What is Contao?

Contao is a flexible and easily ex­pand­able open-source content man­age­ment system (CMS) used for creating ac­ces­si­ble and re­spon­sive websites. It offers an intuitive user interface that’s easy for novices to operate. This CMS solution is an al­ter­na­tive to large and com­pre­hen­sive solutions like Joomla! or TYPO3.

Contao CMS offers powerful features for flexible and ac­ces­si­ble websites

Although Contao CMS hasn’t yet gained the wide­spread recog­ni­tion of major content man­age­ment systems, it has built a highly active community. With over 175,000 websites created using this solution, Contao has es­tab­lished a solid presence. First released in 2006, the open-source software was renamed from TypoLight to Contao in 2010 to avoid confusion with TYPO3. Contao is a classic web content man­age­ment system that excels in creating ac­ces­si­ble websites. While it’s less focused on social or blog pub­lish­ing, blog ex­ten­sions are available.

Technical facts about Contao:

• Pro­gram­ming language: PHP
• Database: MySQL / MariaDB
• Output in XHTML or HTML5
• Based on the Symfony web framework (current version based on Symfony 5)
• License: GNU Lesser General Public License

An overview of the key features of Contao:

• Advanced editing feature
• Full-text search engine
• In­te­grat­ed file manager
• Form generator
• Core modules for news and event man­age­ment
• Password-protected member area
• Newslet­ter module
• Mul­ti­lin­gual/multi-site ca­pa­bil­i­ty
• Ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty

Here you will find the download link for the latest version of Contao.

Ad­van­tages and dis­ad­van­tages of the Contao CMS

Comparing CMS platforms can be chal­leng­ing, as it ul­ti­mate­ly depends on the specific use case. Contao offers numerous ad­van­tages that make it par­tic­u­lar­ly at­trac­tive for ac­ces­si­ble and pro­fes­sion­al websites. However, there are also factors that could present chal­lenges, depending on the project’s scale and ex­pe­ri­ence level.

Strengths:

• A wide range of features available in the basic version.
• A diverse selection of extension modules, including the Isotope eCommerce shop system, layouts, and templates.
• Intuitive usability and strong ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty features.
• Long-term support ensuring up-to-date software.
• A robust community and com­pre­hen­sive doc­u­men­ta­tion for support.
• A hi­er­ar­chi­cal page structure that sim­pli­fies the man­age­ment of multiple pages and makes it easy to handle meta tags, redirects, and vis­i­bil­i­ty through the structure tree.
• Flex­i­bil­i­ty in designing re­spon­sive and mul­ti­lin­gual websites.
• SEO tools like search engine-friendly URL gen­er­a­tion and automatic XML sitemap creation make website op­ti­miza­tion easier.

Chal­lenges:

• Template im­ple­men­ta­tion can be complex and requires ex­pe­ri­ence.
• In larger projects, clarity may be lost.
• Social pub­lish­ing and blogging are less in­te­grat­ed compared to other CMS solutions.

System re­quire­ments

There aren’t many re­quire­ments for in­stalling Contao. A web server with PHP and MySQL support is all you need. PHP should be at least version 7.4+, and MySQL must be version 8.0+ or an equiv­a­lent MariaDB version.

Contao also requires specific PHP ex­ten­sions, which are typically enabled by default in most PHP in­stal­la­tions but can be disabled by the hosting provider. However, Contao will check to ensure that all necessary ex­ten­sions are active. The official Contao doc­u­men­ta­tion lists the required PHP ex­ten­sions.

Ap­pli­ca­tions of Contao

Contao is a highly versatile CMS es­pe­cial­ly well-suited for medium to large web projects. Companies like Siemens and Telekom suc­cess­ful­ly use it, thanks to its powerful and easily ex­tend­able ar­chi­tec­ture. It’s also ac­ces­si­ble to less ex­pe­ri­enced users due to its straight­for­ward operation. With features like ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty, SEO tools, and an in­te­grat­ed newslet­ter module, Contao is par­tic­u­lar­ly appealing for corporate websites.

For projects that demand higher per­for­mance and security, the Jamstack approach is an excellent choice. It combines static pages with dynamic content through APIs and JavaScript, ensuring optimal per­for­mance.

