Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO–WP Engine, the leading WordPress digital experience platform, today announced its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to bring machine learning-powered speech translations to WordPress, the dominant content management system (CMS) that powers nearly a third of the web. The integration of Amazon Translate into the Amazon Polly plugin for WordPress will allow brands and publishers to take web content in English and translate that content into any of four spoken languages: Spanish, German, French or Portuguese. More languages will follow.
Rise of Digital Media Consumption
Today’s consumers are spending more of their day online, with 62 percent of Millennials and 69 percent of Generation Z stating they can only go up to eight hours comfortably without access to the internet, according to a national study commissioned by WP Engine and The Center for Generational Kinetics. Digital content presents a powerful means of satisfying this audience. Enterprises need to ensure that their content is easily accessible and optimized across all connected devices and global networks if it’s to reach the widest possible audience. There is a huge opportunity for agencies to help localize web content and adapt a brand’s web presence for voice technology.
Text-to-Speech & Machine Translation
The Amazon Polly plugin enables WordPress creators to easily add text-to-speech capabilities to their websites and make the audio easily available for listeners in the form of podcasts. In this new release, publishers or brands can automatically translate text-based content and have it read in Spanish, German, French or Portuguese. Future plans will extend that capability to more languages, providing publishers with the ability to extend content to even more consumers globally. The machine translation feature is powered by Amazon Translate and is now available in the WP Engine Solution Center as an update to Amazon Polly plugin for WordPress. Amazon Translate is a neural machine translation service that uses deep learning models to deliver more accurate and natural sounding translation than traditional statistical and rule-based translation algorithms.
“Publishers and marketers are increasingly investing in content to reach global audiences,” said Mary Ellen Dugan, Chief Marketing Officer at WP Engine. “The ability to translate content in a way that allows consumers to listen on-the-go opens a tremendous opportunity for brands to reach global audiences in a way never before possible. Amazon Translate, tested and optimized at scale for the WP Engine Digital Experience Platform, is a great first step in extending the reach of content.”
“As the world grows more interconnected, building multilingual websites is fast becoming the new norm. Amazon Translate helps remove language barriers, so you can optimize your content and connect with your audience in the language of their choice,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, Vice President of Machine Learning, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “By having a machine translation capability in the Amazon Polly plugin, WordPress sites can easily offer users multilingual and voiced content with a simple click of a button.”
“For more than 25 years, BoardingArea has delivered content that provides news, information and advice for frequent flyers,” said Denny Butts, Director of Project Engagement at BoardingArea. “With Amazon Translate and the WP Engine Digital Experience Platform, we are able to take the best frequent flyer blogs and reach new international audiences in their preferred language.”
Translation is the next iteration in WP Engine’s commitment to empower businesses and agencies helping them engage and grow their audiences with more relevant digital experiences. The launch follows the introduction of WP Engine’s GeoTarget tool, through which customers extend their global reach by delivering customized content based on a visitor’s geographic location.
