Drupal Camp Scotland

Same Image, Different Story: Why Drupal Needs Contextual Media Architecture

Photo of Gareth Alexander

Gareth Alexander

Senior Web Developer at The University of Edinburgh

Photo of Tony Barker

Tony Barker

Front End Specialist at Annertech
Lead Developer at LocalGov Drupal
Media Management Track Lead at Drupal CMS
Director at DrupalCamp England

Every Drupal site faces a hidden architectural problem that forces bad editorial decisions and undermines accessibility efforts.

This session reveals how this fundamental architectural gap affects:

  • Accessibility compliance (poor alt text experiences)
  • Editorial workflows (frustrated content creators)
  • Storage efficiency (duplicate image uploads)
  • Media management (cluttered media libraries)

But there is the good news, there is a solution.

Target Audience: Developers, site builders, content strategists, accessibility advocates, and anyone interested in Drupal's content architecture future.

Takeaways: Understanding of a fundamental Drupal limitation, knowledge of current solutions, and clear next steps for contributing to core improvements.