Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is making organizations scramble — our clients have been asking “Are we ready for the new ways LLMs crawl, index, and return content to users? Does our site support evolving GEO best practices? What can we do to boost results and citations?”  

Large language models (LLMs) and the services that power AI summaries don’t “think” like humans but they do perform similar actions. They seek content, split it into memorable chunks, and rank the chunks for trust and accuracy. If pages use semantic HTML, include facts and cite sources, and include structured metadata, AI crawlers and retrieval systems will find, store, and reproduce content accurately. That improves your chance of being cited correctly in AI overviews.

While GEO has disrupted the way people use search engines, the fundamentals of SEO and digital accessibility continue to be strong indicators of content performance in LLM search results. Making content understandable, usable, and memorable for humans also has benefits for LLMs and GEO.

How LLM systems (and AI-driven overviews) get their facts

Understanding how LLMs crawl, process, and retrieve web content helps us understand why semantic structure and accessibility best practices have a positive effect. When an AI system generates an answer that cites the web, several distinct back-end steps usually happen: 

1. Crawling — Bots visit URLs and download page content. Some crawlers execute javascript like a browser (Googlebot) while others prefer raw HTML and limit their rendering.
2. Chunking — Large documents are split into small, logical “chunks” of paragraphs, sections, or other units. These chunks are the pieces that are later retrieved for an answer. How a page’s content is structured with headings, paragraphs, and lists determines the likely chunk boundaries for storage.
3. Vectorization — Each chunk is then converted into a numeric vector that captures its semantic meaning. These embeddings live in a vector database and enable systems to find chunks quickly. The quality of the vector depends on the clarity of the chunk’s text.
4. Indexing — Systems will store additional metadata (URL, title, headings, metadata) to filter and rank results. Structured data like schema metadata is especially valuable. 
5. Retrieval — A user asks a question or performs a search and the system retrieves the most semantically similar chunks via a vector search. It re-ranks those chunks using metadata and other signals and then composes its answer while citing sources (sometimes). 

The Case for Human-Accessible Content

There are many more reasons why digital accessibility is simply the right thing to do. It turns out that in addition to boosting SEO, accessibility best practices help LLMs crawl, chunk, store, and retrieve content more accurately.

During retrieval, small errors like missing text, ambiguous links, or poor heading order can fail to expose the best chunks. Let’s dive into how this can happen and what common accessibility pitfalls contribute to the confusion.

For Content Teams — Authors, Writers, Editors

Lack of descriptive “alt” text

While some LLMs can employ machine-vision techniques to “see” images as a human would, descriptive alt text verifies what they are seeing and the context in which the image is relevant. The same best practices for describing images for people will help LLMs accurately understand the content. 

Out-of-order heading structures

Similar to semantic HTML, headings provide a clear outline of a page. Machines (and screen readers!) use heading structure to understand hierarchy and context. When a heading level skips from an <h2> to an <h4>, an LLM may fail to determine the proper relationship between content chunks. During retrieval, the model’s understanding is dictated by the flawed structure, not the content’s intrinsic importance. (Source: research thesis PDF, “Investigating Large Language Models ability to evaluate heading-related accessibility barriers”) 

Descriptive and unique links

All of the accessibility barriers surrounding poor link practices affect how LLMs evaluate their importance. Link text is a short textual signal that is vectorized to make proper retrieval possible. Vague link text like “Click here” or “Learn More” does not provide valuable signals. In fact, the same “Learn More” text multiple times on a page can dilute the signals for the URLs they point to.

Using the same link text for more than one destination URLs creates a knowledge conflict. Like people, an LLM is subject to “anchoring bias,” which means it is likely to overweight the first link it processes and underweight or ignore the second, since they both have the same text signal. 

Example of the duplicate link problem: <a href=“[URL-A]”>Duplicate Link Text</a>, and then later in the same article, <a href=“[URL-B]”>Duplicate Link Text</a>. Conversely, when the same URL is used more than once on a page, the same link text should be repeated exactly.

Logical order and readable content

Simple, direct sentences (one fact per sentence) produce cleaner embeddings for LLM retrieval. Human accessibility best practices of plain language and clear structure are the same practices that improve chunking and indexing for LLMs

For Technical Teams — IT, Developers, Engineers

Poorly structured semantic HTML

Semantic elements (<article>, <nav>, <main>, <h1>, etc.) add context and suggest relative ranking weight. They make content boundaries explicit, which helps retrieval systems isolate your content from less important elements like ad slots or lists of related articles. 

Lack of schema

This is technical and under the hood of your human-readable content. Machines love additional context and structured schema data is how facts are declared in code — product names, prices, event dates, authors, etc. Search engines have used schema for rich results and LLMs are no different. Right now, server-rendered schema data will guarantee the widest visibility, as not all crawlers execute client-side Javascript completely. 

How to make accessibility even more actionable

The work of digital accessibility is often pushed to the bottom of the priority list. But once again, there are additional ways to frame this work as high value. While this work is beneficial for SEO, our recent research uncovers that it continues to be impactful in the new and evolving world of GEO.

