formatted multipart emails (HTML + plain-text) improve sender reputation and deliverability rates.
Filter Avoidance
Plain-text helps avoid spam filter triggers associated with HTML-only emails or missing text versions.
User Experience
User Preferences
Many users prefer plain-text emails for faster loading, better readability, and security reasons.
Faster Loading
Plain-text emails load instantly, providing better user experience especially on slow connections or mobile devices.
Reliable Rendering
Plain-text always renders correctly, avoiding HTML rendering issues that can break email appearance.
Fallback Option
When HTML rendering fails or is blocked, plain-text provides a reliable fallback to ensure message delivery.
Best Practices
1. Always Include Plain-Text
Always include plain-text versions in multipart emails alongside HTML versions.
2. Match Content
Ensure plain-text and HTML versions contain the same information for consistent message delivery.
3. Format Plain-Text
Format plain-text for readability using line breaks, spacing, and clear structure.
4. Test Plain-Text
Test plain-text rendering in various email clients to ensure proper display.
5. Extract and Verify
Use our extract email text tool to verify plain-text versions are properly included and formatted.
