+++Text Email Newsletter Standard (TEN Standard), Version 1.2.

++ Section one: Introduction.

The TEN Standard is designed to ease navigation of plain text email 
newsletters by all readers, including those using special access 
technologies. Its web site is:
http://www.headstar.com/ten .

The standard was developed by E-Access Bulletin, a free email 
newsletter on access to technology by vision-impaired people, 
published by Headstar with support from RNIB. To subscribe email
eab-subs@headstar.com
or see the E-Access Bulletin web site:
http://www.headstar.com/eab .

Note that the TEN Standard is not intended to be used as a standard for 
content on web pages, or for web sites – it relates purely to the content 
of plain text email newsletters. For further background details see 
section three, ‘Notes’, in this document.

This version of the standard was issued following consultation in June 
2005. If you have any further comments on the standard please email:
ten@headstar.com .

[Introduction ends].


++Section Two: TEN Standard, Version 1.2 – Specification.

+01: This standard is intended to be used as guidance by people who 
produce newsletters which are written entirely in plain text, without 
any graphics or images, and which are distributed by email. It does not 
relate to HTML pages. You may of course produce other versions of 
your newsletter which do include graphics or HTML, although it is 
recommended that a plain text version is offered as an alternative.


+02: Try to avoid very unusual characters such as mathematical 
symbols. In emails, only the ASCII characters 32 - 127 will be 
transmitted without problems; the use of other characters may cause 
errors. So avoid accents unless they are essential to understand a word, 
for example where a language other than English is being used. But 
where you are mainly writing in English, if it is easy enough to 
understand a word without a special accent, then consider leaving it 
off.


+03: Do not use bold, italics or underlining to convey tone or 
information, as they are graphical devices, and are sometimes stripped 
out by email software. Try to convey emphasis instead in your choice 
of words; or by using phrases such as ‘Please note:’. The use of special 
characters such as an asterisk * on either side of a word to convey 
emphasis or for other tonal purposes is not encouraged, as this can be 
confusing to new readers.


+04: Ensure the first line of the email and hence of the newsletter is the 
same as the subject header of the email, which should include the full 
title of the newsletter, and the issue number and date. This will help 
subscribers search for your newsletters, or set up spam filters to always 
allow your newsletter through. 


+05: Minimise any introductory or background text at the top of each 
issue, so that the reader arrives at the ‘contents’ section as soon as 
possible. Place most background or subsidiary information such as 
copyright and personnel credits at the end of the newsletter. Also, try 
to place any editorial or operational note within its own section within 
the body of the newsletter proper, rather than above the contents, and 
especially do not place operational notes or personalised notes before 
the first title line of the newsletter. If you have a special note to 
circulate concerning a newsletter, such as an apology for late 
publication, that you do not wish to appear within the publication itself, 
it is best to circulate it in a separate email. This will also ensure that 
temporary or operational notes do not appear in any newsletter 
archives.


+06: We recommend the use of a ‘Contents’ section at the top of each 
newsletter, for all but the shortest of newsletters or notices. The content 
section should list stories or items in each issue using precisely the 
same wording for story headlines as is used at the head of the stories 
themselves. Further explanatory information can be added alongside 
this headline. The contents section should be called ‘Contents’ or 
something else that makes it clear that it lists what is in the issue, such 
as ‘In this issue’. But it is important that every section that appears 
beneath the contents section should be included in the contents, 
including all regular or operational sections such as Editor’s notes or 
Copyright notices. The only exception to this rule is with 
advertisements, which need not be listed in the contents.


+07: Divide the newsletter into clear sections, for example ‘Section 
One: News’, with each section beginning with a statement of the 
section number and name and ending with a marker in square brackets 
saying the section has ended, for example:
[Section One ends].
The full stop or period that follows the end of this line should follow 
the square brackets, not be enclosed within them. You need not number 
the Contents or other introductory sections, but of sections are not 
numbered, the tag closing the section must state the precise same 
phrase as the opening, with the word ‘ends’ after it, for example: 
[Contents ends].
This precision is necessary to allow the automation of some aspects of 
this standard.


+08: Use the ‘+’ symbol repeated or on its own at the beginning of 
each new element of the newsletter, to mark its beginning and to 
denote its level within a hierarchy. For example, you could use a three-
level hierarchy of newsletter, section, and story headline denoted by 
‘+++’ at the beginning of the newsletter; ‘++’ at the beginning of each 
section heading; and ‘+’ at the beginning of each story headline within 
a section. This will help you navigate around the document – for 
example, searching for ‘++’ will allow you to jump from section to 
section. As a variation to this principle, it is acceptable to use # (the 
‘hash’ or ‘numeral sign’), but not to use * (the asterisk) because 
asterisks are often interpreted as a ‘wild card’ in a search. The symbols 
can either be used on the preceding line as the heading, and on the 
same line either with or without a subsequent space. So all the three 
examples listed below are acceptable:

Example one:
++
Heading Text.

Example two:
++Heading Text.

Example three:
++ Heading Text.


+09: Number all articles, including news and features, consecutively 
throughout the issue. These numbers should appear in the contents and 
then immediately after the + or # symbol at the beginning of each story 
headline, followed by a colon after the number and then straight into 
the headline. The first nine numbers should begin with a 0, e.g. 01 
rather than 1, to allow unambiguous searching.