If you need to frame an argument to those that control the investments of time and money, some talking points are: 

• Accurate brand representation — Poor accessibility hides facts from LLMs. When customers ask an AI  assistant for “best X for Y,” your content may not be shown — or worse, misrepresented. Fixing accessibility reduces brand risk and increases content authority.
• Engagement boost — Improvements that increase accurate citations and AI visibility can increase referral traffic, feature mentions, and lead quality. In a landscape where AI Answers are reducing click-through rates, keeping the traffic you have on your site for longer and building brand trust becomes vital.
• Increased exposure — Digital inclusion makes your content widely accessible to machines and the machines that assist humans. Think about a search engine as another human-assistive device, just like a keyboard or screen reader. 
• Multi-pronged benefits — Accessibility improvement improves traditional SEO, can benefit mobile performance, and reduces the risks associated with accessibility compliance policies. 

Staying steady in the storm

Let’s be clear — this summer was a “generative AI search freak out.” Content teams have scrambled to get smart about LLM-powered search quickly while search providers rolled out new tools and updates weekly. It’s been a tough ride in a rough sea of constant change.

If you continue to have questions within this rapidly evolving landscape, talk to us about your questions around SEO, GEO, content strategy, and accessibility conformance. Ask about our training and documentation available for content teams.

Additional Reading

• AHREFs.com: Is SEO Dead? Real Data vs. Internet Hysteria
• SearchEngineJournal.com: How LLMs Interpret Content: How To Structure Information For AI Search
• InclusionHub.com: SEO and Web Accessibility: What You Need to Know (from 2020, but still relevant)

As a digital services firm partnering with destination marketing organizations (DMOs) across the U.S., we’re helping teams navigate what’s already proving to be a volatile 2025—especially on the inbound side. Analysis from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) projects a stark reality: the U.S. economy will miss out on $12.5 billion in international visitor spending this year, with inbound spend expected to dip to just under $169B, down from $181B in 2024. Even more concerning, the U.S. is the only country among 184 economies in WTTC’s study forecast to see an inbound-spend decline this year.

While external market forces remain largely beyond control, we’ve identified three strategic areas where DMOs can focus their digital platforms to weather this storm and continue demonstrating measurable demand to their partners.

1. Transform Content Into Action-Driving Experiences

Why this strategic shift matters now

With inbound spend shrinking by $12.5B and key feeder markets weakening, undecided travelers need clarity and confidence to choose your destination. Content that reduces uncertainty and highlights immediate value converts better than generic inspiration.

Strategic implementation approach

Activate “Go Now” signals. Combine always-on inspiration with time-sensitive reasons to visit—shoulder-season value, midweek deals, cooling weather breaks—strategically mapped to the soft periods your analytics reveal. 

Elevate discovery through intelligent architecture. Curate SEO-optimized content hubs organized by Themes (outdoors, arts, culinary) and Moments (fall colors, winter lights). Implement structured data (FAQ, Event, Attraction) with strategic internal linking architecture so travelers find relevant options fast.

Deploy micro-itineraries for immediate conversion. Design 24–48-hour “micro-itins” featuring embedded maps, transit and parking guidance, and seamless handoffs to bookable partners. Partnering with platforms like MindTrip reduces content team effort while accelerating output—a strategy that’s proven particularly effective for our DMO clients facing resource constraints.

Authority-driven event content optimization. Event pages generate the highest intent traffic. Enhance them with rich media, last-minute planning resources, and strategic “if sold-out, try this” alternatives.

Transparent value communication. Feature free experiences prominently, implement intuitive budget filters, and deploy “Best Time to Visit” calendars comparing crowds and pricing by week and month. Transparency builds trust, and trust drives conversion.

2. Build Your Competitive Moat Through Data-Driven Audience Cultivation

Your first-party data represents your most defensible competitive advantage. As platform targeting becomes increasingly constrained and inbound spending softens, DMOs that build and activate their own audience will capture attention far more efficiently than those relying solely on paid channels.

Strategic audience development

Implement high-intent capture everywhere. Deploy contextual email and SMS prompts across high-intent templates—events, itineraries, trip planners, partner directories. Offer valuable micro-perks like exclusive maps and early event alerts. 

Master progressive profiling. Collect visitor preferences—season, interests, party type, origin market—over multiple touchpoints rather than overwhelming users with lengthy initial forms. 

Create actionable audience segments. Develop cohorts around 2025’s market realities: last-minute planners, shoulder-season seekers, road-trippers, value hunters, family weekenders, and meetings planners. 

Future-proof attribution systems. Combine GA4 with server-side tagging and standardized UTM schemas for every partner handoff. Track outbound clicks, partner session quality, itinerary saves and usage, offer redemptions, and newsletter-driven sessions. This comprehensive approach ensures you maintain visibility into conversion paths as third-party cookies disappear.

