Designing Email for Humans, Machines, and Everything In Between with Jay Oram

Don’t waste time chasing AI trends! Get back to the basics!

In this episode of Email After Hours, Guy Hanson and Danielle Gallant sit down with Jay Oram, Head of Development at Action Rocket, to explore why accessibility should be the foundation of every email build. From designing for smartwatches and AI summarization tools to improving deliverability through reply-to strategies and hidden text optimization, Jay shares practical, developer-first tactics to help brands create emails that work for every device, reader, and algorithm.

If you're building emails for humans, machines, and every screen size in between, this episode is your blueprint for staying relevant, compliant, and competitive.

What you’ll learn:

How replacing no-reply addresses with monitored reply-to inboxes can improve deliverability, engagement signals, and sender reputation
How to create accessible, semantically structured templates that remain adaptable for 2–3 years across new devices and platforms
Why accessibility best practices (proper heading hierarchy, live text, alt text, semantic HTML) also optimize emails for AI readers and voice assistants
How to test emails from the user’s perspective–listening via screen readers, previewing on smartwatches, and checking fallback rendering in Outlook and image-blocked environments
What regulatory changes around tracking and explicit opt-in consent may mean for open tracking and measurement in Europe

Jay Oram is Head of Development at Action Rocket, where he specializes in HTML/CSS email development, interactive builds, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud solutions. With a background in digital marketing and deep expertise in accessibility and AI-ready design, Jay helps brands create high-performing emails that balance creativity with real-world inbox performance. Outside of work, he’s a passionate canoe and kayak guide and pro team member for Pyranha and Venture Canoes.

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