Al­ter­na­tives to Contao

Although Contao offers numerous ad­van­tages, such as ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty and flexible cus­tomiza­tion, other content man­age­ment systems may be worth con­sid­er­ing depending on your project’s needs. Each CMS has its own strengths, providing unique features that are better suited for specific ap­pli­ca­tions.

WordPress is the most popular CMS for simple and ex­pand­able websites

WordPress is the most widely used CMS worldwide, making it an excellent choice for blogs, small business websites, and simple online stores. With easy in­stal­la­tion and an intuitive interface, you can quickly create pro­fes­sion­al websites with WordPress even without prior ex­pe­ri­ence. Thanks to a wide range of plugins and themes, WordPress can be easily extended and cus­tomized. While it’s perfect for smaller projects, it can also handle larger websites with the right ex­ten­sions.

Joomla is the flexible CMS for mul­ti­lin­gual and complex websites

Joomla is a versatile open-source CMS, par­tic­u­lar­ly well-suited for websites that require more complex struc­tures, such as mul­ti­lin­gual portals or community platforms. It offers greater cus­tomiza­tion options than WordPress, making it ideal for projects that need specific functions and high flex­i­bil­i­ty. However, Joomla also has a steeper learning curve and demands more technical expertise to create a Joomla website.

TYPO3 is the powerful CMS for large en­ter­prise projects

TYPO3 is a robust, scalable CMS that is es­pe­cial­ly suitable for large en­ter­pris­es and complex web projects. It offers a wide range of functions and ex­ten­sions that allow the creation of highly complex websites. However, TYPO3 requires sub­stan­tial technical know-how, and the learning curve is steeper than with systems like WordPress or Joomla.

Contao is the flexible CMS for various project sizes

• Contao is es­pe­cial­ly appealing for beginners who prefer not to rely on WordPress.
• With its focus on ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty and mul­ti­lin­gual support, the CMS is also ideal for pro­fes­sion­al corporate websites.
• Backed by an active community and regular updates.
• A solid al­ter­na­tive to WordPress, Joomla, and TYPO3, depending on the specific project needs.
• Built-in features for op­ti­miza­tion and com­mu­ni­ca­tion.

Contao and ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty

The Americans with Dis­abil­i­ties Act (ADA) is in effect in the USA and requires many busi­ness­es to make their digital offerings ac­ces­si­ble to in­di­vid­u­als with dis­abil­i­ties. Affected areas include online stores, digital service portals, booking and contract platforms, apps, and other services aimed at the public.

While the ADA doesn’t specif­i­cal­ly outline technical ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty standards, it has been in­ter­pret­ed to require com­pli­ance with in­ter­na­tion­al­ly rec­og­nized guide­lines, par­tic­u­lar­ly the Web Content Ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty Guide­lines (WCAG). These guide­lines include re­quire­ments such as:

• Providing al­ter­na­tive text for images (“alt texts”)
• Ensuring keyboard ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty (e.g., no reliance on mouse use)
• Offering suf­fi­cient color contrast, zoom ca­pa­bil­i­ty, and un­der­stand­able nav­i­ga­tion
• Ensuring com­pat­i­bil­i­ty with assistive tech­nolo­gies like screen readers

Contao provides a solid technical foun­da­tion for meeting these ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty re­quire­ments. The CMS generates clean, semantic HTML5 by default, supports ARIA labels, ensures screen reader-friendly nav­i­ga­tion struc­tures, and offers ac­ces­si­ble forms, as well as a con­sis­tent sep­a­ra­tion of content and layout. With newer versions, such as Contao 5.4 and 5.6, focus in­di­ca­tors, nav­i­ga­tion logic, and other ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty features have been enhanced, making it easier to meet many WCAG re­quire­ments right out of the box.

However, it’s important to note that ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty isn’t solely de­ter­mined by the CMS. Whether a website meets legal re­quire­ments also depends on the theme used, the in­di­vid­ual de­vel­op­ment, the design, and the editorial main­te­nance. If alt texts are missing, interface elements are difficult to access, or an in­ac­ces­si­ble layout is chosen, even the best technical foun­da­tion cannot com­pen­sate. When im­ple­ment­ed correctly, however, Contao enables the creation of tech­ni­cal­ly clean, sus­tain­able, and legally compliant websites, helping busi­ness­es meet ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty standards under the ADA.