+10: Do not use long lines of symbols – for example lines of asterisks 
– to mark divisions between sections of a newsletter. This visual 
device plays havoc with screen-readers, which have to read out each 
symbol individually. You may use a series of two or three empty lines 
to mark the beginning of a new section.


+11: Minimise the use of capital letters in headings and headlines, as 
these are harder to read than lower-case letters by people with impaired 
vision or dyslexia. It is better to write headlines in upper and lower 
case, sometimes known as ‘title case’, or simply to use a single capital 
letter at the beginning of the heading. You should not write words all 
in capitals unless they are abbreviations or acronyms which are usually 
spelled in capitals, like ‘BBC’.


+12: End all headlines and other headings either with a full stop or 
period, or with a colon. Ensure there is a blank line between all 
headings or headlines and the body text to which they relate.


+13: End all sentences and paragraphs with a full stop or period. If the 
last word is a web or email address (and this is not written in brackets) 
add a further space before adding a final full-stop or period.


+14: Ensure there is at least one blank line between every paragraph.


+15: Where using a list of ‘bullets’ or ‘bullet points’, start each bullet 
with a – (‘dash’) or . (‘full-stop/point’) character, and end each bullet 
with a semi-colon or full-stop/point. Ensure there is a blank line before 
the start and end of the list, and between each point as well. Ensure 
there is a clear description of the list or title for it immediately before it 
starts.

+16: Try to list web links, email addresses or other internet addresses 
such as ftp addresses on a separate line, with just the address itself on 
the line, as this makes them easier to copy onto a clipboard or a 
browser, helps prevent ‘wrap-around’ or long addresses, and allows 
screen reader users to skip immediately to the next line if they do not 
wish to listen to the web address. Try to ensure there is a clear and full 
description of the link immediately before it is cited – not just 
something like ‘for an example of what we have been talking about, 
click here’. An example of how to do it right would be:

Visit the TEN Standard web site
http://www.headstar.com/ten
for further information about our work.


+17: Where links or addresses are included in the body of text, place 
them within rounded brackets immediately after the organisation or 
document to which they refer. Insert an extra space before and after the 
web address within the brackets to make it easier to copy and paste, 
and to ensure the brackets are never mistaken by software as part of the 
web address. So for example you could write:

Visit the TEN Standard web site ( http://www.headstar.com/ten ) for 
further information about our work.


+18: If web addresses are listed at the end of a story, the full title of 
links should be included again.


+19: Full internet addresses, for example including 'http://www' at the 
beginning, should be provided for links, as some email packages only 
recognise the full versions. Links that point to directories, and not to 
files, should end with a slash ‘/’.


+20: Never use < > tags for web addresses, email address or any other 
form of internet address, except in the context of a technical manual or 
tutorial, for example where instructing someone in how to use HTML 
tags.


+21: If you put an end note at the end of an article, for example with 
information about the author or a forthcoming relevant event or article, 
use a text signifier such as ‘Note:’ rather than a symbol, and 
particularly do not use an asterisk for the reason stated in point +08 of 
this specification.


+22: Where possible, write compound words or phrases as separate 
words, or as hyphenated combinations, for example saying ‘screen 
reader’ or ‘screen-reader’ rather than ‘screenreader’, as compound 
words can confuse text-to-speech software and produce odd 
pronunciations. Where a word has been created as a company name 
that is a fusion of two or more ordinary words, such as 
‘Accessiblegames.com’, it is best to present it as upper and lower case, 
so ‘AccessibleGames.com’. This is to help screen-readers read the 
words out separately and clearly. Note however that with web 
addresses, it is not advisable to capitalise letters like this, as it may stop 
the link from working.


+23: If you make changes to your newsletter format from one issue to 
the next, mention what these are at the top of the issue for the next two 
issues at least.


+24: Make the last line of the newsletter a closure statement in square 
brackets saying ‘newsletter ends’ or equivalent.


+25: When sending out your newsletter, ensure you have your email 
software set to produce plain text emails and not rich text or HTML. 
Also, try to ensure that your email software is not set to place a line 
break after a fixed number of characters in each line.

[Section Two ends].


++ Section three: Copyright and notes.

Copyright Headstar 2002-2004. This document may be reproduced 
freely as long as it is always reproduced in its entirety, including this 
copyright message, and as long as it is always distributed free of 
charge. Please always use the latest version of the standard, to be found 
at:
http://www.headstar.com/ten .

The standard will be periodically updated and improved according to 
the feedback we receive. Please email any comments or suggestions for 
changes or improvements to Dan Jellinek on dan@headstar.com .

Organisation and individuals who produce email newsletters and who 
adhere to this standard or the majority of its specifications are 
encouraged to ‘sign up’ to the TEN Standard. To do this simply email 
a copy of your newsletter to:
ten-standard@headstar.com .

We also ask that you include a link to the TEN Standard home page 
somewhere at the end of your newsletters.

A list of all our signatories will be published at the standard’s web 
page:
http://www.headstar.com/ten .

[End of notes].

[Document ends].