Deploy trend-driven editorial strategy. Develop weekly dashboards blending organic query trends, on-site search terms, partner click-through rates, and feeder-market signals. When interest dips in one market, pivot homepage modules and paid social toward value and itinerary content targeting more resilient markets.

3. Transform Partner Relationships Through Measurable Value Delivery

In a softening inbound environment where domestic spending carries approximately 90% of the economic load, your partners need two critical elements: qualified attention and proof of conversion. Your website should function as the region’s premier meta-directory and conversion engine.

Experience optimization strategies

Enable one-click handoffs with context preservation. Pass user filters—dates, neighborhoods, price ranges—directly into partner sites and booking engines while preserving state if travelers return. 

Deploy persistent trip planning tools. Allow users to save places and generate shareable itineraries with intelligent handoffs: “Book these two hotels,” “Reserve rentals,” “Get festival passes.” 

Create compelling partner storefronts. Develop rich partner profiles featuring availability widgets, authentic reviews, social proof, and clear calls-to-action. 

Implement strategic co-op modules. Design paid placements that provide value rather than feeling like advertisements: “Local Favorites” carousels, sponsor highlights, seasonal deal tiles—rotated by audience cohort and season. This generates additional revenue while maintaining user experience quality.

Establish closed-loop reporting systems. Standardize UTM tracking, monitor outbound events, and where permitted, implement partner pixels and offer codes to report assisted conversions by category and campaign. Partners need proof of ROI, and data-driven reporting builds stronger, more profitable relationships.

How Oomph Can Accelerate Your Success

If you’re experiencing softer international interest, shorter booking windows, or declining partner satisfaction, you’re facing the same challenges as DMOs nationwide. The organizations pulling ahead aren’t waiting for market recovery—they’re strengthening their digital platforms through strategic content optimization, systematic audience cultivation, and demonstrable partner value creation.

Our proven methodology transforms these challenges into competitive advantages.

We’ll conduct a comprehensive audit of your digital platform against these three strategic pillars, quantify immediate optimization opportunities, and provide your partners with what they need most: qualified, measurable demand. The market headwinds are real, but the right strategic approach can help you maintain resilience and emerge stronger when conditions improve. Let’s navigate these challenges together.

When you’re responsible for your organization’s digital presence, it’s natural to focus on what’s visible: the design, the content, the user experience. But beneath every modern website lies a complex ecosystem of technologies, integrations, and workflows that can either accelerate your team’s success or create hidden friction that slows everything down.

That’s where a technical audit becomes invaluable. It’s not just a diagnostic tool—it’s a strategic opportunity to understand the foundation of your platform and make informed decisions about your digital future.

It’s Like a Home Inspection for Your Website

Think about buying a house. You walk through focusing on the big picture—does the kitchen work for your family? Is there enough space? But a good home inspector looks deeper, checking the foundation, examining the electrical system, and spotting that small leak under the bathroom sink that could become a major problem later.

A technical audit takes the same comprehensive approach to your digital platform. We examine not just what’s working today, but what might impact your team’s ability to execute tomorrow. The goal isn’t to find problems for the sake of finding them—it’s to give you the complete picture you need to plan strategically.

Creating Shared Understanding Across Your Entire Team

One of the most powerful outcomes of a technical audit is alignment. Whether you’re managing internal developers, partnering with an agency, or preparing to issue an RFP, having a clear baseline allows everyone to ask better questions and make more accurate decisions.

A strategic technical audit delivers:

Proactive Problem-Solving: Surface technical issues before they become roadblocks to important campaigns or launches.

Performance Optimization: Identify specific improvements that will measurably enhance user experience and conversion rates.

Workflow Enhancement: Reveal friction points that slow down content updates, campaign launches, or day-to-day management tasks.

Vendor Enablement: Provide partners and potential vendors with the context they need to scope work accurately and ask intelligent questions.

Strategic Planning: Create a foundation for long-term digital strategy decisions, from infrastructure investments to editorial tooling.

The organizations we work with often tell us that a technical audit helped them transition from reactive maintenance to proactive digital platform management—a shift that pays dividends across every initiative.

What We Typically Discover

While every platform is unique, certain patterns emerge across industries and organization types. Technical audits frequently reveal:

Security and Maintenance Opportunities: Outdated software, plugins requiring updates, or access configurations that can be strengthened with minimal effort. This often includes ensuring accessibility compliance meets current standards.

Performance Enhancements: Specific optimizations in areas like image compression, caching strategies, or database queries that directly impact user experience. Modern audits also examine search visibility and performance optimization.

Scalability Considerations: Code or architectural decisions that work fine today but could limit growth or flexibility as your needs evolve. This includes evaluating search infrastructure and international expansion capabilities.

Process Improvements: Gaps in version control, deployment workflows, or change management that create unnecessary risk or slow down development cycles.

Editorial Workflow Optimization: Content management processes that feel cumbersome or inconsistent, often because they evolved organically rather than being designed strategically. For global organizations, this includes reviewing translation and localization systems.

