Show the email address as plain text with a mailto link, so visitors can tap, copy or hear it read, and let a filter on the mail server catch the spam it attracts.

An address nobody can tap

A visitor reads a contact page on her phone and presses the email address. Nothing happens. It is a picture of the address, put there so that spam programs cannot read it.

On another site the address is spelled out as info at the business name dot com, with words in place of the symbols, for the same reason.

Both work against spam to a degree. Both also work against every customer who wants to write, and writing is what the contact page is for.

What the visitor has to do instead

To use it, the visitor must read it, remember it, switch to her email program and type it on a small keyboard. One dropped letter sends the message nowhere.

Copy and paste fails, because there is no text to select. A screen reader can only announce an image, and translation tools may turn at and dot into words of another language.

Some visitors manage. Others type it wrong and never learn their message bounced, and some close the page and write to the next business on their list.

Where spam lists come from

Spam programs that read web pages look for text shaped like an address, including the address inside a mailto link. That is one source among several:

An image blocks only the first route, and only for the simpler programs. An address printed on cards and invoices for years is already on lists the picture cannot reach.

Why the picture protects so little

Spelled-out addresses follow a pattern too, and programs that look for that pattern have existed for years. A picture holds out longer, but only against collection from that one page.

Meanwhile the cost lands on real visitors every day, on every phone, and most heavily on people reading in a second language or listening with a screen reader.

The trade is poor: slightly less spam, which a filter could have caught anyway, in exchange for lost messages from people who meant to write.

A worked example

An au pair agency places young caregivers from overseas with families from Nanaimo to Campbell River. Its site serves host families nearby and applicants abroad, many reading in their second language.

The address appeared only as an image on the contact page, and spelled out in words on the application page, where applicants were told to send their applications.

Applicants phoned to ask why nobody had replied; their messages had gone to misspelled addresses. Some had used translation tools, which turned at and dot into words of their own.

The agency now shows the address as plain text with a mailto link on every page, and the spam filter on its mail server has been switched on and tuned.

Applicants can tap the address or copy it exactly, so their applications arrive, and the spam it attracts lands in a folder staff check each week.

An address people can use

Show the address as text, linked with mailto, so a tap opens the visitor's mail program with the address already filled in.

Put it in the same place on every page, usually the footer, as well as on the contact page. Choose one that is easy to read aloud and hard to mistype.

A role address such as info or office works well here. Several staff can share it, and it can be retired one day without changing anyone's personal address.

Let the server catch the spam

Spam is better handled where the mail arrives. Most hosts can filter incoming mail on the server, scoring each message on its content and on checks of the server that sent it.

Messages that score high go to a separate folder instead of the inbox. Someone looks through that folder once a week, because filters occasionally catch a real enquiry.

The host can tighten or relax the filter and block senders that keep getting through. That work happens out of sight, not on every visit to the contact page.

A form beside the address

A contact form is a good addition. It takes a message without the visitor leaving the page, and it can ask the questions the business needs answered first.

Forms draw spam too, from programs that fill in every field they find. A field hidden from people, rejected by the server whenever it arrives filled in, turns many away without any puzzle.

Keep the address visible as well. Some people prefer their own email program, want a copy in their sent folder, or need to attach a file.

Testing it as a visitor

Open the contact page on a phone and tap the address. The mail program should open with it filled in. Then copy the address and paste it elsewhere to check it arrives whole.

Send a test message from an outside account, such as a personal webmail address, and confirm it reached the inbox rather than the spam folder.

Then let the phone's screen reader read the contact page aloud. If the address cannot be understood by ear, change how it is written.

The counter-case

An address buried in spam, on a server that cannot filter, may need some cover for a while, until the mail moves somewhere that can.

A short script that assembles the address as the page loads is a fair middle path. Visitors see an ordinary link they can tap and copy, while simpler programs reading the code find nothing.

But a picture or a spelled-out address should not be the permanent answer. The visitor who cannot use it is the person the page exists for.

A contact page people can write from

  1. Replace the image with the address as text.
  2. Link it with mailto so a tap opens a message.
  3. Show it in the footer of every page.
  4. Ask the host to turn on and tune spam filtering.
  5. Check the spam folder once a week.
  6. Add a hidden field to the contact form.
  7. Test the page on a phone and by ear.

Step four comes first in practice. Once the server is filtering, the address can be shown plainly, and the spam it attracts is dealt with where nobody has to see it.

What a contact form should ask for, and what it should tell visitors not to send, is set out in a contact form that invites confidential details.

Frequently asked questions

Does showing an email address as an image stop spam?

It blocks some simpler programs, but an address used for years is already on spam lists through directories, guesses and other routes an image cannot touch.

What is wrong with writing info at business dot com?

Visitors cannot tap or copy it, screen readers read it as words, and translation tools may change at and dot. Programs that decode the pattern have long existed.

How should the address be shown?

As plain text with a mailto link, so a tap opens the visitor's mail program with it filled in. Show it on the contact page and in every footer.

How does a spam filter on the server work?

It scores each incoming message on its content and on checks of the sending server, and moves likely spam to a separate folder.

Is a contact form enough on its own?

A form helps, but keep the address visible. Some people prefer their own email program, want a copy of what they sent, or need to attach a file.

How do I check the contact page works?

Tap the address on a phone, copy and paste it, send a test from an outside account, and let the phone's screen reader read the page aloud.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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