Alert: Rendering problems caused by Gmail Themes
The introduction of Gmail Themes—which allows users to change default background, text and link colors in their inbox—has made it even more difficult to code HTML emails so that they render consistently in Gmail. The problem arises when subscribers use certain Themes and marketers don’t define the color of every background, text and link. Under certain circumstances you can end up with light text or links on a light background, or dark text and links on a dark background, making the email difficult or impossible to read.
For instance, here’s a Nov. 21 JC Whitney email viewed in Gmail with the “Classic” theme (left) and the same email viewed with the “Contrast Black” theme (right):
In this case, the preheader text and product names disappear (because it’s black text on a black background) and the vertical navigation menu becomes practically unreadable (because it’s yellow links on a light blue background). So what was a well-designed email with a good balance of images and HTML text is now partially illegible.
Based on the findings of the 2008 Retail Email Rendering Benchmark Study, my estimation is that approximately 40% of all retailers have the potential to be significantly affected by this rendering problem.
The solution is to define all your background, text and link colors.
A big tip of the hat to Michael van Hardenberg at AbeBooks for pointing this rendering problem out to me.
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For instance, here’s a Nov. 21 JC Whitney email viewed in Gmail with the “Classic” theme (left) and the same email viewed with the “Contrast Black” theme (right):
In this case, the preheader text and product names disappear (because it’s black text on a black background) and the vertical navigation menu becomes practically unreadable (because it’s yellow links on a light blue background). So what was a well-designed email with a good balance of images and HTML text is now partially illegible.
Based on the findings of the 2008 Retail Email Rendering Benchmark Study, my estimation is that approximately 40% of all retailers have the potential to be significantly affected by this rendering problem.
The solution is to define all your background, text and link colors.
A big tip of the hat to Michael van Hardenberg at AbeBooks for pointing this rendering problem out to me.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Labels: Alerts, JC Whitney, Rendering
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posted at 9:30 AM by Chad White
I love Smith-Harmon's enthusiasm. It's so great to have a connection with people who really "get" and get excited by email marketing. (Truly, there are not that many of us out there!) I count myself very lucky to have found such accomplished enthusiasts to collaborate with on the REI program. They are helping to bring amazing opportunities to fruition with panache.
1 Comments:
Good catch, thanks. We've been working on it after reading your post and "Contrast Black" is indeed the worst offender. Other themes are usually less illegible. Maybe it's because of the way our templates are designed (between Gmail and Outlook 2007, email html design is a nightmare) but my designer was struggling to regain control of link color.
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