RE: newsletter formats for email

Unfortunately, because HTML provides the ability to incorporate structure,
multimedia, hyperlinks (real ones, not just guesses) and such useful features
that relying on the fact nobody much uses it today as a spam filter is also
denying ourselves the possibility of more accessible, usable mail.

(as well as the ability to use it for lots of annoying spam. Sigh)

chaals

On Wed, 17 Apr 2002, Jon Hanna wrote:

  > Is there a newsletter format that people using assisitve
  > technologies prefer
  > to receive via email? We have a newsletter in html. As long as the html is
  > accessible, will there be any problems?

  Accessibility aside, it would be very inconvenient to receive a mail one
  actually wants to read in HTML format. HTML format is useful because it
  identifies the mail as having an 99% chance of either being Spam or
  ill-informed ramblings that aren't worth reading.

  If people were to start sending useful stuff in HTML format it would mean
  that people would have to start actually reading HTML mails rather than
  binning them on sight or through filters.


-- 
Charles McCathieNevile    http://www.w3.org/People/Charles  phone: +61 409 134 136
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative     http://www.w3.org/WAI  fax: +33 4 92 38 78 22
Location: 21 Mitchell street FOOTSCRAY Vic 3011, Australia
(or W3C INRIA, Route des Lucioles, BP 93, 06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France)

Received on Wednesday, 17 April 2002 16:18:34 UTC