Many of these findings aren’t urgent fixes—they’re strategic insights that become incredibly valuable when you’re planning a redesign, launching a major campaign, or evaluating new partnerships.

When a Technical Audit Delivers Maximum Value

You don’t need to wait for problems to emerge. Technical audits are particularly valuable when:

Taking Over Digital Responsibility: You’ve inherited a platform and need a comprehensive understanding of what you’re working with and where the opportunities lie.

Planning Major Initiatives: Before investing in a redesign, platform migration, or significant feature development, understanding your current foundation prevents costly surprises.

Preparing for Vendor Selection: Whether you’re issuing an RFP or evaluating agencies, giving potential partners accurate technical context leads to better proposals and more realistic timelines.

Developing Digital Strategy: When you’re ready to create a roadmap for digital growth, grounding decisions in technical reality rather than assumptions leads to better outcomes. This is especially important when considering AI integration or generative engine optimization strategies.

Our Approach to Technical Audits

We design our audits to build clarity and confidence, not overwhelm you with technical jargon. Rather than simply delivering a report, we walk through findings with your team, prioritize recommendations based on your specific goals, and translate technical insights into actionable business language you can share with stakeholders.

Our methodology goes beyond code analysis. We examine how your platform supports your current workflows, aligns with your organizational objectives, and positions you for future growth. This combination of technical depth and strategic perspective ensures you get insights that drive real business outcomes.

The audit process focuses on partnership, not judgment.

We’re not looking for flaws to criticize—we’re identifying opportunities to help you and your partners make smarter decisions. The result is visibility into the hidden layers of your digital platform and a foundation for more strategic planning, better technology investments, and sustainable long-term success.

Ready to understand what’s really happening under the hood of your digital platform? Let’s talk about how a technical audit could support your goals and strengthen your team’s ability to execute on your digital vision.

If your Drupal site relies on Acquia Search leveraging Solr, you’re likely facing a migration from Acquia Search to SearchStax. We’ve guided numerous organizations through this transition and want to share our proven approach to help you navigate this change successfully.

Before diving into the migration process, this transition presents an excellent opportunity to reassess your search strategy entirely. While Solr remains a powerful and robust solution, the search landscape has evolved significantly with innovative alternatives now available. For organizations considering broader platform transitions, this moment offers strategic value beyond search improvements. Modern React-based solutions can deliver dramatically faster user experiences. Our recent work with ONS demonstrates this potential—by replacing their Solr solution with Algolia Instant Search, we helped them achieve a 40% improvement in search response times while creating a more intuitive experience for their members.

Why the Move to SearchStax?

Acquia announced earlier this year that they’re sunsetting their Acquia Search offering in 2026, positioning SearchStax as the recommended migration path through their new partnership. This transition offers enhanced search capabilities and more direct control over your search environment through SearchStax’s comprehensive dashboard, providing visibility into Solr server performance, data analysis tools, search preview functionality, and advanced configuration options.

The architectural similarity ensures a seamless end-user experience—Solr remains the foundation, requiring no front-end changes for this migration path while delivering improved administrative control.

Our Proven Migration Framework

Through multiple successful migrations, we’ve developed a structured approach that minimizes risk and ensures smooth transitions. Here’s our step-by-step framework:

Phase 1: Foundation Setup

• Secure access to the SearchStax dashboard for complete environment management
• Install the SearchStax modules, including the critical “Solr to SearchStax Site Search Migration” module
• Configure and commit your basic settings to establish the foundation

Phase 2: Testing and Validation

• Deploy changes to DEV or STAGE environments for comprehensive testing
• Validate search functionality, performance, and user experience
• Identify and resolve any configuration issues before production deployment

Phase 3: Production Implementation

• Push validated changes to production environment
• Execute core migration steps including server migration (Drupal’s SearchStax authentication automatically generates endpoint and token configurations), index migration to transfer existing search indexes, and view switching to activate SearchStax indexes across your site

Phase 4: Configuration Management

• Implement configuration overrides and ignores to ensure environment-specific settings
• Secure sensitive data while maintaining dedicated SearchStax server settings per environment
• Export SearchStax indexes and updated views from production to feature branch
• Commit and deploy changes in your next release cycle

Phase 5: Transition Management

• Maintain Acquia search indexes temporarily for rollback capability
• Monitor performance and user experience during initial transition period
• Complete final cleanup by disabling Acquia search module and migration tools once stability is confirmed

Addressing Technical Challenges

Our experience across multiple migrations has revealed common technical hurdles that require proactive attention. Configuration issues with Boost by Date Processor settings, Highlighted Fields errors during index rebuilding, and Facet configuration mismatches between environments are frequent challenges. The key to success lies in early identification during lower environment testing and leveraging Acquia support resources to resolve issues before they impact production.

Each migration presents unique challenges based on your specific configuration and content structure. Our approach prioritizes thorough testing and validation to surface these issues early, ensuring smooth production deployment.

