Email Quality Engine & Pre-Send Audit
Automated 0–100 quality scoring engine checking deliverability risks, WCAG accessibility, Gmail 102KB clipping, broken links, and mobile touch targets.
Key Takeaways
- Weighted 5-Pillar Audit: Evaluates Deliverability (30%), Accessibility (20%), Structure (20%), Mobile (15%), and Links (15%).
- Real-Time 0–100 Score: Displays continuous quality feedback in the Unified Quality Panel as you edit.
- Spam & Clipping Warnings: Flags triggers before sending, such as HTML payloads exceeding 100KB or missing unsubscribe variables.
- 1-Click Auto-Fix: Automatically repairs common issues like missing alt text, low contrast text, and uncompressed image assets.
The 5 Evaluation Pillars & Scoring Weights#
PostBrix features an automated Quality Engine that continuously inspects your email AST during design, assigning a weighted score from 0 to 100:
- Deliverability (30% Weight):
- Verifies total compiled HTML size remains safely beneath Gmail's 102 KB clipping threshold.
- Scans text copy against known spam-trigger keywords and excessive all-caps shouting.
- Confirms presence of mandatory CAN-SPAM/GDPR compliance tags (unsubscribe link and postal address).
- Validates balanced text-to-image ratio (avoiding image-only email traps).
- Accessibility (20% Weight):
- Validates WCAG 2.1 AA contrast ratios (minimum 4.5:1 for body copy; 3:1 for large headlines).
- Flags missing or non-descriptive filler alt text (e.g. "image1.png").
- Audits semantic heading hierarchy (H1 -> H2 -> H3).
- Structural Integrity (20% Weight):
- Ensures outer container does not exceed recommended desktop width (600px–650px).
- Validates nested column balance and Outlook MSO table conditional wrappers.
- Mobile Readiness (15% Weight):
- Confirms call-to-action buttons meet the Apple/Google 44x44px minimum touch target size.
- Warns against microscopic body copy (<14px) that triggers iOS Safari viewport auto-zooming.
- Link Health (15% Weight):
- Detects insecure
http://protocols and unformatted raw URL strings. - Flags empty button links (
href=""orhref="#").
Critical Rules & Severity Classifications#
Issues in the Unified Quality Panel are classified into three severity tiers:
1-Click Automated Repairs#
You do not have to manually rewrite CSS or re-upload assets to fix every flagged issue.
The Unified Quality Panel provides intelligent Auto-Fix buttons:
- Auto-Fix Contrast: Automatically darkens light text or brightens dark surfaces to achieve WCAG AA 4.5:1 compliance while preserving your brand's color hue.
- Auto-Compress Assets: Compresses heavy image assets in your template, reducing total payload size.
- Insert Legal Footer: Injects standard unsubscribe and physical postal address merge tags into your footer section with one click.
Frequently Asked Questions
What quality score should I aim for before sending?
We recommend achieving a Quality Score of 90 or above. Any Critical severity warnings—such as missing unsubscribe tags or HTML payloads exceeding 100 KB—should be resolved prior to export.
Can I export an email if my Quality Score is below 80?
Yes. The Quality Engine is an advisory pre-flight tool designed to safeguard your deliverability and brand reputation; it does not hard-block exports for draft testing.
Does the quality engine check dynamic Handlebars merge tags?
Yes. The deliverability scanner verifies that essential tags like unsubscribe links and postal address variables are present, regardless of whether you use Handlebars, Mailchimp, or Klaviyo syntax.