> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brew.new/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# QA an Email Before a Big Send

> A pre-send routine that catches broken layouts, dead links, and accessibility problems while they're still cheap to fix.

An email send is irreversible. Once it leaves, every typo, dead link, and broken Outlook layout is in thousands of inboxes with your name on it. The fix is a short routine you run every time, in the same order, so nothing depends on you remembering to check.

This recipe is that routine. For a small internal send you might run only the first step. Before a launch announcement to your whole list, run all four.

<Info>
  **Before you start.** You need a finished email and your own inbox for test sends. Every step runs in the app; steps 2 and 3 are also available over [MCP](/api-reference/mcp/quickstart) and the [API](/api-reference/api/api-introduction) if you'd rather QA from chat or code.
</Info>

## 1. Send a Test to Yourself

Open the email and click **Test** in the toolbar to send it to your own address (add a teammate too). Then read it as a recipient, in a real inbox:

* Do the **from name** and address look right?
* Do the **subject line and preview text** read well together in the inbox list?
* Click **every link and button**. Watch for placeholder URLs left over from drafting.
* Check merge tags: does `{{{firstName | there}}}` render as a name, and does the fallback read naturally when it doesn't?

A test send costs nothing and catches most problems. See [Sending](/create-emails/emails#sending) for the details.

## 2. Preview It Across Real Inboxes

Your inbox is one client. Your audience reads in dozens. Open the **Inboxes** tab in the Preview panel and run a [preview across real inboxes](/create-emails/preview-in-real-inboxes): Brew renders the design in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, iOS, and Yahoo and returns a screenshot per client.

Read the results in this order:

* **Outlook on Windows first.** It uses its own rendering engine and is where layouts break most often.
* **The dark-mode variants.** Look for logos that vanish and text that loses contrast.
* **The mobile clients.** Confirm the layout stacks cleanly on a narrow screen.

Each preview run costs a fixed number of [credits](/api-reference/api/credits), charged only when at least one client renders.

## 3. Run an Accessibility Audit

In the app, click **Add to chat** on the email and ask:

> "Run an accessibility audit on this email."

The [audit](/create-emails/audit-accessibility) checks the rendered HTML against WCAG 2.1: missing alt text, non-descriptive links, low text contrast, tiny fonts, missing language attribute, empty headings. You get a 0 to 100 score and a list of issues, each tagged with the WCAG criterion it violates. Say yes when Brew offers to apply the fixes, then re-run the audit to confirm the new score.

The same audit runs from any [MCP-connected client](/recipes/run-brew-from-an-ai-agent) via `audit_email_accessibility`, and at `POST /v1/emails/{emailId}/accessibility-audit` if you'd rather call the [API](/api-reference/api/api-introduction) directly. It costs 5 credits, charged only when the audit completes.

## 4. Final Checks at the Send Screen

You've verified the email itself. The last mistakes happen at the send step:

* **Audience.** Is the recipient count what you expect? A count that's way off usually means the wrong saved audience or a stale filter.
* **Subject and preview text.** These are set at send time, so a perfect design can still ship with a placeholder subject.
* **Schedule.** Confirm the time zone if you're scheduling in advance.
* **Footer.** Marketing sends need a working [unsubscribe link](/brand/unsubscribe). Test emails often get skimmed past the footer, so check it deliberately once.

Then send it, and read the [analytics](/analytics/reading-analytics) the next day rather than refreshing them all evening.

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