Release notes: September 10, 2026

Note: The fixes described in these notes will be available to all clients by end of day Thursday, September 10, 2026.

In this release: New AI Assistant | Fixes

AI alternative text, now everywhere images live

The AI alt-text tool just got a major upgrade! It now works across virtually all image fields and content types platform-wide, not just on provider and location pages.

What it is

The AI alt-text generation tool has been expanded beyond provider and location pages so inline generation, direct API endpoints, and draft management now work across all content types.

How it works

Note: AI-generated text will never publish to your site automatically. In accordance with our guiding principles on AI-enhanced tools, all AI-generated content requires you to generate and save the content.

Click the "Generate with AI" button on any supported image field within:

• Articles
• Events
• Posts
• Services
• Standard layouts
• Images

Inside layout paragraphs for:

• Cards
• Slides
• Marquees
• Galleries

The AI generates alt text, a user reviews or edits it as needed, and saving the page applies it. With this release, you can generate content for fields where content already exists (or has been saved). Brand new content generation is planned for our next release. 

Why it matters

Editors get consistent, AI-assisted accessibility support wherever images appear, instead of specific page types — reducing manual work while keeping generation requests secure and reliable across setups.

• Taxonomy term duplicates in search: Slight variations in spacing, capitalization, or quotes had created duplicate taxonomy terms across sites, causing duplicate filter options in site and cluster search, quizzes, and risk assessments. Duplicates were previously cleaned up; however, they persisted and continued reappearing. A new automated merge tool now: 

  • Finds and merges duplicates into the primary term
  • Updates all content references
  • Preserves old names as search keywords
  • Covers all entity types (including previously-skipped paragraph components)
  • Clears caches immediately so merged content updates without a full cache flush

  Duplicates are merged automatically with this release, and the tool remains available going forward at Configuration > Mercury Features > Merge Duplicate Terms, including a "Dry run" option to preview changes before committing them.

  

• Console error on marquee carousel slides: Marquee Carousel slides threw a JavaScript "color is not defined" error when a slide was given a custom Content Background Color without explicit opacity settings. Variable handling in the dynamic slide property logic was corrected so slides render cleanly without triggering browser console errors when custom background colors are applied.

  

• Conditional branding reordering: On the Theme Settings page in the “Brand” tab, changing a conditional brand's weight or dragging it to reorder would silently fail to save. The fix restores both manual numeric weight adjustments and drag-and-drop reordering so brand order saves and updates as expected, and also corrects a table layout alignment issue on the admin form so drag-and-drop scripts run reliably across all browsers.

• Accessible name for services search input: Screen readers couldn't identify the Services search field as a search input because its announced name was missing action words. The component now announces "Search All Services, Treatments, or Conditions" on focus.

  

• Accessibility enhancements for multi-select dropdowns: Selected-option chips and dropdown options in multi-select fields (such as Location Type and Services Offered in the header's site search modal) couldn't be focused, navigated, or removed via keyboard. Fixes include: 
  • Converting chips into focusable buttons removable with Delete, Backspace, Enter, or Space
  • Standardized screen reader labels that clearly state the action, field, and option; roving keyboard navigation (arrow keys) plus a multi-stage Escape shortcut
  • A keyboard-accessible "Remove All" control
  • Visible focus rings only during keyboard use

  • Fixes for focus-trapping and a modal click-to-close bug

    

• Screen reader names & labels on provider cards: Provider card elements — view details, call-to-action, phone number, and the "show N more locations" toggle — had inconsistent or missing accessible names, making them hard for screen readers to distinguish. Accessible names are now standardized across these elements so each control is announced clearly and uniquely (related to WCAG 1.3.1 / 4.1.2 / 2.4.4).
• DXE import tool blank metatag clearing: Clearing a Metatag field cell in the DXE Import (CSV) didn't actually remove the node-level SEO override, so pages failed to revert to site-wide default metatags on import. The import processor now treats a blank Metatag cell as an explicit instruction to clear the existing override, letting the page inherit Global or content-type defaults as intended — so leaving a cell blank is now the supported way to bulk-reset metatags via spreadsheet import. CSV exports will continue to show blank cells for nodes already using defaults, to distinguish them from customized nodes and keep re-uploaded files safe.
• Geolocation lookup for local search pages: Searching using the "Located near" field could fail with an "Unable to determine a valid location" error due to blocked security checks. Updated how location requests are processed so "Located near" searches now resolve reliably.
  Location hours display for partial operating schedules: Location pages with blank or partially filled operating hours prevented the current day from being bolded in the Hours block. The location page now safely handles missing hour entries so the current day bolds correctly regardless of how complete the schedule is.
• AI assistant update: Removed Translate and Help & Support from the toolbar to align with healthcare editorial standards and direct support to appropriate channels. Stripped informal tone presets to ensure professional content quality