Stand up for web standards in HTML email
As designers ourselves, we’ve been through the fight for web standards in browsers, and are enjoying the rewards today, with standards support at an all time high. However, when it came to HTML emails, we felt like Marty McFly going back to 1998, still having to use structural tables instead of nice CSS.
From our Campaign Monitor and MailBuild customers we continually heard the same thing - why is it so hard to build a decent HTML email? The answer was not that nobody really cared, it was that the people who cared weren’t in a position to make any difference, or were not getting any support.
That’s what the Email Standards Project is about: Making sure that people do care, that they do see why having standards support for email clients is important. And about making sure that our voices are heard by the people who can make a difference, the email client developers.
This is not about complaining or being unrealistic. It’s about making contact with the right people, and getting them all the support they can use to improve their email clients. We want to work with the design community and the email clients to set some goals for email standards so that we can aim at a future when HTML email is not so hard.
So welcome to the Email Standards Project, it’s great that you’ve ended up here. Have a look around the website, and read more about why web standards are important for email. Then, if you agree, investigate some ways you can help.
We’d love to hear from you, so make sure you leave a comment or drop us an email, and signup for the email newsletter or RSS feeds to keep up to date. It’s time for Email Standards.
I’ll stand up for no html emails (I would rather receive a text email than a html one).
You should always have that option - everybody should send multipart text+html so if you prefer the text, you get the text. We’re talking about the HTML part here.
Well done on this guys - I totally appreciate how much work goes into a project like this, you really do feel like you’re climbing a mountain whose top you will never reach. But you’ve delivered! Now the real work begins :)
You know what, you’ve even inspired me to at least investigate the possibility of moving away from my traditional Stalinist text only mailouts :)
@Omega Torrents:
“I’ll stand up for no html emails (I would rather receive a text email than a html one).”
That’s fine - that’s your choice. You can use an email programme that doesn’t support HTML, and then you’ll only get plain text. However, HTML email can bring many benefits (and not just to spammers and advertisers) that others of us would like to enjoy.
I vote for no HTML at all in mail. Can’t you just send text link to a website? ... I hate hate hate hate HTML emails.
Notice that the two major corporate e-mail cients are listed under the clients that have “poor” “compliance”. Perhaps there’s a clue there as to the popularity of HTML e-mails in the corporate environment.
You do realize that a reasonable number of companies completely block all HTML e-mail from entering their networks, right? There’s a reason for that. HTML e-mal has a long association with spam and malware. Some of us prefer to not take the chance of being hit by malware.
Personally, I’d much prefer to get a text e-mail with links. If I’m interested in what’s being purveyed I’ll click on the link.
The great HTML debate!
Consider, if you will, automobiles. They cause irreparable harm to the environment and encourage us to be lazy. But to say we shouldn’t discuss emission-free vehicles solely because one feels we shouldn’t drive at all isn’t realistic. People want to and will drive cars, so we should try to make them better for the planet.
Now, apply that perspective to HTML emails. It comes down to this:
1) Many email-list subscribers want and ask for HTML formatted emails.
2) Many of our clients ask us to design/build HTML emails.
3) Most web designers can’t say “I absolutely refuse to build an HTML email for you, client.”
4) If HTML emails are being requested we need to build them, and in our need to do so we may as well do it right.
This debate can go on and on, but it’s not a practical discussion. Those wishing to avoid HTML emails can easily do so by not subscribing to a list that offers only that format or set up their email clients to only display plain-text. And those who want to receive HTML-formatted emails can and should be obliged by their email client.
So let’s focus on the real issue here: email clients should support web standards for HTML emails. Then every subscriber can decide for him/herself whether or not s/he wishes to receive them.
The real issue is _not_ whether e-mail clients should or shouldn’t support HTML. The real issue is that HTML was never intended for use as an e-mail protocol. Given that, why should an e-mail client be expected to support such a protocol?
The real issue is that HTML was never intended for use as an e-mail protocol
Is that the real issue? Given that every major email client already does support HTML, that would seem to be already answered.
There is no indication that support for HTML rendering is going away. This is just about improving the level of support to a consistent, reliable status.
That’s a bogus argument.
The human race is polluting the planet at an unprecedented rate. Does that mean we should continue to do so or that we should do so in a standardized and consistent way?
Phredd, are you seriously equating the pollution of an entire planet with the use of HTML in email?
@ Mathew - nope. Simply making the point that just because something is currently being done doesn’t mean it should be done on an on-going basis.
I think our differences lie in the perception of desirability of HTML e-mail. I don’t think it’s needed. You do. I guess you’re entitled to your wrong opinion. :-P
Phredd,
It doesn’t matter if you think HTML email is desirable, or if we think it is desirable, because it is going to be sent out anyway! That’s really the whole point.
The options are to do nothing, resulting in HTML email being sent with old tables and shoddy standards support.
Or to support this project, hopefully resulting in HTML email being smaller, more accessible and better designed.
There is no option which results in people not sending HTML.
Great project guys, hope it works
Support the project definitely, the clients have got to be improved for those that do the design, but why not give the choice - on a personal note I would rather have the choice, there are some things I want to see and other things I do not want to bother with ergoe I would rather have the choice
@Phredd
“Personally, I’d much prefer to get a text e-mail with links. If I’m interested in what’s being purveyed I’ll click on the link.”
Sounds like HTML to me, or do you mean “copy/paste them into the address bar of your browser”?
It’s just common sense...have standards and everything runs better no matter what the field. Like the saying goes.
“Are we all on the same page?”
Campaign Monitor have been working on a new project to promote better support of CSS and web standards among major email clients
From our Campaign Monitor and MailBuild customers we continually heard the same thing - why is it so hard to build a decent HTML email? The answer was not that nobody really cared, it was that the people who cared weren’t in a position to make any difference, or were not getting any support.
adsfxczvincluding Georg Stadler and Stefan Kremer who both sent in screengrabs.
freyfreyThanks to everyone who emailed us about Mobile Me, including Georg Stadler and Stefan Kremer who both sent in screengrabs.132cv
The options are to do nothing, resulting in HTML email being sent with old tables and shoddy standards support.
No more html emails
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