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Acquia Article

From Accessibility to AI and Beyond: Five Key Takeaways from Acquia Engage Boston

matt-garrepy

<hr /> In the pantheon of DAM solutions, AI has been an undeniable game changer. Along with enhancing search and impacting overall productivity, it’s also proving valuable from a generative content perspective. The latest example of AI innovation in the “DAMsphere” is from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.acquia.com/">Acquia</a>, which has been steadily infusing artificial intelligence into its platform, with a keen focus on its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/products/acquia-dam">Acquia DAM</a> solution.At <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/from-accessibility-to-ai-and-beyond-five-key-takeaways-from-acquia-engage-boston">last year’s Engage conference</a> in Boston, I saw first-hand how AI was force-multiplying the potential for Acquia DAM and taking its core Widen capabilities – <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities">which it purchased in 2021</a> – to the next level. Since then, there have been continual improvements, reinforcing Acquia’s best-of-breed posture in a competitive market of DAM and PIM products. This includes other DXPs and even headless CMS or PaaS platforms with built-in offerings. Acquia’s new AI enhancements, announced just last month, are focused on video and images – and they're pretty slick. By all accounts, they should boost the productivity of creatives and marketers while enabling them to extract greater value from their digital content. Here’s a quick breakdown (there's even some video to watch):<h3 id="acquia-video-creator">Acquia Video Creator</h3>Video is already a full-time resident in the house of the DAMs, particularly as brands increase their reliance on interactive and immersive content. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wyzowl.com/video-marketing-statistics/">Nearly 90% of consumers</a> say that they want more video, and social platforms like TikTok and Instagram have become the go-to channels for reaching new customers.Additionally, <a target="_blank" href="https://offers.hubspot.com/consumer-trends?hubs_signup-url=blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-video-consumption-is-changing&amp;hubs_signup-cta=Consumer%20Trends%20Report&amp;hubs_post=blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-video-consumption-is-changing&amp;hubs_post-cta=Consumer%20Trends%20Report&amp;_gl=1*iyn9mk*_gcl_au*MTAyMzg3NDcxOC4xNzMwOTA3MTk4*_ga*MTUzNjQ3OTAzNi4xNjg1OTEyNTQ3*_ga_LXTM6CQ0XK*MTczMDkwNzE5OC4yLjAuMTczMDkwNzE5OC42MC4wLjA.&amp;_ga=2.165247679.1431422928.1730907198-1536479036.1685912547">almost 40% of buyers</a> have cited a preference for product discovery through short-form video. Consequently, brands are ramping up their production, publication, and management resources to serve up video-centric content and campaigns at scale – and looking for platforms that provide greater automation. With the new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/products/acquia-dam/video-creator">Acquia Video Creator</a>, marketers have a dynamite tool for meeting these demands. Powered by AI, the Video Creator allows users to easily produce professional-quality, brand-compliant videos via a simple drag-and-drop interface. Videos are composed of existing content in a company's digital asset library, and users can access features like customizable templates and a vast cache of graphics, animations, and video clips. Here's a quick overview of the features: <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/aq7v00IH64E"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aq7v00IH64E" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> It’s worth reinforcing that this isn’t just a video editor. It is, indeed, a creator, giving professional video editors a canvas for generating templates with customizable zones for things like product promos. The UX is fairly robust, delivering a complete video interface with scene layers and timelines. The functionality evokes the familiarity of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe After Effects</a>, or even some elements of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/webflow">Webflow</a> relative to the granular styling capabilities – but without feeling too overwhelming. Bottom line: it’s enough tooling to assemble a solid experience.   <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:83.01%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/acquia-video-creator.png" alt="" /></figure>Composing a video with customizable zones in the Acquia Video Creator From here, marketing team members (or almost anyone for that matter) can use the simple drag-and-drop editor to add content, transitions, and animations – as well as audio tracks or music from your library or other integrated sources. You can also pop in a transcript with ease.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:82.81%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/acquia-video-creator-templates-screen.png" alt="" /></figure>Selecting templates in the Acquia Video Creator One of the big benefits is the presence of “guardrails” to help keep content on brand. We’ve seen this in other CMS and DXP platforms with restricted learning pipelines or knowledge bases that train only on a company’s content or licensed IP. This AI governance helps democratize video creation across an organization while ensuring that large, distributed teams stay on brand.The other key value is acceleration. In minutes, you can create entirely new projects, edit existing videos, and use the Video Creator’s AI features to generate scripts, voiceovers, subtitles, and even translations. There are also collaboration tools for internal sharing and review, so organizations can rapidly create, approve, and deliver videos across websites, e-commerce channels, social media, events, and more.Acquia Video Creator is powered by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.moovly.com/">Moovly</a>, and is currently available as an add-on module to both the Acquia DAM and PIM solutions.<h3 id="ai-video-transcription-and-automated-color-filtering">AI Video Transcription and Automated Color Filtering</h3>Along with the Video Creator, Acquia also introduced a new AI Video Transcription feature directly within its DAM, making it easier to manage, find, and share video and image assets. This is a super-handy resource and one that should complement every DAM. It enables users to add an AI-generated video transcript that is stored on the video’s asset digest page, eliminating the need to send videos to a separate transcription service (this can be a real hassle factor). What’s cool is that the transcripts are all time-stamped and available via general and advanced searches within the DAM. They can also be downloaded – another perk that can prove to be invaluable when utilizing transcripts in multiple places.Acquia’s new Automated Color Filtering is also a new AI-powered boon to productivity. It removes human error that can arise in manual tagging by using AI to analyze an image's color profile. It then provides filtering and search of specific HEX (hexadecimal) color values without any administrator work required.<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>When it comes to harnessing AI in CMS, DXP, and other digital experience tools, the value quotient has been all over the spectrum. I’ve watched AI features blossom from the end of 2022 as vendors scrambled to remain in parity, and there have been hits and misses. In my opinion, DAMs have been a shining example of where AI has paid dividends and brought order to the data chaos. They synthesize AI's tangible benefits, applying them to high-utility services like search and filtering. They also enable automation that delivers a more scalable and uniform experience for marketers. Within the landscape of platform choices, Acquia has been pushing the innovation edge – and making Acquia DAM a jewel in its expanding digital crown. It offers an elegant, team-oriented solution that elevates collaboration. Their streamlined approach and drag-and-drop interfaces also enable marketers to be more responsive, productive, and prolific while staying on brand.Video is a key part of the content ecosystem, and Acquia’s new features are enhancing both creation and access in profound ways. AI has been essential to the amplification, but the DXP has clearly put its ear to the ground and listened to both customers and community – particularly at the enterprise level. This is where the growth of Content Marketing Platforms (CMPs) is accelerating, which assembles the assets and digital tools for managing large-scale integrated campaigns. It’s worth noting that Acquia participated in <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/optimizely-leads-gartners-2024-mq-for-content-marketing-platforms-as-more-dxps-join-the-game">Gartner’s 2024 Magic Quadrant for CMPs</a>, presenting as a Challenger. Of course, there's also the net benefit of having the Acquia <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a> community as part of the testing and feedback loop. As with previous AI ventures within the Acquia DXP, much of the early gains came from Drupal community engagement and nascent plugins for ChatGPT that accelerated the marketable innovation. As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/buytaert/">Dries Buytaert</a> shared during our Keynote at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect Conference</a> last August, Drupal and Acquia were at the forefront of AI in the CMS realm, well before the generative explosion.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeathey/">Jake Athey</a>, Vice President of Go-To-Market and Sales for Acquia DAM &amp; PIM, this is just the beginning of the innovation cycle.“AI creates new opportunities for creatives, content authors, and marketers to drive efficiency and create immersive digital experiences that drive greater customer engagement,” he said. “Our latest innovations accelerate campaign delivery by empowering teams to create content more easily, organize assets more accurately, and find relevant assets more quickly. They are just the start of a steady stream of forthcoming innovations that distinguish Acquia DAM for its ability to consistently increase business value.”<hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-acquia-or-acquia-dam?--talk-to-us.-">Looking for guidance on Acquia or Acquia DAM?  <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to us. </a></h4><hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Acquia Introduces New AI-Powered Video and Image Features for Acquia DAM

