Email Communication

If you are attaching an image, gif, or link into your email, please follow these quick steps to ensure you are following ADA compliance.

Attaching Images In Email

When attaching an Image in an Email, you will need to add an Alt Text Caption before sending. Adding an Alt Text Caption in Gmail is easy and takes seconds.

To add Alt Text to an image after uploading to your email body, click the image. A blue box should outline the image. From there, options to select from will read:

Small | Best Fit | Original Size | Edit alt text | Remove

Select Edit Alt Text and type a brief description on what the image is. This is why it is best to keep images/graphics simple. Fliers or PDF’s with large amounts of text/design elements make accessibility difficult!
 

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Creating Accessible Links

Long links produced by websites are often confusing for screen readers, and the person utilizing a screen reader. The best option to create an accessible link is to hyperlink directly into your email body, so that you can edit the link text to be descriptive, it fits into your sentence, and the end user knows exactly where the link will direct them. Here are examples of how to make an inaccessible link accessible:

Accessible	Not Accessible
Email Kamron Porter or more information	For more information, email me at [email protected]
Purchase Grain Valley football tickets.	Buy tickets for our football game here: https://gofan.co/app/school/MO18173
Access the 2025-2026 Grain Valley Schools Calendar	Visit our district website to find the calendar: https://grainvalleyschools.org

Tips for Accessible Links:

• Avoid phrases like “Learn more here” or “Click here”
• Avoid directional instructions like “Use the Link Below”
• Be descriptive on where the link will go.

Email Signatures

Photos with text in email signatures are not accessible without proper Alternative Text applied. To apply alt text to your email signature, it must be done in each email sent.

A universal/district-wide standardized email signature template will help ensure accessibility standards are met, while also helping to enhance security and increase opportunity to identify phishing attempts.

Example of Email Signature:

Name
Title (can include coaching/sponsor affiliations)
Desk Phone Number or Email Address
Building Location
Building Address

Things that can create issues:

• Images with text
• Cursive or decorative fonts
• Not enough color contrast (Colored text/background combinations)