• by Ray Schultz , July 9, 2019

Litmus, an email marketing and analytics firm, has added new accessibility testing features to its platform that will help brands to determine whether their emails can be read by all. 

The goal is to make email more visible to consumers, particularly the visibly impaired.

"With more than a billion visually impaired people globally, accessibility has evolved from a buzzword to a core design requirement for emails," states Richard Yu, senior vice president of product for Litmus.

The new accessibility testing features allow Litmus clients to conduct an accessibility check. This can help them determine if all subscribers can receive and understand their messages, whether they are reading them directly or with an assistive device, the company says. 

The new features include an audio preview of how email will be read by a screen reader.

"Inclusivity is important to Epsilon," states Mike Dugo, manager of QA analysis of Litmus client Epsilon.

Dugo adds that the new accessibility checks allow Epsilon to deploy email communications with the confidence that they will impact a greater range of subscribers.