<hr /> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fedramp.gov/">FedRAMP</a> is one of those squashed-together government acronyms that most laypeople will never be privy to. It stands for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, which empowers agencies to use modern cloud technologies to securely handle federal information – which, as you can imagine, is some of the most sensitive data in the world. FedRAMP has been somewhat of an enigma for CMS and DXP software solutions and how they’re hosted. Don’t get me wrong, there are a plethora of compliance requirements platforms already wrestle with satisfying (think about the rise of <a target="_blank" href="https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa">CCPA</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html">HIPAA</a>). However, as more federal agencies are requiring FedRAMP for specific applications, platforms are having to weigh the challenges of attaining this benchmark against the potential rewards of serving federal customers. Speaking of rewards, it’s worth noting that the U.S. federal government is the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.epa.gov/greenerproducts/selling-greener-products-and-services-federal-government">world's largest single purchaser of goods and services</a>, clocking in at almost $700 billion. IT represents a big piece of that pie, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/605501/united-states-federal-it-budget/">almost $80 billion</a> (not including the DoD). And it’s growing rapidly, particularly as more agencies modernize and digitize their legacy systems with cloud-based technologies. Earning FedRAMP status is an exceedingly arduous process, requiring meticulous documentation, third-party audits and assessments, and continuous monitoring once achieved. From an investment perspective, the cost of compliance can range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars – and take up to a year or more to complete. Ugh. Not for the faint of heart.So what’s driving this drift to FedRAMP? It’s simple: federal agencies want the same best-of-breed solutions and access to cutting-edge services. Sure, the goals might differ from commercial entities; the public sector’s motive is to support critical functions for constituents like emergency response in the aftermath of a hurricane. But the opportunity is huge, particularly as federal agencies build applications that leverage open source technologies like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.docker.com/">Docker</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://kubernetes.io/">Kubernetes</a>, and other scalable frameworks.Here's a quick primer on FedRAMP, and you can find a library of resources from the agency on its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/@FedRAMP">YouTube channel</a>:<figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_3YFkmGTt4"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I_3YFkmGTt4" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure>FedRAMP’s requirements might seem draconian to some, but there’s a lot at stake. Just ask the Department of Defense about its security clearance protocols. It’s a perilous world with lots of bad actors, so cloud solutions trusted by the federal government have to be put through the wringer – things like 3PAO readiness and <a target="_blank" href="https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/199/final">FIPS 199 assessments</a> that govern how data is stored and transmitted. It’s not very glamorous stuff, but nonetheless crucial to safeguarding government data and maintaining operations.With such high expectations – and potentially high costs – it’s no wonder that enterprise vendors are typically the platforms to achieve FedRAMP status. There are certainly a few methods for fast-tracking the journey, but larger DXPs are in a class that enables them to attain these standards. Consequently, it creates a smaller pool of available options, making it a key differentiator for winning long-term contracts that can be, in a word, lucrative. To meet these opportunities head-on, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.acquia.com/">Acquia</a> just announced that its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/introducing-acquia-cloud-next-kubernetes-native-drupal-hosting-platform">Acquia Cloud Next</a> has achieved FedRAMP Authorized status. With this benchmark, the open digital experience platform has reinforced its commitment to serve the public sector as the only commercial <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a> hosting company to meet U.S. federal government security standards.“Acquia is fully committed to delivering the industry’s strongest assurances around Drupal security, scalability, and performance for our federal customers,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertformer/">Robert Former</a>, Chief Information Security Officer at Acquia. “At the same time, upholding the industry’s most stringent information security and reliability standards benefits all organizations who operate on Acquia technologies, whether in the public or private sector, that require the highest levels of security.”<h3 id="enterprise-grade,-kubernetes-native-drupal-hosting">Enterprise-grade, Kubernetes-native Drupal hosting</h3>Acquia Cloud Next is an enhanced, Kubernetes-powered version of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/products/acquia-cloud-platform">Acquia Cloud Platform</a>, a market-leading Drupal hosting platform. It synthesizes Acquia’s innovation with key technologies powered by <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">Amazon Web Services (AWS)</a>. Built for speed, security, and resilience, Acquia Cloud Next sports a self-healing infrastructure that continuously and automatically monitors application uptime and performance. No matter the size or breadth of an enterprise's demands, Acquia Cloud Next provides a number of key benefits, including fast dynamic auto-scaling to handle traffic spikes. It also detects failures, reroutes traffic, and dynamically scales experiences to deliver optimal application performance – with no need for human intervention.With Kubernetes in the mix, Acquia Cloud Next leverages container orchestration that enables maximum scalability, security, and resilience to mitigate unexpected risks. By partnering with AWS security experts, the Cloud Next infrastructure is automatically patched and routinely scanned to maintain the highest levels of protection for applications – a key requirement for FedRAMP. <h3 id="now-available-in-the-fedramp-marketplace">Now available in the FedRAMP Marketplace</h3>One of the benefits of achieving FedRAMP status is being listed on the exclusive <a target="_blank" href="https://marketplace.fedramp.gov/#/products?sort=productName">FedRAMP Marketplace</a>, a browsable repository of approved cloud services available for federal government use. FedRAMP Marketplace supports the operational resilience needs of dozens of federal agencies, giving buyers a portal to confidence when evaluating software solutions. You can now find Acquia Cloud Next in the Marketplace, joining a fraternity of authorized solutions. Since its founding in 2011, an adage has emerged within the FedRAMP lexicon: “Do once, use many times.” In the spirit of this axiom, the FedRAMP framework strives to provide a standardized approach to security assessment – meaning that once an organization has been authorized, other federal agencies can use the same assessment results for rapid and cost-effective procurement of information systems and services.Acquia has long invested in the concerns of modern security practices, working diligently to stay ahead of threats and give content ops teams greater confidence in their technology. In addition to FedRAMP, Acquia’s information security program also helps customers operate in a cloud environment that complies with a wide array of industry standards and regulations. This includes ISO 27001, HIPAA, SSAE18/SOC 1/ISAE-3402, SOC 2, and PCI-DSS.<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Government agencies are notorious for implementing regulatory and compliance hurdles, often in reaction to a crisis (vis-à-vis <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes%E2%80%93Oxley_Act">Sarbanes Oxley</a>). These hurdles create headaches for vendors but also opportunities. As security and data privacy continue to be weak links in the chain for technologies of every kind – including <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management</a> and DXP platforms – reinforcing standards and best practices is critical.While <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a> certainly has a footprint within the U.S. public sector, Drupal is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.webfirst.com/blogs/why-drupal-10-optimal-platform-federal-websites">more widely used</a> among federal agencies. There are several reasons for this, like an abundance of highly performant modules or security designed to protect personally identifiable information. Above all, it’s open source, meaning the licensing is free and flexible. These have all made it an attractive go-to for websites and applications. Of course, it needs to be hosted somewhere reliable, and using highly scalable solutions is a basic tenet in a world where traffic can spike on a dime during a crisis. This is where Acquia has excelled, partnering with a trusted cloud provider like AWS – which has invested heavily in federal compliance around its own services – to provide an innovative hosting environment to meet this mission-critical benchmark.And by embracing a container-based framework powered by Kubernetes, Acquia is meeting the needs of agencies <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cncf.io/blog/2020/05/07/with-kubernetes-the-u-s-department-of-defense-is-enabling-devsecops-on-f-16s-and-battleships/">like the U.S. Navy</a>, which has been hyper-focused on leveraging cloud solutions with an open source stack built on Kubernetes, Docker, and other highly scalable services. In fact, they're using this mix to power other exotic initiatives like DevSecOps on F-16s and battleships. I'd say that's as mission-critical as you can get.   Government data can be just as vulnerable as commercial, and solutions with a FedRAMP status bring peace of mind to the evaluation and purchasing process for agencies. In a competitive field, offering FedRAMP solutions has also become a key differentiator, one where a DXP like Acquia can establish a stronger case for hosting Drupal workloads and accessing its services. At the end of the day, it also reinforces the core federal policy foundation of achieving efficiency, transparency, and innovation through reusable and open source software.To learn more about Acquia’s solutions for government agencies, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/solution-by-industry/government.">click here</a>. <hr /> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Acquia Cloud Next Achieves FedRAMP Authorized Status

<hr /> May 16th is <a target="_blank" href="https://accessibility.day/">Global Accessibility Awareness Day</a>. It's a moment to reflect on how far we've come in our quest to build a more accessible world and discuss the continued work ahead. On the digital side of the ledger, there's still a lot to do.In honor of the 13th annual GAAD (we love our “shortcodes” in CMS, and this is a helpful one), <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/">Acquia</a> – a leader in open digital experience software – just released its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/accessibility-report-2024">2024 Survey Report: Consumer Perspectives on Digital Accessibility</a>. The analysis reveals how website users with disabilities perceive the state of digital accessibility and how their experiences impact brand reputation and loyalty. This report contains some shocking stats. For starters, 89% of participants say they encounter accessibility issues that make it challenging to interact with websites or other digital experiences offered by brands. In addition, 62% say they would consider switching to a competitor with better accessibility features. “It’s clear that digital experiences are not meeting the accessibility expectations of those who need them. This is a critical business issue that requires more attention,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/acquia-and-the-art-of-the-possible-interview-with-chief-market-officer-jennifer-griffin-smith">Jennifer Griffin Smith</a>, Chief Market Officer at Acquia. “Digital accessibility is an essential pillar of digital experience design and management that should not be overlooked or shortchanged. Creating equal, accessible opportunities for all is a value all marketers and organizations should strive for.”The online survey was conducted in April 2024 by <a target="_blank" href="https://researchscape.com/">Researchscape</a> and is composed of responses from 1,265 adults across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia who identified as having a disability. <h3 id="neglecting-digital-accessibility-is-impacting-brands">Neglecting digital accessibility is impacting brands</h3>The Acquia survey found that not only are disability issues widespread, but so are the impacts. For example, when encountering accessibility issues on digital platforms, 45% of respondents describe the experience as either “very” or “extremely” frustrating. It's not a leap to assume that brand reputation is negatively impacted when users encounter these digital accessibility challenges. Survey participants also report a myriad of feelings in response to accessibility issues. 71% express frustration, while 58% say they feel “disappointed” and 24% register as “angry.” Nearly 1 in 5 say they feel excluded.When asked what steps they are most likely to take when experiencing these issues, 34% said they would complain directly to the brand, and 31% of respondents said they would talk about the accessibility issue with their family and friends. However, 20% leverage social media to share their experiences, creating a ripple effect of negative brand perception that extends far beyond the disabled individuals who experience these problems first-hand.In terms of a direct impact on brands and their bottom lines, 51% of respondents stated they would most likely seek alternative options that are more accessible, and 42% said they would discontinue using the brand’s services.  <h3 id="prioritizing-digital-accessibility-can-build-confidence-and-trust-">Prioritizing digital accessibility can build confidence and trust </h3>The survey's participants codify what we already know: more work needs to be done to improve digital accessibility for all users, and brands can reap the benefits on multiple levels – if they take swift action. To that end, 93% of consumers surveyed say that it's important that the brands they engage with prioritize digital accessibility. However, consumers want progress over platitudes, and many respondents expressed skepticism about the true intentions of companies when messaging around digital accessibility. In the past year, only 27% of respondents said they believe that brands are taking accessibility seriously and making meaningful improvements. It gets worse from there: 33% believe companies are just “doing the basics” to check the regulatory compliance box. 28% believe that while companies talk about accessibility as a marketing tactic, not much action has been taken – and 12% believe that companies aren’t thinking about or doing anything to improve digital accessibility.  “Ultimately, we’re talking about a large proportion of the population who would like to access, enjoy, and get value from digital experiences," Jennifer Griffin Smith concluded. “As digital marketers, we should not be excluding anyone from engaging with or participating in our digital content. This is an enormous opportunity to grow your customer base, increase revenue and, above all else, improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.”To view more details from the study, visit <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/accessibility-report-2024">https://www.acquia.com/accessibility-report-2024</a> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Acquia Survey Reveals Brands are Paying the Price for Digital Accessibility Deficiencies