Strategic Search Optimization

Successful migration extends beyond technical implementation. Understanding your content architecture, user behavior patterns, and business objectives enables you to optimize search effectiveness during the transition. This migration provides an ideal opportunity to evaluate search performance metrics, refine content indexing strategies, and enhance user experience design.

By following this proven framework and preparing for potential challenges, your organization can successfully transition to SearchStax while improving both administrative capabilities and user search experience. The result is a more robust, manageable search solution that positions your site for future growth and enhanced user engagement.

Our comprehensive migration expertise extends beyond search implementations to complete platform transformations, ensuring your digital infrastructure supports your long-term strategic objectives.

Ready to begin your SearchStax migration? Our team has successfully guided organizations through this transition, delivering improved search performance and streamlined administration. Contact us to discuss your specific migration needs and timeline.

Drupal has long been known for its flexibility, robustness, and scalability. But for many marketers and content creators, that flexibility can come with a steep learning curve — especially when it comes to building layouts and managing design without the help of a developer. That’s about to change in a big way.

Enter Experience Builder, a new initiative in Drupal that promises to radically streamline and simplify how we build and design pages. While still in its early stages, Experience Builder is ready for testing and experimentation — and it’s something marketers should absolutely have on their radar.

What is Experience Builder?

Experience Builder is the evolution of Drupal’s current method of flexible page building called Layout Builder. It takes what we know from layout builder and expands it into a unified, user-friendly tool that allows non-developers to build and theme websites directly in the browser. It’s a huge leap toward making Drupal more accessible for site builders, marketers, and content creators alike.

Unlike other page builders, Experience Builder doesn’t just provide drag-and-drop layout tools. It leverages Drupal’s core strengths — structured data, fine-grained access controls, and reusable components — to ensure consistency across channels and scalability across enterprise-level websites. This makes it uniquely powerful for large organizations managing multiple digital properties.

Dries Buytaert, Drupal’s founder, described it as a response to the fragmented landscape of site-building options in Drupal today. The vision is to consolidate functionality from tools like Paragraphs and Layout Builder into a single, cohesive solution. One that’s intuitive, efficient, and packed with modern capabilities.

Here is a fantastic video demo from DrupalCon Atlanta that was shown by Dries during the keynote address:

Why Now?

The timing couldn’t be better. While Layout Builder was a step in the right direction when it launched in 2018, its limitations became clear as more site builders demanded easier workflows, styling tools, and richer content composition features.

At recent Drupal conventions, the community has rallied around the idea of enhancing user experience across the board. As part of the broader Starshot initiative (now named Drupal CMS), Experience Builder is a key component in bringing Drupal’s usability in line with the expectations of modern content teams.

Why I’m Excited About It

As an engineer who has worked closely with Drupal for years, what excites me most is how Experience Builder can bridge the many gaps in Drupal’s current page-building ecosystem. Today, there are so many ways to structure content — Blocks, Paragraphs, Layout Builder, Panels — that choosing the right one can be overwhelming.

Experience Builder is shaping up to be that “one-stop-shop” we’ve needed. It reduces decision fatigue and gives teams a faster way to get projects off the ground without needing to architect every page structure from scratch.

Even better, it supports creating single-page overrides, component-level editing, and even React-based components right in the editor. That’s something I’ve personally looked forward to for a long time. The ability to build and save reusable components that can be dropped into any page makes this a tool that truly enhances productivity — not just for developers, but for marketers and content creators, too.

My First Look

I had the chance to see Experience Builder in action at DrupalCon Atlanta this year. The live demos were impressive and really opened my eyes to what this tool could do, both for newcomers to Drupal and seasoned site builders. Along with Drupal CMS, and recipes, Experience Builder is easily one of the hottest topics in the Drupal ecosystem right now.

The energy in the room during the sessions was palpable—people are genuinely excited about this. It’s not just another experimental module; it’s a shift in how we think about building on Drupal.

A Game-Changer for Marketers

One of the biggest barriers for marketing teams has always been reliance on developers to make even small layout edits. That’s starting to change.

With Experience Builder, non-developers will be able to build out dynamic, visually engaging pages — without needing to dive into code. That’s a massive win, especially for small teams in government, education, or nonprofit sectors, where resources are limited and time is of the essence.

Being able to make changes quickly, reuse content intelligently, and maintain a consistent brand without touching a template file is something many organizations have wanted for years. Experience Builder delivers on that promise.

Want to Try It Yourself?

If you’re curious to see what the buzz is about, the best way to get started is simple: head to Drupal.org and download the latest version of Drupal CMS. It now comes with an optimized installer that makes getting started faster than ever. Once you’re up and running, you can add the Experience Builder module and start exploring.

Looking Ahead

It’s important to note that this is just the alpha version of the Experience Builder initiative. The team behind it is committed to rapid iteration and community feedback, which means what we’re seeing today is just the beginning.

