Revision Date: July 17, 2024
Contents
2. Style Guide and Accessibility Requirements
3. Mass Emails and Subscription Lists
4. Required Approvals for Distributions
5. Notification to Support Teams
1. Overview
This procedure supports Policy 1901 Mass Email Distribution Governance and Appropriate Use and provides guidance for creating and distributing Mass Email communications. Mass Emails have far-reaching audiences and high impact, and as such, carry an additional sensitivity with regard to drafting and distribution, notifications and approvals, and system access requirements. All such communications are required to adhere to the specifications detailed in this procedure relating to approvals, required notifications, and gaining access to Yale Message.
2. Style Guide and Accessibility Requirements
Yale’s visual identity relies on the consistent and effective use of our branding touchstones: the Yale logo and wordmarks, the Yale typeface, and Yale colors. Communicators should follow the Yale visual identity guidelines. The Office of the University Printer maintains a style guide for proper implementation of these key signifiers.
Communicators are responsible for creating, maintaining, and building their own Mass Email templates and data extensions (filtered and basic). Templates should follow the Yale visual identity guidelines.
Messages should be proofread and edited by at least one person (other than the email preparer) for readability, clarity, and tone, prior to distribution. Do not rely on spelling and grammar checkers.
To ensure content and style are consistent with Yale’s standards, text should be hyperlinked (for example: “Sign up for the workshop” vs. “https:/signupfortheworkshop”). Email addresses may, however, be exposed and linked (e.g., first.last@yale.edu).
Messages should be accessible for all readers. A message should be composed in either plain-text or multipart plain-text/HTML (e.g., sending a message with only an info-graphic or image is not acceptable). Information conveyed by a message should be in text, not embedded in images or other elements that are inaccessible by text-to-speech software. Images should include “alt” text describing the image for low-vision readers. Communicators should consult Accessibility Resources at Yale with any questions.
3. Mass Emails and Subscription Lists
Mass Emails are subject to distribution and subscription requirements, as follows:
- Recipients who receive newsletter communications should be allowed to unsubscribe, unless the particular message has been deemed mandatory by senior leadership for a specific audience.
- When sending messages in Yale Message, send as “Transactional” for mandatory recipients (recipients are not able to unsubscribe), or “Commercial” to allow individuals to unsubscribe from future mailings if they so choose.
A. Mass Emails to 10,000 or More Recipients
Specifically for Mass Emails being sent to 10,000 or more recipients, there is a campus-wide scheduling calendar that is used to organize and plan for the sending of those messages. This calendar is intended to help Communicators avoid sending campus-wide or large-scale messages within a short period of time to the same or similar audiences.
Communicators who plan to send Mass Emails to an audience of 10,000 recipients or more should request access to this calendar by contacting internal.communications@yale.edu. Once granted access, and prior to sending any Mass Email messaging, the Communicator should add the date, scheduled time of distribution, and intended audience of the message to the campus-wide email scheduling calendar.
- Note: When adding an entry to the calendar, the topic of a message may be excluded if confidentiality is a concern.
4. Required Approvals for Distributions
Communicators should coordinate Mass Email communication distribution of 10,000 or more recipients with OPAC to minimize the number of messages processed and sent to the University community at the same time and to avoid competing messaging. Please refer to Use of Specific Audience Yale Email Addresses for the complete list of Approval Contacts by Audience.
5. Notification to Support Teams
When a message may cause an impact to support teams (e.g., IT Help Desks, Employee Services, Finance Support Center, etc.), the Communicator is responsible for informing the applicable Yale teams of the planned distribution time and providing any pertinent information in advance to prepare for possible inquiries.
6. Technical Guidance
Automated or complex data extensions may be requested by contacting message.support@yale.edu.
Sender profiles (“from” fields) may only be created for colleagues within the individual’s or department’s area of responsibility. The reply address should be a valid University-owned email address (i.e., yale.edu) Use of an address at a domain not owned by the University (e.g., gmail.com) is prohibited. Communicators may contact message.support@yale.edu for assistance.
Related Resources
1901 Mass Email Distribution Governance and Appropriate Use