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<hr /> <a target="_blank" href="https://accessibility.day/">Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)</a> is an annual event that focuses on access and inclusion. Each year, it draws attention to the vital role of digital accessibility, encouraging communities to think and discuss its impact on the one billion people worldwide with disabilities and impairments. GAAD will take place on May 16th, enshrining this as “Digital Accessibility Month.” Many organizations use this opportunity to promote and reinforce their efforts to support accessibility, so the channels are aflutter with messaging. Heightened awareness is a good thing. It's also a stark reminder that we're still struggling with digital equality. Case in point: In 2020, <a target="_blank" href="https://webaim.org/">WebAIM</a> – a not-for-profit practice within the <a target="_blank" href="https://idrpp.usu.edu/">Institute for Disability Research, Policy &amp; Practice</a> at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a> – analyzed one million website homepages for accessibility issues. According to its report, over 98% of the scanned sites had at least one failure based on the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) internationally recognized <a target="_blank" href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).</a>The causes of the compliance errors were broad, but the biggest offenders were low-contrast text and missing ALT tags for images. Very basic issues that could be addressed in a matter of seconds without complex coding or refactoring. And therein lies the problem: developers and content creators still don't fully prioritize the importance of ensuring digital equality – nor are they incentivized to do so. Further, the momentary nature of “compliance” remains a challenge, as web content isn't always persistent. As such, a site can lose its error-free status with the addition of a single blog post. It would be easy to blame the tools, but we have a plethora to choose from and several are exceedingly good. Spotting most (if not all) of the critical errors can be fully automated and reports produced with a predictable cadence. And while humans are required to remediate many of the issues, we wouldn't have as many to correct if we simply took the right steps from the beginning. No, the problem lies with us. The builders. The creators. The practitioners. For too long, we've stoked a culture of disregard for embracing accessibility at a foundational level and de-prioritized education and awareness. We shouldn't be thinking about it on just one day every year; accessibility must be elemental to how we create and care for every experience in our digital ecosystem. The good news is that we're making progress, and not just as a result of <a target="_blank" href="https://accessibe.com/blog/knowledgebase/ada-website-lawsuits">class-action lawsuits</a>. We have better systems and structural processes than ever before. More institutional guidance is emerging, and the WCAG standards are continuing to evolve and expand. The GAAD Foundation (part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day) has also been on a mission to disrupt the culture of technology and digital product development to include accessibility as a core requirement. The policy landscape is shifting, too, as more governance enters the equation. Europe's <a target="_blank" href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/web-accessibility">Web Accessibility Directive</a> has been in force since 2016 but was reviewed in 2022 following the pandemic's unprecedented acceleration of digital commerce. It complements the broader European Accessibility Act, which is similar to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ada.gov/">U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act</a>, but provides deeper monitoring and reporting of websites and digital properties. Of course, there's still confusion. And while some litigation has been “settled” (see: <a target="_blank" href="https://adasoutheast.org/court/robles-v-dominos-pizza-llc/#:~:text=Robles%20sued%20Domino's%20Pizza%2C%20LLC,did%20not%20have%20fair%20notice.">Robles v. Domino's Pizza</a>), private businesses still aren't hitting the mark. There's also the emergence of AI tools, which promise to streamline scanning and automatically generate ALT tags. That's cool – but even in light of these advances, there's still a major gap to backfill.Here's the bottom line: we have an ethical and moral obligation to reinforce accessibility. It's the right thing to do, and will ultimately impact everyone (it's true that with age, a great deal of us will likely develop one or more disabilities or impairments). But as I heard from many attendees at <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/from-accessibility-to-ai-and-beyond-five-key-takeaways-from-acquia-engage-boston">Acquia Engage</a> last fall – just after the DXP announced its acquisition of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/acquia-tackles-accessibility-and-optimization-as-it-completes-monsido-buy">Monsido</a>, a best-of-breed web accessibility and optimization platform – there's a business imperative as well: people with disabilities are customers, and experiences that aren't accessible will almost certainly drive them to another brand.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.acquia.com/">Acquia</a> made accessibility a core theme of its annual conference in 2023, and it's continuing to provide users with the knowledge and resources to be successful. In fact, they just announced that Monsido now offers support for WCAG 2.2, the latest set of web content accessibility guidelines recommended by the W3C. By using its signature Accessibility Module in Monsido, Acquia customers can automatically scan their websites, obtain an accessibility score, and receive actionable recommendations to help ensure the accessibility of their digital content for individuals with disabilities. By reducing the friction and making it part of the flow, Monsido is helping to ensure accessibility. “WCAG 2.2 stands as the globally recognized benchmark for digital accessibility, and marks a pivotal step toward a more accessible and inclusive digital world,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/acquia-and-the-art-of-the-possible-interview-with-chief-market-officer-jennifer-griffin-smith">Jennifer Griffin Smith</a>, Chief Market Officer at Acquia. “Keeping pace with the latest guidelines as they emerge is a major challenge but a necessary one."Necessary indeed. As Jennifer cited, 51% of consumers are willing to pay more to companies committed to digital accessibility while 41% are willing to pay up to 10% more. “Monsido simplifies this process,” she said, "making it easy to identify and proactively fix accessibility issues, avoid penalties for non-compliance, and most importantly maximize the return on marketing investments by improving the digital experience for all users to ensure wider reach and more audience engagement.” <h3 id="evolving-with-the-wcag-standards">Evolving with the WCAG standards</h3>If you're not familiar with the WCAG, it's worth noting that the guidelines have been developed through the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/w3c-process/">W3C process</a> in cooperation with individuals and organizations around the world. The goal is simple: provide a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.The WCAG documents explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities, ensuring they are perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust (the guidelines get more granular from here). Web “content” generally refers to the information in a web page or web application, including natural information – such as text, images, and sounds – as well as code or markup that defines structure, presentation, and other variables.WCAG 2.1 addressed key accessibility issues for individuals with blindness, deafness, and mobility requirements, improving upon its previous benchmarks. WCAG 2.2 builds on these efforts, adding new criteria to make the web more productive for those with low vision and cognitive disabilities, as well as those using tablets and other mobile devices. New device form factors present challenges for the WCAG; as mobile and IoT continue to evolve, the guidelines must also adapt to how users interface with new kinds of hardware. With so many factors at play – and so much content across channels – brands and organizations are seeking solutions like Monsido to address the scope and scale of managing an accessibility strategy. Having best-of-breed technology that's integrated with their DXP makes the entire process easier and faster, but also more trustworthy. “Customers who see accessibility as a foundation for digital experience want a solution that’s a core part of their DXP provider’s portfolio, not a tool off to the side as an ad-hoc consideration,” Jennifer said, “We’re seeing increased adoption because we’re putting our customers in a position to address digital accessibility proactively as part of a broader effort to create digital experiences that are also frictionless, relevant, and safe – or, as we often say, productive.”The Monsido platform addresses common accessibility issues against these latest WCAG guidelines and enables errors to be filtered by the desired level of compliance (e.g. A, AA, or AAA) for easy prioritization. Comprehensive reports explain how to resolve issues, and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/products/monsido/features/accessibility">Accessibility Fast Track</a> feature empowers teams to instantly fix repetitive errors across multiple pages. This includes elements such as links, images, and text. It also addresses accessibility issues in bulk – all with the touch of a button.For additional support, teams will also have access to Acquia's <a target="_blank" href="https://help.monsido.com/en/articles/4891170-accessibility-help-center">Accessibility Help Center</a>, which breaks down the more technical WCAG 2.2 checks in plain language. This is key, as accessibility still requires human support to help unpack and remediate certain issues like keyboard tabbing for focusable elements. <h3 id="spotlighting-the-importance-of-digital-accessibility">Spotlighting the importance of digital accessibility</h3>Acquia’s stated mission is to help customers build a better digital future – one that's more inclusive, accessible, and sets new benchmarks for performance and innovation. With GAAD just a few days away, Acquia is using this month to spotlight digital accessibility as a critical element of every organization’s digital practices.  “We’re seeing a real shift in organizations who acknowledge that digital accessibility is a priority, which is wonderful because it never should have been seen as a nice-to-have," Jennifer shared. “Of course, there are varying states of maturity here. For some, increased regulatory pressure is still the forcing function. But more often, we’re seeing more business leaders who want to embed digital accessibility into their marketing programs because they recognize that’s the clearest pathway to maximizing the business benefits. And that’s ultimately what differentiates Monsido.” Throughout May, Acquia will offer opportunities for technology and marketing professionals to learn about the state of digital accessibility and get inspired to make meaningful improvements. This includes a host of webinars on subjects like “The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Digital Accessibility,” “The Digital Accessibility Dilemma,” and "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/events/webinars/achieving-near-perfect-web-accessibility-salvation-army-story">Achieving Near Perfect Web Accessibility</a>, which features a use case with the Salvation Army. Collaborative workshops at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/engage/london-2024">Acquia Engage London</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/engage/paris-2024">Paris</a> – as well as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/drupalcon">DrupalCon Portland</a> – will give attendees the opportunity to learn accessibility fundamentals and how to apply them in website design and development. Acquia is also promoting daily accessibility facts across its social channels and even offering downloadable animated American Sign Language emojis for Slack and social media. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Simply put: because people matter. Every one of us. We all deserve dignity and respect, and accessing digitally equitable experiences should be a basic, fundamental expectation. By all accounts, brands and organizations are waking up to this, albeit slowly. Governments have been exerting pressure, but not evenly or in all places. There's also the persistent lack of understanding around digital accessibility, and whether customers have choices or options to utilize other channels (vis-à-vis making a call versus using an app). At these moments, we should remind ourselves of the impact that ramps and accessible bathrooms have had on our culture, allowing people with disabilities to know a level of freedom and independence they are entitled to. Should we not demand the same from digital experiences?There are great tools out there, and Monsido is certainly among the top of the list. At the same time, it would be shortsighted to pin all hope and responsibility on the tool. Companies need to instill a culture of accessibility at the foundational level – and for those vendors building websites, we need to think about accessibility first and not treat it like an afterthought. Not only will it deliver better results all around, but it will save money in the long run by avoiding labor-intensive remediation or costly fines.A quick side note: We spend a lot of time talking about website accessibility, but native mobile apps should also meet the same benchmarks as places of public accommodation. Not all tools are capable of crawling and identifying issues within mobile apps, but several options, like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.deque.com/">Deque</a>, offer a blend of AI-powered technologies and professional services for mobile app accessibility testing. What's clear is that Acquia is making good on its own commitment to accessibility. The Monsido acquisition was a sage investment, but the company has influenced its optimization strategy by infusing it with accessibility, which brings a cadre of structural standards that can improve a website's SEO health and performance. Keeping in lockstep with the WCAG's evolving standards is another example of how they are delivering greater confidence for customers. And of course, good accessibility is good business – and making Monsido an easy add-on within its DXP ecosystem helps solve problems faster and more efficiently. Jennifer gave us a clue that more of this interoperability and ease of integration is driving Acquia's future roadmap. “Looking ahead, we’ll soon have other announcements that make Monsido even more connected and easy to use in <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a> implementations," she said, "as well as integrations that provide customers with more flexibility and extend our compliance with global accessibility guidelines.”Finally, I'll leave you with this: at Acquia Engage Boston, I had the opportunity to see <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/habengirma/">Haben Girma</a> give a presentation called The Univeral Benefits of Inclusive Design. As the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, Haben has long been a champion for digital accessibility. During her session, she stood in front of a crowded room and delivered a powerful talk – all without seeing or hearing the audience. This would have been impossible without the physical cache of accessible resources, but equally so without digital assistive capabilities.Using her braille keyboard, she shared how technology has unlocked so much for her, even though most tech is developed with non-disabled users in mind. “Disability sparks innovation,” she said. “It spurs creativity that ends up helping everyone.” So the next time you need to add an ALT description to an image, remember that you're not just doing your part to help one person – you're helping one billion.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Acquia Enhances Website Accessibility with Monsido, Now Supports WCAG 2.2 Guidelines

