Question

When I started coding I skipped over tables and went directly to CSS/div based layouts, it had just started and I didn’t see the need to learn something (ie tables layout) that was on it’s way out. I do use tables for tabular data, so I understand the way tables work.

My current company sends an amazing amount of HTML emails that I have to design, build and send through Emma, or several other similar companies. This is my first regular experience with HTML emails, though I have built websites full time for several years.

My questions are: Is there a good reference for designing & building HTML rules? I do know the general basics (learned through research, trial and error over the last few months). Or are the rules simple enough to list here? Are there accessibility standards for email like for the web? Are they the same?

As a side question, does anyone think that HTML emails are more of a headache than they are worth?

Answer 1

Not sure what your story regarding tables has to do with sending HTML emails since you’re not confined to using tables in HTML emails, but anyways. I’m not saying that these are official guidelines, but off the top of my head, I personally always consider them:

• Keep it simple – When you’re sending more style than actual content, you’re doing it wrong.
• Try not to use images – Stick to basic in-line styling like borders, background color, text color and such. The objective is to make the email look good, not to create a stand-alone website.
• Always provide a plain text alternative for the email clients that don’t support HTML emails.

As for the side question, I don’t really see anything bad in using HTML to make your emails prettier and it shouldn’t cause any headaches when done right (i.e. see the first two points on my list).

Hope these help.