• Maximum recommended mailing “weight” of the HTML including graphics and the html itself is 50kb.
  
• Ideally, all images should not exceed 40k and the actual html is normally around 10kb.
  
• All images should be jpg and/or gif.
  
• Tables – Keep the nesting of tables to a minimum, or avoid them where possible.
  
• Layouts should not exceed a web-standard 600-pixel width limit.
  
• Do not rely on BODY attributes (background image, background color, text color, link color, etc.) or markup present in the HEAD of HTML documents, as web-based clients tend to filter out such layout cues prior to final presentation.
  
• Do not use any form of stylesheets, whether it be in the HEAD tag (e.g. - CSS) or inline stylesheets.
  
• Avoid using any form of Javascript as it will not be recognized by most email browsers.
  
• Using WYSIWYG’s (Dreamweaver, GoLive, etc..) to create an html is permissible but please avoid using Microsoft Word or FrontPage.
  
• Do not use forms or text fields of any kind.
  
• Avoid reliance upon the background image attribute.
  
• Any kind of background image whether it be in body, td, or table will not render in AOL Webmail.
  
• Avoid using Image Maps. Hotmail strips out all Image Maps.
  
• Verify that all links point to functioning URL’s and are formatted correctly.
  
• When linking, do not use target blank feature.
  
• Targeting a blank page sometimes disables the link all together in certain email browsers.
  
• Please avoid using Flash elements as not all email browsers support .swf files.
  
• If Flash is to be used, a static image representing the Flash element (generally the final frame of the Flash movie) should be set as the background in the corresponding table cell.
  
• Email clients that cannot view Flash will view this background image in its place, with the exception of AOL Webmail, which disables background images.