<hr /> DAM is having a moment right now. And it's not just the publication of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forrester.com/blogs/announcing-the-dam-wave-q1-2024/">Forrester's Q1 Wave Report for Digital Asset Management Systems</a>, which hit the streets today. That's certainly adding to the gravitas.No, “DAM” is overflowing for a number of reasons. For starters, brands are creating an epic deluge of content. It's undeniable, but it's also perfectly logical. We live in a world that thrives on digital detritus, and modern creative tools have made it easy to produce an unthinkable number of assets at lightning speed. But therein lies the problem: how do you manage it all? Add to that the very real phenomenon of generative AI, which is rippling across the functionality landscape with terrific force. As brands automate and scale the production of the assets they're producing – driven in part by personalized variants and test iterations – marketing departments are under increasing pressure to police the streets and maintain governance.As much as AI is part of the problem, it's also presenting itself as a solution. Such is the case with <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/acquia-dam-bolsters-search-share-and-analytics-capabilities">Acquia DAM</a> (formerly Widen), which has been piloting a new bench of AI capabilities – some of which were announced at Engage Boston, which I <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/from-accessibility-to-ai-and-beyond-five-key-takeaways-from-acquia-engage-boston">covered in detail here</a>. The company has been innovating on the edge with generative AI for quite some time, injecting its DAM with search and share features and a <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/acquia-dam-introduces-new-generative-ai-features-for-product-and-image-descriptions">product and image description generator</a> last year.Today, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/">Acquia</a> introduced a new set of integrations for its digital asset management solution, designed to expand its brand management capabilities. The company says the integrations with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/products/acquia-campaign-studio">Acquia Campaign Studio</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://stock.adobe.com/">Adobe Stock</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://translate.google.com/">Google Translate</a> will reduce the complexity of maintaining consistent brand experiences across digital channels – and help marketing and creative teams save time and squeeze more value from their content assets.As Acquia knows too well, brands aren't showing any signs of slowing their content hustle. In fact, it's quite the opposite: they need to differentiate with fresh and relevant content to power their marketing campaigns and drive more clicks and purchases. That includes harnessing an ever-growing landscape of visual product imagery, graphics, and more.I had a chance to connect with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/about-us/team/jake-athey">Jake Athey</a>, Vice President, Sales and Go-to-Market, DAM and PIM at Acquia. He's the muscle behind the ever-growing mountain of digital assets, helping to evangelize Acquia's solutions through the marketer's lens. As a DAM and PIM expert, he brings a deep understanding of the evolving landscape – a journey he began during his time at Widen.“Brand leaders today are looking to free up their teams to be more creative and to use digital content assets in new ways,” he said. “These new integrations help customers scale their use of digital content across digital channels and across regions to deliver a better brand experience in less time.”<h3 id="beef-up-marketing-automation-with-acquia-campaign-studio">Beef up marketing automation with Acquia Campaign Studio</h3>First and foremost, Acquia DAM is now integrated with Acquia Campaign Studio – the company’s full-scale marketing automation solution. The integration leverages Acquia’s instant search connector tool, so once a user is authenticated in the DAM connector within Campaign Studio, they can search, view, and select the asset of their choice within Campaign Studio’s email and landing page builders. Here's something really cool: by tapping this connection, any pictures in emails or landing page builders dynamically change when they're updated in Acquia DAM. This has a potentially huge benefit for marketing teams as it will not only save time but also reduce the chance of using off-brand or unapproved content. As you might imagine, this is super valuable for brands that have hundreds – or even thousands – of assets in various places to support decentralized users and brands (think franchises or distributors).<h3 id="access-images-with-ease-via-adobe-stock--">Access images with ease via Adobe Stock  </h3>The Adobe Stock integration offers what you might expect from a CMS or DXP stock image connector, reducing the friction of accessing images, video, or other digital assets in one place while piping in essential metadata. But Acquia DAM goes beyond the typical by providing a more enhanced UX with smoother workflows. Creative pros can choose which types of Adobe Stock assets to monitor and sync, and the integration handles file copying and categorization in Acquia DAM. “Our new Adobe Stock integration simplifies the creative workflow for our customers significantly by automating the syncing of newly licensed assets from Adobe Stock directly into Acquia DAM,” Jake said. “This means that as soon as a customer licenses a new asset on Adobe Stock, it’s automatically uploaded to DAM, along with important metadata like the asset’s ID, title, and keywords. Users can tailor this integration to their needs by choosing which types of assets they want to sync, such as photos, illustrations, and videos.”Jake also explained that the setup uses <a target="_blank" href="https://www.oauth.com/">OAuth Server-to-Server</a> credentials. Customers need only provide their Client ID and Client Secret specific to their Adobe Stock account to enable a secure connection. But once established, the rest should be cream cheese. It's worth noting that Acquia DAM also provides long-standing integrations with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/">Getty Images </a>and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/">Shutterstock</a>, both of which offer well-documented API recipes for integrations. The real magic is how a platform harnesses these capabilities and surfaces the value. “The Adobe Stock integration follows a similar automated approach to syncing assets,” Jake said. “Since this is a managed integration, there will be no need for a new user interface – everything is syncing in the background to make things easy for users.”<h3 id="interpret-more-accessibility-with-google-translate">Interpret more accessibility with Google Translate</h3>Language translation and localization is finally becoming table stakes for globally-aware brands (although it's a mystery why it's still missing on so many sites). Still, software UX is often overlooked. Acquia aims to mitigate that by adding Google Translate to its DAM, helping to ensure that branded content is accessible, searchable, and relevant to diverse users and groups. It's simple: customers can use Google Translate to automatically translate text from selected metadata fields. The DAM automatically repopulates these fields with translated content in up to 20 languages. For those of us who have integrated Google Translate at the web layer, we know there's been a palpable lack of control and customizability. I asked Jake how Acquia is enabling DAM users to “massage” translated content if the text requires any additional tweaks after a human review. There are certainly other tools that facilitate this, and it's a place where AI is also making a dent in the obstacles. “With Acquia’s flexible permissions and dynamic path notifications, customers can set up their desired governance and workflow processes, so they have an opportunity to check translations,” he said. “As with the use of generative AI, we believe incorporating human review into a translation workflow is a best practice. We also have an OpenAI Translate Native Integration on our product roadmap.”<h3 id="building-on-a-legacy-of-ai-innovation">Building on a legacy of AI innovation</h3>As previously noted, AI has long been a part of the Acquia roadmap. Last May, when I <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/acquia-taps-its-modular-open-source-legacy-to-drive-the-composable-future">spoke to Deanna Ballew</a>, SVP of Product at Acquia, she shared a bit about where the company's AI investment had started – and how the open source Drupal community was already innovating around ChatGPT connectors at the CMS level. I asked Jake about the recent AI announcements from Engage last November, and what we might expect on the horizon. He gave me a bit of what's in the rearview mirror, and a peek through the windshield. He started with Acquia DAM’s Workflow AI Assistant, which was launched in 2023, and supports the ability to more efficiently generate new creative and copy ideas and editing suggestions to streamline work-in-process cycles. It also helps to keep teams on brand, accelerating time to market with new brand assets.This was followed by the aforementioned AI-powered keywords and automated description, caption, and alt-text generation – which supports the ability to catalog, find, and use new assets more quickly. Automated alt-text generation also supports SEO and accessibility to optimize brand asset performance across digital channels.“Acquia DAM’s new search by color and color filters help users to quickly find and use available assets based on design color scheme and brand colors,” he shared. “The new integration with Adobe Stock and our existing integration with Shutterstock also tap into the generative AI capabilities of those platforms.”So what's next? Some pretty sophisticated stuff.“New AI capabilities to come include advancements to smart tags, facial recognition, focal point cropping, video transcription, and AI-based GPT video generation and editing,” Jake said. “With all of these and more, our intention is to enable marketers and creative pros to accelerate content velocity, while staying true to brand standards and supporting richer digital experiences for their own customers.”<h3 id="what's-ahead-in-2024-for-acquia-dam?">What's ahead in 2024 for Acquia DAM?</h3>As Jake pointed out, Acquia DAM supports a wide range of organizations across sizes and industries. Acquia proper continues to support Fortune 1000 organizations, including a majority who have – or are replacing – a DAM.  “With these innovations, Acquia is also focused heavily on serving the late-stage majority of first-time DAM buyers in the middle market, with an estimated 200,000 companies in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan,” he confirmed. “Acquia is focused on brands and agencies alike, and serves marketing communications, creative/design, digital/web, product, and e-commerce functions.”In terms of target industries, the company is focusing on manufacturing and engineering, supply chain and logistics, financial services, food and beverage (including manufacturers, distributors, grocery stores, and restaurants), consumer goods, healthcare, education, and more. Obviously, this list can become more granular, but it provides a high-level snapshot of where they see opportunities for DAM to make a difference.As I previously discussed with Deanna Ballew, the theme of composability remains key to Acquia (and just about every platform in the industry). As a legacy DXP with a more traditionally monolithic posture, Acquia has been making strides to decouple its products in the right places, so customers can leverage the efficiencies of a composed DXP while purchasing a specific product within the portfolio. To that end, it's worth reinforcing that Acquia DAM may be used as a standalone solution or with content management systems such as Drupal or other products in the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (Acquia DXP).You can learn more about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/acquia-dam/features/ai">Acquia DAM’s native AI features</a> and the new set of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/dam/integrations">DAM integrations </a>on its website. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Acquia DAM Adds New Integrations to Enhance Brand Management 

