Clear and concise subject lines

Why subject lines matter

The subject line is the first thing recipients see and often determines whether they open your email. For users with disabilities, clear subject lines provide essential context about the email's purpose and urgency.

Good subject lines help users:

Understand the email's purpose before opening it
Prioritize emails in their inbox
Find specific emails later through search
Navigate their inbox efficiently with assistive technologies

Writing effective subject lines

Effective subject lines are specific, descriptive, and action-oriented. They should clearly communicate what the email is about and what action, if any, is required.

Key principles:

Be specific: Include relevant details like dates, project names, or meeting topics
Use action words: Start with verbs when requesting action
Keep it concise: Aim for 50 characters or less when possible
Front-load important information: Put the most important words first
Avoid all caps: Use sentence case for better readability

Examples

Good examples

For requests:

Action needed: Review budget proposal by March 15
Action needed: Approve time-off request for April 10-14
Please confirm: Meeting attendance for project kickoff

For information sharing:

Update: Website maintenance scheduled for Sunday
Reminder: Staff meeting tomorrow at 2 PM
New policy: Remote work guidelines effective January 1

For meetings:

Meeting: Quarterly review - March 20 at 10 AM
Agenda: Marketing team meeting - March 15
Reschedule: Client presentation moved to Thursday

Good practice ends

Bad examples

Too vague:

Bad: "Update"
Better: "Project status update - Week of March 10"

Not specific enough:

Bad: "Meeting"
Better: "Team meeting: Budget planning - March 20 at 2 PM"

Missing action:

Bad: "Document"
Better: "Please review: Q1 performance report"

All caps (hard to read):

Bad: "URGENT - PLEASE RESPOND IMMEDIATELY"
Better: "Urgent: Response needed by 5 PM today"

Bad practice ends

Using action words

Start your subject line with clear action words when you need the recipient to do something. This helps users with disabilities understand immediately what's expected of them.

Effective action words:

Review: Review contract terms by Friday
Approve: Approve expense report #1234
Confirm: Confirm your attendance at training
Complete: Complete survey by end of week
Submit: Submit time sheets by Monday
Update: Update your contact information

Indicating priority and urgency

When something is truly urgent or has a specific deadline, include this information clearly in the subject line. Use priority indicators sparingly to maintain their effectiveness.

Priority indicators:

Urgent: For time-sensitive matters requiring immediate attention
Action needed by [date]: For requests with specific deadlines
Time-sensitive: For matters that need attention within a day or two
FYI: For informational emails that don't require action

Note: Avoid overusing urgency indicators. If every email is marked urgent, none of them seem urgent anymore.

Best practices

Write subject lines that stand alone and make sense without context
Include specific dates, times, and project names when relevant
Use sentence case, not all caps or all lowercase
Keep subject lines under 50 characters when possible
Put the most important information first
Use action words for emails requiring a response
Be consistent with your organization's email conventions
Update subject lines when email topics change during conversations
Test how your subject lines look on mobile devices