If this is the foundation, I can only imagine how powerful the tool will become in the next year or two. The Drupal community is known for its collaborative spirit and constant innovation — and Experience Builder is shaping up to be one of the most important steps forward in years.

So if you’re a marketer, content strategist, or anyone who’s ever been frustrated by the limits of page building in Drupal — now’s the time to dive in. Experience Builder is here, and it’s ready to change the game. Contact us for a demo or more information about Experience Builder in Drupal.

Digital accessibility can be difficult to stay ahead of. The laws have been evolving and now the European Union (EU) has entered the arena with their own version of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

If your business sells products, services, and/or software to European consumers, this law will apply to you.

The good news: 

• The EU enacted this legislation to make it easier for businesses to comply across its various member states.
• Just like the ADA, many EU member states have specified the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as their basis for measuring conformance.

The bad news:

• Each member country can define its regulations and its penalties. One infraction within the EU could accumulate fines from multiple countries. 

Keep reading for a breakdown of how the Act works and what your business needs to prepare.

What is the European Accessibility Act? 

In 2019, the EU formally adopted the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The primary goal is to create a common set of accessibility guidelines for EU member states and unify the diverging accessibility requirements in member countries. The EU member states had two years to translate the act into their national laws and four years to apply them. The deadline of June 28, 2025 is now looming.

The EAA covers a wide array of products and services, but for those that own and maintain digital platforms, the most applicable items are:

• Computers and operating systems
• Banking services and bill payments
• E-books
• Online video games
• Websites and mobile services, including e-commerce, bidding (auction) services, accommodations booking, online courses and training, and media streaming services

Who Needs to Comply?

The EAA requires that all products and services sold within the EU be accessible to people with disabilities. The EAA applies directly to public sector bodies, ensuring that government services are accessible. But it goes further as well. In short, private organizations that regularly conduct business with or provide services to public-facing government sites should also comply.

Examples of American-based businesses that would need to comply:

• Ecommerce platforms with customers who may reside in Europe. Ecommerce is typically worldwide, so this category is particularly important
• Companies that provide healthcare support via Telehealth services if offered to travelers from Europe. Drug manufacturers who offer products available to a European audience and are required to post treatment guidelines and side effects
• Hospitality platforms that attract European tourists. This includes hotels, cruise lines, tour guides and groups, and destinations such as theme parks and other amenities
• Universities and colleges who attract foreign students from Europe and elsewhere
• Banking and financial institutions who have European customers

There are limited exemptions. Micro-enterprises are exempt, and they are defined as small service providers with fewer than 10 employees and/or less than €2 million in annual turnover or annual balance sheet total.

What is required?

Information about the service

Service providers are required to explain how a service meets digital accessibility requirements. We recommend providing an accessibility statement that outlines the organization’s ongoing commitment to accessibility. It should include:

• A broad overview of the service in plain (non-technical) language
• Detailed guidelines and explanations on using the service
• An explanation of how the service aligns with the digital accessibility standards listed in Annex I of the European Accessibility Act

Compatibility and assistive technologies 

Service providers must ensure compatibility with various assistive technologies that individuals with disabilities might use. This includes screen readers, alternative input devices, keyboard-only navigation, and other tools. This is no different than ADA compliance in the United States.

Accessibility of digital platforms

Websites, online applications, and mobile device-based services must be accessible. These platforms should be designed and developed in a way that makes them perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust (POUR) for users with disabilities. Again, this is no different than ADA compliance in the United States.

Accessible support services

Communication channels for support services related to the provided services must also be accessible. This includes help desks, customer support, training materials, self-serve complaint and problem reporting, user journey flows, and other resources. Individuals with disabilities should be able to seek accessible assistance and information.

What are the metrics for compliance?

The EAA is a directive, not a standard, which means it does not promote a specific accessibility standard. Each member country can define its regulations for standards and conformance and define their penalties for non-compliance. Each country in which your service is determined to be non-compliant can apply a fine, which means that one infraction could accumulate fines from multiple countries. 

Just like the Americans with Disabilities Act, most EU member states are implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA as their standard, which is great news for organizations that already invest in accessibility conformance.

If a member country chooses to use the stricter EN 301 549, which still uses WCAG as its baseline, there are additional standards for PDF documents, the use of biometrics, and technology like kiosks and payment terminals. These standards go beyond the current guidelines for business in the United States.

Accessibility overlays (3rd Party Widgets)

It should be noted that the EAA specifically recommends against accessibility overlay products and services — a third-party service that promises to make a website accessible without any additional work. Oomph has said for a long time that plug-ins will not fix your accessibility problem, and the EAA agrees, stating:

“Claims that a website can be made fully compliant without manual intervention are not realistic, since no automated tool can cover all the WCAG 2.1 level A and AA criteria. It is even less realistic to expect to detect automatically the additional EN 301549 criteria.”

The goals for your business

North American organizations that implemented processes to address accessibility conformance are well-positioned to comply with the EAA by June 28, 2025. In most cases, those organizations will have to do very little to comply. 