<hr /> While attending the <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/from-accessibility-to-ai-and-beyond-five-key-takeaways-from-acquia-engage-boston">Acquia Engage Conference</a> in Boston last November, we covered an array of news and announcements from one of the market’s leading DXPs. The most notable was around accessibility, reflecting <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/acquia">Acquia’s</a> clear strategy to expand its DXP capabilities with a cogent solution – one that supports digital equality and improves its competitive posture. That came in the form of an “acquisition of an acquisition,” so to speak: <a target="_blank" href="https://monsido.com/">Monsido</a>. This week, Acquia issued a press release stating that the acquisition of Monsido has been successfully completed, bringing the full breadth of its investment to bear as it focuses on growth and competitive differentiation in 2024.A leading SaaS-based website accessibility and optimization solution, Monsido has a decade-long legacy of helping customers of all sizes – and across industries – to monitor and improve website accessibility. Monsido’s best-of-breed features also provide resources for maintaining content quality and governance, enhancing search engine optimization (SEO), improving data privacy, and impacting overall website performance.<h3 id="from-civicplus-to-acquia-dxp">From CivicPlus to Acquia DXP</h3>Founded in 2014, Monsido was most recently the domain of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/civicplus">CivicPlus</a>, an integrated technology solutions platform focused on the public sector.The new deal structured with Acquia allows CivicPlus to retain and serve U.S. local government customers as a Monsido reseller. Meanwhile, Monsido’s team members in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Denmark – including its two co-founders – have also joined Acquia, bringing focused talent and experience to the DXP’s ranks.“Making accessibility and compliance core to Acquia DXP supports our mission of building an inclusive digital future, and enables our customers to provide web experiences that serve all of their users,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-reny-0a2a0a163/">Steve Reny</a>, President and CEO of Acquia. “We are delighted to welcome the Monsido team to Acquia and look forward to bringing the Monsido platform and its capabilities to more organizations globally.”<h3 id="available-as-an-integrated-or-standalone-offering">Available as an integrated or standalone offering</h3>The Monsido acquisition – initially announced on the first day of Engage Boston – expands the capabilities of Acquia’s digital experience platform, positioning it as the only leading DXP that offers a complete solution with Monsido’s full suite of features. The addition of these tools will enable users to build and manage websites and digital experiences that are more accessible – a strategic ambition that Acquia made abundantly clear during its keynote sessions at the Engage conference. From a go-to-market perspective, Monsido is available as part of the Acquia DXP or as a standalone offering. Acquia is touting Monsido’s composable extensibility, reinforcing that the technology continues to work with any <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system (CMS),</a> including <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a> – the open source CMS that provides the foundation of the Acquia DXP. <h3 id="accessibility:-the-new-imperative-for-open-dxps">Accessibility: the new imperative for open DXPs</h3>Accessibility has been a rapidly evolving initiative for governments and businesses for decades. While some tenants of physical accessibility have achieved widespread adoption, digital accessibility has struggled, relying on loosely legislated requirements. While the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) procured by the W3C</a> have provided a foundation, many websites still fall woefully short of delivering digitally equitable experiences to users. According to an IDC report, fewer than 10% of websites are fully accessible across visual, auditory, and cognitive disabilities. (1)Legislation such as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ada.gov/">Americans with Disabilities Act</a> and the upcoming <a target="_blank" href="https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202">European Accessibility Act</a> are now mandating that vendors address digital accessibility. At the same time, marketers are realizing the potential of accessibility to increase conversions, drive revenue, and broaden customer reach. In today’s connected world, digital experiences must exceed consumer expectations for accessibility. This can help enhance brands, build customer loyalty, and ultimately deliver competitive differentiation in a noisy, fragmented world of marketing messages. This is one of the key reasons why accessibility is a strategic imperative for Acquia. As the company noted in its press release, accessibility is also a prerequisite for open DXPs to deliver exceptional digital experiences for all customers. With the acquisition of Monsido, Acquia now offers a complete solution for building, managing, and delivering fully optimized websites to meet modern standards and digital content guidelines – and comply with WCAG and web accessibility legislation. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>For SaaS companies, being purchased once is a big deal. But three times? Lightning in a bottle. While this phenomenon might raise eyebrows for some, Monsido has repeatedly proven itself to be a best-of-breed technology platform and a trustworthy brand. The continued interest and pursuit of its technology also speaks volumes about the efficacy of its software, the value of its intellectual capital, and the addressable market for accessibility and digital experience optimization. Acquia’s purchase of Monsido also reflects how DXPs are getting creative with their expansion strategies. Now armed with core functionality around DAM, CDP, and marketing automation – all now juiced with AI – optimization is becoming a pinnacle initiative for growth and a competitive differentiator within a tight enterprise market. While somewhat unorthodox, Monsido’s textured journey to the Acquia ecosystem may have been worthwhile. The platform’s tenancy under the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/civicplus-completes-acquisition-of-optimere-301565466.html">Optimere</a> umbrella (the parent company of ArchiveSocial and NextRequest) likely injected additional innovation into its roadmap and team culture. As an organization, Monsido no doubt “learned” from its stint at CivicPlus, which purchased all three Optimere solutions in 2021 as part of an integrated, frictionless vision for public sector customers – a marketplace where accessibility is of paramount concern. Government agencies have been swarmed by an onslaught of accessibility lawsuits and evolving compliance requirements for the last decade, and tools like Monsido have become indispensable.  All this experience likely positioned Monsido as a new piece to Acquia’s DXP puzzle. As we covered last November, the company seems genuinely committed to accessibility as a strategic imperative, embracing digital equality at a cultural level and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/acquia-accessibility">vocalizing its path to building accessible software</a>. The investment in an accessibility platform with this clout and staying power is a testament to Acquia’s aggressive growth strategy – and a reinforcement of its commitment to delivering digital equality.(1) IDC, “Web Accessibility: Preparing for Compliance in 2025 Brings an Intersection of DEI and Customer Experience” by Marci Maddox, May 2023 (IDC #US48610922). <hr /><figure class="image"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/11/cms-kickoff-2024-banner.jpg" /></figure><h3 id="join-us-at-cms-kickoff-2024-next-week!">Join us at CMS Kickoff 2024 next week!</h3>CMS Critic is a proud conference partner at this second annual edition of the prestigious international Boye &amp; Co conference, dedicated to the global CMS community. This event will bring together top-notch speakers, Boye &amp; Company's renowned learning format, and engaging social events.Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move forward in 2024. Hear from leading voices across the industry on a wide range of topics, including:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/speakers/andrew-kumar">Andrew Kumar</a>, GVP at Uniform</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/speakers/becky-brown">Becky Brown</a>, Content Strategy Lead at Johnson &amp; Johnson</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/speakers/marli-mesibov">Marli Mesibov</a>, Content Strategy at Verily</li></ul><h4 id="-"> </h4><img style="width:39.13%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/11/don-cesar-hotel.jpg" /><h4 id="the-don-cesar:-a-world-class-venue">The Don CeSar: a world-class venue</h4>Is there a better location for a winter kickoff than Florida's beautiful, sugary sand beaches? CMS Kickoff 2024 will be held at the iconic Don CeSar, just steps from the Gulf of Mexico. Dubbed the “Pink Palace,” this majestic hotel and resort provides a stunning backdrop to the conference, along with access to the local food and culture of St. Petersburg Beach.  <h4 id="get-your-tickets-today">Get your tickets today</h4>CMS Kickoff offers an intimate, highly focused experience. Space is limited, and only a few seats remain. Don't miss this exclusive opportunity!<a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff24/tickets">Purchase tickets now &gt;</a>

Acquia Tackles Accessibility and Optimization as it Completes Monsido Buy

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

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<h4>Snapshot:</h4><ul><li>Acquia announced today that it will acquire Monsido from CivicPlus.</li><li>The acquisition will bring enhanced accessibility and optimization capabilities to Acquia DXP.</li><li>Acquia is also partnering with Conductor and VWO to enhance organic marketing and experimentation.</li><li>The announcements were made at the opening of Acquia Engage Boston 2023</li></ul><hr /> Acquia wasted no time engaging the DX world this morning. Just before the official start of its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/engage/boston">flagship conference in Boston</a>, the industry-leading DXP made two splashy announcements – each reinforcing a more complete vision for digital experience optimization.Let's break down the news.<h3>Acquia to acquire Monsido from CivicPlus</h3>Topping the headlines is Acquia’s announcement that it will purchase <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/civicplus">Monsido</a>, a leading SaaS platform for monitoring and managing website accessibility, content quality, and SEO. Acquia will acquire Monsido from <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/civicplus">CivicPlus</a>, an integrated technology solutions platform focused on the public sector. CivicPlus inherited Monsido as part of its broader <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/civicplus-enters-into-agreement-to-acquire-optimere">Optimere acquisition</a> in 2022, a trifecta that also included <a target="_blank" href="https://archivesocial.com/">ArchiveSocial</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nextrequest.com/">NextRequest</a>.At the time, the move seemed a logical growth strategy for CivicPlus, which had built a strong portfolio of government and municipal agencies looking to track, remediate, and secure their ADA accessibility as part of an integrated and inclusive digital strategy. Monsido continued to maintain its brand under the CivicPlus umbrella, a testament to the trust it has built in the marketplace as a go-to solution for accessibility.Now, Acquia is adding the accessibility gem to its crown, further evolving its charter as a digital optimization platform – and helping to scale adoption for Monsido’s bench of solutions. According to the company’s press release, the acquisition not only expands the capabilities of its open <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/products">Acquia DXP</a>, but also supports its mission to “help build a better digital future” that’s more inclusive, accessible, and sets new benchmarks for performance and innovation. “Acquia’s vision is to deliver the most open DXP to enable our customers to improve their businesses by creating superior experiences,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-reny-0a2a0a163/">Steve Reny</a>, President and CEO of Acquia. “Monsido empowers digital marketers and website owners with an all-in-one suite of capabilities for website optimization and compliance. Used with any website or as part of Acquia DXP, Monsido helps make digital experiences more optimized, accessible, and inclusive, so organizations can fulfill legal and regulatory requirements, uphold social responsibility, and expand market reach.”From a product, market, and channel perspective, both companies will maintain interests in Monsido through a strategic partnership. Following the close of the acquisition, CivicPlus will retain and continue to support U.S. local government customers using the Monsido platform and become a reseller of Monsido to the U.S. local government territory and market. U.S. state and federal government – and all other Monsido customers – will become Acquia customers. It’s also worth noting that Monsido will be available as part of Acquia DXP or as a standalone offering. “As the leading provider of accessibility solutions in the U.S., CivicPlus remains deeply committed to bringing accessible and inclusive technology to local governments,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-rempe-765bb01/">Brian Rempe</a>, CEO of CivicPlus. “Through this partnership with Acquia, we will continue to make the Monsido solution and its accessibility, quality assurance, and web governance capabilities available to U.S. communities. At the same time, we recognize that accessible digital experiences are critically important for every interaction with every digital property, and we're pleased to know that Acquia's leadership of the Monsido solution will bring this powerful tool to more entities in more markets around the world. By forming this partnership, CivicPlus and Acquia will lead and empower greater adoption of accessible technology that creates positive digital interactions for all technology users.”The transaction is expected to close in early Q1 2024. <h3>What’s driving Acquia’s purchase of Monsido</h3>At the center of the push for digital optimization is consumer expectations. Users demand fast, intuitive, more productive online experiences and interactions – and brands that deliver on these expectations will have a decidedly competitive edge in a crowded, fragmented market. With the acquisition of Monsido, Acquia is now positioned to deliver a complete solution for building, managing, and delivering digital experiences that are fully optimized to meet modern website standards and digital content guidelines. This includes the vital role of accessibility, helping organizations ensure that they comply with the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/">W3C's WCAG</a> standards and web accessibility legislation such as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ada.gov/">Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)</a>.Thousands of organizations worldwide use Monsido for website optimization, including national and local governments, financial institutions, non-profits, culture and arts organizations, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, utilities, and transportation services. Along with this embedded customer base, Acquia now has a key component to offer customers when managing their accessibility and digital optimization strategies – and a means to do it all at scale. <h3>Enhancing content accessibility for everyone</h3>The addition of Monsido will help Acquia customers achieve even better business outcomes by helping every user – regardless of their abilities – to navigate the web more freely. In addition to enhancing website content accessibility and compliance, Monsido helps organizations improve performance by identifying and fixing website quality issues. This includes common errors like broken links and slow load times. It also supports brand reputation by ensuring website content meets specific brand guidelines. One other advantage is Monsido’s user consent capabilities. The platform enables organizations to manage user consent for cookies and other tracking technologies, supporting compliance with privacy regulations like <a target="_blank" href="https://gdpr-info.eu/">GDPR</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa">CCPA</a>.Monsido is also designed to work with any <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system (CMS),</a> including <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a>, the open source CMS that provides the foundation of Acquia DXP. When combined, users can navigate from a flagged issue in Monsido directly to the flagged page in their CMS with a click – or use the Monsido Browser Extension while browsing their website to highlight issues directly on the page. <h3>Expanding digital optimization with Conductor and VWO</h3>Today, Acquia also announced strategic partnerships with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.conductor.com/?utm_medium=press&amp;utm_source=external&amp;utm_campaign=2023_q4_acquia_press_release">Conductor</a>, the leading organic marketing platform, and <a target="_blank" href="https://vwo.com/">VWO</a>, the leading experimentation and conversion optimization platform. Along with the acquisition of Monsido, these partnerships create one of the most complete solutions for digital experience optimization.According to the company’s press release, combining these tools now addresses all facets of optimizing an organization’s online presence, which most modern DXPs can’t fully deliver. By enhancing digital presence, organizations can directly influence user satisfaction and engagement, brand perception, and business success – translating into growth. “Today's DXPs fall short in providing a comprehensive offering for digital experience optimization,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/buytaert/">Dries Buytaert</a>, Creator and Project Lead of the Drupal content management system and Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer at Acquia. “Acquia already provides the best platform for building and operating digital experiences. With the acquisition of Monsido and strategic partnerships with VWO and Conductor, we now offer the industry’s best platform for creating inclusive and optimized experiences.”The Conductor partnership will support SEO and content marketing through its comprehensive organic marketing platform that increases organic web traffic from search engines. Leveraging cutting-edge AI, Conductor helps brands identify new keyword opportunities, develop and execute content strategy, optimize content and technical site health, and report on organic search performance.VWO will expand Acquia's capacity to enhance every aspect of the digital experience, introducing a range of advanced functionalities for both Drupal and non-Drupal sites. This includes running A/B tests or creating personalization campaigns using an inline WYSIWYG editor, generating AI-driven content testing ideas, and more. VWO's comprehensive toolkit, including multi-platform testing and personalization capabilities, server-side testing, surveys, session recording, heatmaps, feature experimentation and rollouts, unlocks new avenues for Acquia DXP customers to optimize every facet of the digital journey.<h3>Why it matters</h3>Acquia has long established itself as one of the leading DXPs on the market. Its open source heritage has been a source for innovation – and as platforms pursue digital optimization as the next frontier, that innovation will be key to Acquia’s success.The acquisition of Monsido addresses several gaps in the completeness of vision, and Acquia appears to be taking a more composable route with this feature set. As noted, the product will be available not only as part of Acquia DXP, but as a standalone solution that will continue to serve the CivicPlus ecosystem and the broader market. Accessibility is central to creating inclusive digital experiences. Acquia’s core acquisition of Monsido underscores its roadmap around the importance of digital equality and its confidence in scaling commercial adoption. The additional partnerships also demonstrate the commitment to enhancing optimization with more advanced, AI-powered testing capabilities that give users greater choice as they expand their optimization practices.  Competition at the top of the enterprise DXP market is fierce, and Acquia remains one of the leading platforms vying for dominance on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/acquia-named-leader-2023-gartner-magic-quadrant-digital-experience-platforms">Gartner Magic Quadrant</a>. While rivals like Adobe and Optimizely have been doubling down on digital optimization, Acquia is gaining ground with these moves – enhancing its competitive posture and giving the market more of the tools it needs.