If your organization has waited to take accessibility seriously, the EAA is yet another reason to pursue conformance. The deadline is real, the fines could be significant, and the clock is ticking.

Additional Reading

Deque is a fantastic resource for well-researched and plain English articles about accessibility: European Accessibility Act (EAA): Top 20 Key Questions Answered. We suggest starting with that article and then exploring related articles for more.

The Brief

The Approach

Human responses feel human

With the rise of AI and Google’s AI-generated search results, our design reinforced the humanity and empathy of GAA! by establishing a clear “Dear Alice” with a unique handwritten font and response from the author. When dealing with potentially sensitive and health-threatening answers, an authentic human voice is essential, and one that puts answers into context — is this thing I am asking about “normal”? What are the additional considerations I should know about? And so on. AI might give you one answer, but it won’t contain the context and nuance these anonymous human-generated questions require.

Unique Colors & Illustrations

Blue is strongly associated with Columbia Health and prevented the previous site from standing independently. Our design reduced focus on blue and shifted the site’s primary colors to maroon and yellow. Several other colors create wayfinding paths associated with answer topics. Scrolling the All Topics category page becomes a delightfully random color experience.

All color combinations adhere to WCAG 2.2 guidelines for Level AA, increasing the accessibility of this color-rich site for all visitors. 

A new set of illustrations curates a sense of inclusivity better than stock photos could. A wide variety of humans were chosen to represent the diversity of student populations. Little details, like the randomized person in the site’s footer, add a sense of surprise and delight to the entire browsing experience.

The Results

The tech industry has never been accused of moving slowly. The exponential explosion of AI tools in 2024, though, sets a new standard for fast-moving. The past few months of 2024 rewrote what happened in the past few years. If you have not been actively paying attention to AI, now is the time to start.

I have been intently watching the AI space for over a year. I started from a place of great skepticism, not willing to internalize the hype until I could see real results. I can now say with confidence that when applied to the correct problem with the right expectations, AI can make significant advancements possible no matter the industry.

In 2024, not only did the large language models get more powerful and extensible, but the tools are being created to solve real business problems. Because of this, skepticism about AI has shifted to cautious optimism. Spurred by the Fortune 500’s investments and early impacts, companies of every shape and size are starting to harness the power of AI for efficiency and productivity gains.

Let’s review what happened in Quarter Four of 2024 as a microcosm of the year in AI.

New Foundational Models in the AI Space

A foundational large language model (LLM) is one which other AI tools can be built from. The major foundational LLMs have been Chat GPT, Claude, Llama, and Gemini, operated by OpenAI & Microsoft, Anthropic, Meta, and Google respectively.

In 2024, additional key players entered the space to create their own foundational models. 

Amazon

Amazon has been pumping investments into Anthropic as their operations are huge consumers of AI to drive efficiency. With their own internal foundational LLM, they could remove the need to share their operational data with an external party. Further, like they did with their AWS business, they can monetize their own AI services with their own models. Amazon Nova was launched in early December.

xAI

In May of 2024, X secured funding to start to create and train its own foundational models. Founder Elon Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI. The company announced they would build the world’s largest supercomputer in June and it was operational by December.

Nvidia

In October, AI chip-maker Nvidia announced it own LLM named Nemotron to compete directly with OpenAI and Google — organizations that rely on its chips to train and power their own LLMs. 

Rumors of more to come

Apple Intelligence launched slowly in 2024 and uses OpenAI’s models. Industry insiders think it is natural to expect Apple to create its own LLM and position it as a privacy-first, on-device service. 

Foundational Model Advancements

While some companies are starting to create their own models, the major players have released advanced tools that can use a range of inputs to create a multitude of outputs: 

Multimodal Processing

AI models can now process and understand multiple types of data together, such as images, text, and audio. This allows for more complex interactions with AI tools. 

Google’s NotebookLM was a big hit this year for its ability to use a range of data as sources, from Google Docs to PDFs to web links for text, audio, and video. The tool essentially allows the creation of small, custom RAG databases to query and chat with.

Advanced Reasoning

OpenAI’s 01 reasoning model (pronounced “Oh One”) uses step-by-step “Chain of Thought” to solve complex problems, including math, coding, and scientific tasks. This has led to AI tools that can draw conclusions, make inferences, and form judgments based on information, logic, and experience. The queries take longer but are more accurate and provide more depth.

Google’s Deep Research is a similar product that was released to Gemini users in December.

Enhanced Voice Interaction

More and more AI tools can engage in natural and context-aware voice interactions — think Siri, but way more useful. This includes handling complex queries, understanding different tones and styles, and even mimicking personalities such as Santa Claus.

Vision Capabilities

AI can now “see” and interpret the world through cameras and visual data. This includes the ability to analyze images, identify objects, and understand visual information in real-time. Examples include Meta’s DINOv2, OpenAI’s GPT-4o, and Google’s PaliGemma. 