Acquia to Acquire Monsido, Expands Partnerships to Offer Complete Digital Experience Optimization

<hr /> <a target="_blank" href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acquia.com%2F&amp;esheet=53562233&amp;newsitemid=20230926081541&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Acquia&amp;index=1&amp;md5=46b436eac75e045c3943e4b32780e2c2&amp;_gl=1*gg94ok*_ga*MTYzMDUzNjQ4Ni4xNjk1NzYxODcz*_ga_ZQWF70T3FK*MTY5NTc2MTg3My4xLjAuMTY5NTc2MTg3My42MC4wLjA.">Acquia</a>, a leading digital experience platform (DXP), just announced the launch of its new integration hub, <a target="_blank" href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acquia.com%2Fintegrations&amp;esheet=53562233&amp;newsitemid=20230926081541&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Acquia+Exchange&amp;index=2&amp;md5=ac3e2ee75d2d4bbb36f68483690c60c0">Acquia Exchange</a> – a solution aimed at enhancing the flexibility and extensibility of its digital experience platform. Acquia Exchange offers customers a single destination to discover integrations, connectors, and modules that enhance Acquia solutions and connect them to those of other technology providers. This intuitive hub makes it easier for organizations to extend the power of their DXP using proven technology from Acquia’s ecosystem of SaaS partners.“Acquia’s DXP provides a platform that can easily integrate with products from other providers, so customers can create the solutions that best meet their needs,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannaballew/">Deanna Ballew</a>, Senior Vice President of DXP Products at Acquia. “With Acquia Exchange, customers can take their Acquia products further, expand on the foundations of their martech stack, and connect those tools within their preferred digital ecosystem. Because Acquia solutions are open and connections already exist with leading martech products, our customers can maximize use of their data and content across their own digital experience platforms.”<h3>Leading the evolution in the composable era of DXPs</h3>As an open and composable DXP, Acquia allows for integrations with a wide range of third-party marketing, sales, and digital technologies. This enables customers to build the most productive digital experiences that meet the precise requirements of their own audiences. Now, with Acquia Exchange, customers can explore integrations by company name, technology category, or Acquia product.Acquia Exchange helps customers discover three different types of integrations:<ul><li>Native: Developed and supported by Acquia. For example, customers may tap into a native integration to connect multiple affiliated Brightcove accounts with the Acquia digital asset management platform (Acquia DAM) to better manage video content.</li><li>Partner: Developed and supported by an Acquia technology partner or a solution partner. For instance, customers who want to use Yext with Acquia Open DXP can sync core entity types such as articles, places, events, people, and pages from Drupal into Yext using connectors.</li><li>Community: Developed and supported by a third-party vendor. For example, customers can deploy analytics from a web-based user interface to collect data about their Drupal website’s traffic and activity, and then send it to the Google Analytics platform.</li></ul><h3>Tapping the power of partners</h3>Acquia Exchange is an enhancement to the Acquia Technology Alliance Partner program, allowing an easier way for partners to promote their solutions and connect with customers.“As a technology vendor, I hear ‘partnering’ everywhere these days; the word has become so overused it almost has no meaning,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fulmeric/">Eric Fulmer</a>, CEO of ShotFlow and Acquia Technology Alliance Program partner. “The difference when partnering with Acquia is a true commitment to [solving] client problems. Partnering is a long-term strategy to create better solutions for our mutual clients, and it’s baked into the Acquia culture.”

Acquia Launches Acquia Exchange, Adding an Integration Hub to its Open and Composable DXP

<hr /> AI continues to dominate the news cycle across the digital experience ecosystem, and Digital Asset Management (DAM) solutions are no exception. While many platforms are harnessing LLMs to enhance productivity and ease the content workflow, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/acquia-dam-bolsters-search-share-and-analytics-capabilities">Acquia</a> is also leveraging AI for high-utility applications within its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/products/acquia-dam">Acquia DAM</a>. Last week, the DXP announced new integrations between its signature DAM (formerly Widen) and industry-leading generative AI solutions <a target="_blank" href="https://chat.openai.com/">ChatGPT</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.clarifai.com/">Clarifai</a>, enabling new capabilities for generating product and image descriptions.CMS Critic spoke with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/holmesnathan/">Nathan Holmes</a>, Manager, Product Marketing at Acquia, about the new features. <h3>Why it matters</h3>According to Acquia's press release, the new integrations will enable creative and marketing professionals who use Acquia DAM to create on-brand, search-engine-optimized product descriptions and image alt text via generative AI. The features will reduce the burden of creating these content elements, accelerating time to market while enhancing accessibility. It's worth noting that Acquia DAM can be utilized as a standalone solution or with content management systems such as Drupal. It can also be used with other products available in the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (Acquia DXP).“Using generative AI, marketers and creatives can improve the searchability, usability, and accessibility of their product content and asset metadata,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeathey/">Jake Athey</a>, Vice President, Go-To-Market, DAM at Acquia. “These new integrations… enable organizations to create compelling content that improves search results and drives conversions – in less time.” <h3>Built for creative and marketing pros</h3>As previously noted, the new generative AI integrations are targeted at creatives and marketers, helping them to be faster and more productive with their digital assets. The combination of both ChatGPT and Clarifai integrations delivers a complete solution that automates the generation of both product and image descriptions.With native integration between Acquia DAM and ChatGPT, product marketers can quickly create compelling product listings on their own websites and popular commerce sites such as Walmart, commerce platforms like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/image-relay-launches-shopify-integration-streamlining-product-and-digital-asset-workflows-for-brands">Shopify</a>, and more. This solution enables teams to create on-brand content for their entire product line much faster, based on product attributes in Acquia DAM, reducing time to market and ensuring accuracy across digital channels. Teams can also use target keywords as inputs for the AI-generated description to optimize for search.Digital content managers using Acquia DAM may now leverage the native integration with Clarifai for keywords and ChatGPT to create alt text descriptions placed in a metadata field for images. Alt text is important to use because it enables images to be both search engine friendly and accessible to people with visual impairments. As an organization’s image library grows, the integration monitors all new or newly versioned image assets, ensuring no assets fall through the cracks. This advancement further supports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/accessibility">Acquia’s commitment to accessibility</a> and enabling digital experience creation for all.<h3>Introduced at Henry Stewart DAM New York</h3>Acquia made the announcement at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.henrystewartconferences.com/events/dam-new-york-2023">Henry Stewart DAM New York</a> event last week, where attendees saw 40+ DAM tools in action along with the latest product innovations at the world’s leading exhibition of DAM providers.Also at the conference, Acquia and Velir, a full-service digital agency and preferred Acquia partner, presented a session on the topic of digital asset management and generative AI called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.henrystewartconferences.com/events/dam-new-york-2023/session/events-dam-new-york-2023-day-1-track-3-techlab-metadata-ai-and-chatgpt-what%E2%80%99s-dam-got-do-it">“TechLab: Metadata, AI, and ChatGPT: What’s DAM got to do with it?”</a>“Marketers in all industries are actively exploring ways to integrate and utilize AI to streamline processes and meet ever-changing consumer needs,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-valliere-4b44571/">Dave Valliere</a>, CEO of Velir. “The ChatGPT module built for Drupal is another example of how marketers can use AI to create efficiencies from a content perspective. This will free up time for teams to spend on impactful digital marketing strategies such as personalization, audience analysis, and segmentation that are proven to drive business outcomes.”<h3>Q&amp;A with Nathan Holmes</h3>CMS Critic connected with Acquia's Nathan Holmes for some additional details about the new integrations. CMS Critic (CC): How long has this feature been in development?Nathan Holmes (NH): Acquia has had this feature in development for about four months. We moved on it very quickly once we determined it would be of high value to our customers. Most digital asset management platforms use computer vision to generate keyword metadata. The new integration between Acquia DAM's computer vision technology and the large language model goes a step further to generate alt text descriptions. This saves content managers another step in making their images optimized for search in the DAM, as well as when it's embedded on the web.CC: How are users responding to it? Do you have test feedback that’s encouraging thus far?(NH): Customer response to the new integrations between Acquia DAM and generative AI technologies has been strong. Several are interested in adopting the integration and are moving to test it.It’s appealing because marketers and creatives don’t generally have the time to write alt text descriptions for their images. We think of it as "No alt text left behind." All marketers know it's important to help web visitors who use screen readers, and that image alt text is crawled by search engines, which can help improve your page rankings. Yet, with the volume of content assets being created, it can be hard to keep up. So this can be a huge time saver for teams and greatly improve their search experience. In turn, this can help them get content and digital experiences to their own customers, citizens, or students faster.Also, by doing it in the DAM, instead of waiting to apply it in the CMS, the alt text can be used on other websites or social media posts.CC: How are humans able to validate the alt text and meta descriptions in any AI-generated fields?(NH): Humans are able – and encouraged – to review and edit the alt text and metadata descriptions in the AI-generated fields. This can be done during the upload process, or using the Paths feature in Acquia DAM, [where] content managers can set up automated emails to notify subject matter experts of new assets with metadata for their review.CC: Is there an additional cost for this capability?(NH): The AI-generated keywords capability is included with all Acquia DAM subscriptions. AI-generated alt text is an additional cost for the native integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Acquia DAM Introduces New Generative AI Integrations for Product and Image Descriptions

<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/shock-and-awe-adobe-to-acquire-ui-design-platform-figma-for-20-billion/">Adobe</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-and-the-art-of-the-possible-interview-with-chief-market-officer-jennifer-griffin-smith/">Acquia</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-integrates-b2b-commerce-cloud-and-content-cloud-combines-headless-commerce-with-cms/">Optimizely</a> are Leaders in the latest <a href="https://www.forrester.com/report/the-forrester-wave-tm-content-management-systems-q3-2023/RES178520" target="_blank">Forrester Wave: Content Management Systems, Q3 2023</a> – a quarterly report published by one of the most prestigious and respected analyst firms in the technology industry.
The report, published today, provides a glimpse of where CMS platforms are positioned. Forrester ranks companies on a visual graph across several concentric strata: Challengers, Contenders, Strong Performers, and Leaders. A CMS platform’s position is then determined based on criteria reflecting its offering strength, strategy, and market presence.
<h2>Leading the CMS category </h2>
According to a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230822212172/en/Acquia-Named-a-Leader-in-Content-Management-Systems-Report-by-Independent-Research-Firm" target="_blank">press release from Acquia </a>– one of the three platforms in the Leader category – the Q3 Forrester Wave report evaluated 10 CMS providers based on 26 criteria, focusing on the aforementioned criteria.
The report cited that “Acquia performs the strongest in low-code/no-code, translations for global content deliveries, and back-end extensibility – all supported by strong practitioner and developer programs.” The company earned the highest possible scores in the architecture (extensibility and configuration), practitioner and developer communities, partner ecosystem, and global delivery strategy criteria.
Optimizely, another Leader, also <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/optimizely-named-a-leader-in-content-management-systems-by-industry-research-firm-301908245.html" target="_blank">issued a press release</a> about its position. The Forrester report stated that the platform "performs very well in personalization, A/B testing, and translation and localizations."
Additionally, the report indicated Optimizely's CMS "excels at depth of content and audience analytics off the shelf (no additional licensing) and a strong ability to scale content delivery through its partnership with <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-offers-microsoft-azure-becomes-only-multi-cloud-saas-cms-qa-with-cto-nishant-patel/">Microsoft Azure</a> and its cloud-native architecture."
<h2>Contentstack drives strong performance</h2>
While the Leader category remains the domain of large enterprise DXPs, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless</a> CMS players are gaining ground. Case in point: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-raises-57-5-million-in-series-b-round-qa-with-ceo-neha-sampat/">Contentstack</a>.
Buoyed by its <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/new-mach-alliance-maturity-assessment-tool-helps-organizations-evaluate-their-mach-readiness/">MACH</a> (Microservices, APIs, Cloud-native SaaS, Headless) focus and composable approach – along with best-in-class, turnkey, no-code integrations – the company is leading the Strong Performer category in the Forrester Wave report.
According to an article on the <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/resources/report/forrester-wave-report-2023?utm_medium=email-newsletter&amp;utm_source=marketo&amp;utm_campaign=2023-23-08-august-monthly-newsletter&amp;mkt_tok=NDg5LVdOSS0zODMAAAGNwg2flcZin6FEq-r-0_FcJUMeWdg_wzl49C_gzpN1gvxH7TnAnUakU4Mp4aFsa52WTa2dI1bZs97lBpqwBgmvq3Ivq1I0p0AUV9BkNOClolY" target="_blank">Contentstack website</a>, the report stated that “Contentstack performs well in several categories but shines in its ease of back-end extensibility through turnkey integrations, coupled with global deployments.”
Along with its MACH posture, the report also noted that “as a founding member of the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">MACH Alliance,</a> it excels in innovation, global delivery, and a straightforward pricing model.”
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/what-contentfuls-175m-investment-round-means-for-the-future-of-cms/">Contentful</a>, another headless platform, also scored as a Strong Performer in the report.
<h2>A broad CMS field from headless to open source</h2>
While a presumed crop of DXPs dominated the top of the mountain, headless players and managed open source platforms like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-monthly-recap-wordpress-acquires-parse-ly-siteimprove-releases-upgraded-accessibility-product-twilio-segment-releases-2021-cdp-report-and-more/">WordPress VIP</a> provided some variance in the landscape.
As the downstream vendors look to contend and challenge the market, it’s clear that composable is becoming a more important part of the mix – and helping to propel those CMSes to the front of the line.

Adobe, Acquia, Optimizely Top Latest Forrester Wave for Content Management Systems

<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities/">Acquia</a> – the digital experience platform built with open source <a href="https://www.drupal.org/" target="_blank">Drupal</a> at its core – continues to innovate around its award-winning digital asset management (DAM) capabilities.
Yesterday, it announced new enhancements have been added to its <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/acquia-dam">Acquia DAM</a> (formerly <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities/">Widen</a>), empowering marketing and creative leaders to find and collaborate on digital assets faster.
The new capabilities – which revolve around search, sharing, and analytics – are slated to help marketing and creative teams maximize the value of their content investments across brands, regions, campaigns, and personas, even as budgets are squeezed. 
“Marketing and creative teams turn to DAM systems to rein in content chaos and gain insight into how their content performs, particularly across global brand portfolios,” said <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-and-the-art-of-the-possible-interview-with-chief-market-officer-jennifer-griffin-smith/">Jennifer Griffin Smith</a>, Chief Market Officer at Acquia. “The new Acquia DAM updates empower teams to create, find, and share assets faster, giving them better control over revenue-generating digital marketing campaigns and the ability to ensure better brand consistency.” 
<h2>Giving marketers and creatives more DAM power </h2>
As Acquia outlined in its press release, marketing and creative teams are responsible for building and maintaining increasingly larger and more complex catalogs of digital assets. They need to be able to find assets quickly so they can get campaigns and products to market faster, understand which content performs best so they can use it again (or create more content like it), and drive brand consistency.
The new updates to Acquia DAM help customers rise to these challenges with:
<ul>
<li>Enhanced search experience: A redesigned search experience presents teams with more relevant results and filtering capabilities, enabling them to find the assets they need faster so they can launch campaigns and products faster. Redesigned cards on the search page display file naming conventions, making asset identification simpler and clearer.</li>
<li>More options for sharing assets: Teams can now share results for common searches to support better cross-team collaboration, so colleagues can see asset options in real time, regardless of their location. Users can copy and paste a link to search results, which includes search terms, sort, pagination, and filters applied. Also, new asset share links give the recipient the choice to pick the size and format they need.</li>
<li>Keyword and tag improvements: Teams can leverage tags for improved keyword search, making assets simpler to find. Entry of keywords now uses a familiar tag UI, with clickable tags on each asset, directing users to a search results page with all assets sharing the same tag. Admins retain editing control over these tags. This feature can help teams more efficiently manage very large collections of content assets.</li>
<li>Increased analytical insights: Acquia DAM analytics enhancements give teams faster access to asset usage and performance insights via an improved backend data pipeline. New asset insight charts provide more options to filter and group asset data. Asset insights now has API endpoints to connect with other marketing data in a data warehouse or business intelligence tool. This directly supports marketers who want to understand how content is being used and how well it’s performing so they can focus on the best-performing assets.</li>
</ul>
<h2>A modular, composable platform</h2>
Acquia DAM is available standalone or within Acquia DXP, and supports composable strategies through integrations with other Acquia and third-party marketing products. It is foundational to the industry’s only open digital experience platform, which brings together content and data to create world-class customer experiences. 
You can learn more about <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/acquia-dam">Acquia DAM,</a> view the new <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/acquia-dam-search">Acquia DAM search experience</a>, and explore how customers are using Acquia DAM – including <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/crayola">Crayola</a>, <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/livewire">LiveWire</a>, <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/novavax">Novavax</a>, and <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/san-francisco-international-airport">San Francisco International Airport</a> 
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
Acquia empowers the world’s most ambitious brands to create digital customer experiences that matter. With open source Drupal at its core, the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) enables marketers, developers, and IT operations teams at thousands of global organizations to rapidly compose and deploy digital products and services that leverage their content and data assets to engage customers personally and at scale, enhance conversions, and help businesses stand out. Learn more at <a href="https://www.acquia.com/">https://acquia.com</a>.

Acquia DAM Bolsters Search, Share, and Analytics Capabilities

This week, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-and-the-art-of-the-possible-interview-with-chief-market-officer-jennifer-griffin-smith/">Acquia</a> announced that its open digital experience platform, Acquia DXP, has been positioned by <a href="https://aragonresearch.com/" target="_blank">Aragon Research</a>, Inc. as a Leader in The Aragon Research Globe™ for Content Experience Platforms (CXP), 2023.
Aragon Research analysts evaluated 17 providers of content experience platforms. These platforms enable enterprises to shift web experiences to intelligent, dynamic journeys that can be delivered on any device and to personalize them with tools such as <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/from-chatbots-to-contentops-how-ai-is-coming-to-your-cms-whether-you-like-it-or-not/">generative AI</a> and chat.
Providers were ranked based on strategy, performance, and reach. 
“We believe being positioned as a Leader in The Aragon Research Globe for Content Experience Platform, 2023 highlights the strength of our capabilities in areas such as AI, low-code development, and support for experiences across all digital channels,” said <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-and-the-art-of-the-possible-interview-with-chief-market-officer-jennifer-griffin-smith/">Jennifer Griffin Smith</a>, Chief Market Officer at Acquia. “By endeavoring to provide the industry’s most open DXP, we enable marketers to leverage all of their content and customer data to create high-impact experiences — faster, more cost-effectively, and while maintaining brand consistency.” 
To access the full report, <a href="https://aragonresearch.com/globe-for-content-experience-platforms-2023/" target="_blank">click here</a>.
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
Acquia empowers the world’s most ambitious brands to create digital customer experiences that matter. With open source Drupal at its core, the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) enables marketers, developers, and IT operations teams at thousands of global organizations to rapidly compose and deploy digital products and services that leverage their content and data assets to engage customers personally and at scale, enhance conversions, and help businesses stand out. Learn more at <a href="https://www.acquia.com/">https://acquia.com</a>.
<h2>About Aragon Research</h2>
Aragon Research is an independent research and advisory firm that provides business and IT executives with the actionable insights they need to navigate technology's ever-evolving impact on business. Headquartered in Morgan Hill, CA, Aragon Research works with executives at every major level of the business and across industries to give them the tools they need to make more informed technology and strategy decisions. Aragon delivers high-impact advisory, research, and consulting services, and has a proven team of veteran analysts. For more information, visit <a href="https://aragonresearch.com/" target="_blank">www.aragonresearch.com</a>.
Aragon Research does not endorse vendors, or their products or services that are referenced in its research publications, and does not advise users to select those vendors that are rated the highest. Aragon Research publications consist of the opinions of Aragon Research and Advisory Services organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Aragon Research provides its research publications and the information contained in them "AS IS," without warranty of any kind.
“The Aragon Research Globe™ for Content Experience Platforms, 2023” by Jim Lundy, July 2023. © 2023 Aragon Research, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

Acquia Positioned as a Leader in The Aragon Research Globe for Content Experience Platforms (CXP), 2023

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