AI can also interact with screen displays on devices, allowing for a new level of awareness of sensory input. OpenAI’s desktop app for Mac and Windows is contextually aware of what apps are available and in focus. Microsoft’s Co-pilot Vision integrates with the Edge browser to analyze web pages as users browse. Google’s Project Mariner prototype allows Gemini to understand screen context and interact with applications.

While still early and fraught with security and privacy implications, the technology will lead to more advancements for “Agentic AI” which will continue to grow in 2025.

Agentic Capabilities

AI models are moving towards the ability to take actions on behalf of users. No longer confined to chat interfaces alone, these new “Agents” will perform tasks autonomously once trained and set in motion.

Note: Enterprise leader SalesForce launched AgentForce in September 2024. Despite the name, these are not autonomous Agents in the same sense. Custom agents must be trained by humans, given instructions, parameters, prompts, and success criteria. Right now, these agents are more like interns that need management and feedback.

Specialization

2024 also saw an increase in models designed for specific domains and tasks. With reinforcement fine-tuning, companies are creating tools for legal, healthcare, finance, stocks, and sports. 

Examples include Sierra, who offers a specifically trained customer service platform, and LinkedIn agents as hiring assistants.

What this all means for 2025

It’s clear that AI models and tools will continue to advance, and businesses that embrace AI will be in a better position to thrive. To be successful, businesses need an experimental mindset of continuous learning and adaptation: 

• Focus on AI Literacy — Ensure your team understands AI and its capabilities. Start with use cases that add value immediately.
• Prioritize Data Quality — AI models need high-quality, relevant data to be effective. Start cleaning and preparing your internal data before implementing AI at scale.
• Combine AI and Human Expertise — Use AI to augment human capabilities, not replace them. Think of AI as a junior employee who will require input, alignment, and reinforcement.
• Experiment and Iterate — Be willing to try new approaches and adapt based on results. Include measurement in your plans — collect data before and after to benchmark progress. 
• Embrace Ethical AI — Implement policies to ensure AI is used responsibly and ethically. Investigate ways the company can offset carbon and support cleaner energy, as AI tools require more electricity than non-AI tools. Understand hallucinations and the new, more complex “scheming” in reasoning models problem.
• Prepare for Change — Understand that technology is constantly evolving, and business models will need to adapt.

While the models will continue to get better into 2025, don’t wait to explore AI. Even if the existing models never improve, they are powerful enough to drive significant gains in business. Now is the time to implement AI in your business. Choose a model that makes sense and is low-friction — if you are an organization that uses Microsoft products, start with a trial of AI add-ons for office tools, for example. Start accumulating experience with the tools at hand, and then expand to include multiple models to evaluate more complex AI options that may have greater business impact. It almost doesn’t matter which you choose, as long as you get started.

Oomph has started to experiment with AI ourselves and Drupal has exciting announcements about integrating AI tools into the authoring experience. If you would like more information, please reach out for a chat.

THE BRIEF

THE APPROACH

Multiple color themes

Site authors choose from five color themes, each supporting light and dark mode viewing. Every theme was rigorously tested to conform with WCAG AA (and sometimes AAA), with each theme based on a palette of 27 colors (including grays) and 12 transparent colors.

User preferences

Site visitors can toggle between light or dark mode or use their own system preference, along with adjusting font sizes, line height, word spacing, and default language.

Mobile first

Knowing that many site visitors will be on mobile devices, each design component treats the mobile experience as a first-class counterpart to desktop.

Examples: The section menu sticks to the left side of the view port for easy access within sections; Downloads are clearly labelled with file type and human-readable file sizes in case someone has an unreliable network connection; galleries appear on mobile with any text labels stacked underneath and support swipe gestures, while the desktop version layers text over images and supports keyboard navigation.

High Accessibility

Every design pattern is accessible for screen readers and mobile devices. Color contrast, keyboard navigation, semantic labeling, and alt text enforcement all contribute to a highly accessible site. Extra labels and help text have been added to add context to actions, while also following best practices for use of ARIA attributes.

Performance aware

Each page is given a performance budget, so design components are built as lightly as possible, using the least amount of code and relying on the smallest visual asset file sizes possible.

THE RESULTS

THE BRIEF

Comprehensive Platform Assessment

THE RESULTS

Personalized Online Learning Experience

Enrollment and Administration Portal

Administrators and instructors leverage an enrollment portal to manage the onboarding of new students and view progress on coursework and certifications.

Course Material Delivery

Students experience the course material through a combination of reading, video, and offline coursework downloads for completion and submission.

Learning Assessments & Grading

Students are tested with online assessments, where grading and suggestions are delivered in real time, and submission of offline assignments for review by instructors.

Progress Pathways

A personalized student dashboard is the window into progress, allowing students to see which courses have been started, how much is left to complete, and the status of their certifications.

Certification

Completed coursework and assessments lead students to a point of certification resulting in a printable Certificate of Completion.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Faster and More Secure than Ever Before

Why Drupal?

THE CHALLENGE

OUR APPROACH

THE RESULTS