QA Reports

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Overview

QA reports evaluate authored content against the custom rules your organization has defined in the Rules Manager. This allows you to catch issues early—whether they relate to voice and tone, SEO requirements, legal compliance, or functional standards—before content reaches reviewers or goes live.

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Why QA Reports Matter

As organizations scale content operations, maintaining consistency becomes challenging. Extended business teams, regional marketers, and agency partners all need to create on-brand content, but they may not have deep familiarity with every guideline. QA reports solve this by:

• Providing instant feedback on content quality without waiting for manual review cycles
• Surfacing critical issues before content moves downstream in the workflow
• Reducing bottlenecks on central brand and editorial teams
• Creating a consistent quality bar regardless of who authors the content

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Understanding the QA Report

When you run a QA review, Gradial generates a report showing how your content performs against each active rule.

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Report Summary

At the top of every report, you’ll see:

• Rules failed — The count of rules your content did not pass
• Rules passed — The count of rules your content met
• Incomplete — Checks that require manual verification

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Result Details

Each rule result includes: Click on any rule to expand the full explanation, including the exact content that triggered the failure and guidance on how to fix it.

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The Rules Manager

The Rules Manager is where your organization defines, organizes, and maintains the standards that power QA reports. Think of it as the single source of truth for how content should be created across your organization.

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Accessing the Rules Manager

Navigate to Rules in the left sidebar to access the Rules Manager. Here you can view all rules organized by category and scope.

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Rule Organization

Rules are organized at two levels: Organization Rules Global rules that apply across all workspaces. These typically include enterprise-wide brand standards, legal requirements, and accessibility guidelines that every piece of content must follow. Workspace Rules Rules specific to a team, region, or project. These allow different groups to layer additional requirements on top of organization standards—for example, a product team might have specific terminology rules, or a regional team might have compliance requirements unique to their market.

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Rule Categories

Within each level, rules are grouped into categories:

• Global — Foundational rules that apply to both authoring and QA
• Authoring — Rules that guide content creation and formatting
• Quality Assurance — Rules specifically for pre-publication validation

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Creating Rules

You can add rules to Gradial in two ways: manual entry or document upload.

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Manual Rule Creation

Click Create Rule Manually to define a new rule from scratch. Each rule includes: Rule Content

• Title — A clear, action-oriented name (e.g., “Address the reader directly with ‘you’”)
• Description — Context on why this rule matters and what it checks
• Example — A concrete before/after showing correct vs. incorrect implementation

Guidelines Structure your guidance into two columns:

• Should do — Specific actions that comply with the rule
• Should not do — Common mistakes or anti-patterns to avoid

Agent Assignment Select which agents use this rule:

• AEM Agent — The rule guides content creation during authoring
• AEM QA — The rule is checked during quality assurance reviews

Assigning a rule to both agents means authors receive guidance while writing and QA catches anything that slipped through.

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Uploading Existing Documentation

If you already have brand guidelines, style guides, or checklists documented, you can upload them directly. Click Upload Docs and Gradial will parse your documentation into individual rules. This is particularly useful for:

• Migrating existing style guides into automated checks
• Onboarding new brand guidelines quickly
• Converting PDF checklists into enforceable rules

After upload, review the generated rules to refine titles, examples, and guidelines as needed.

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Scaling Content Operations

QA reports are designed to help organizations scale content production without sacrificing quality. Here’s how teams typically use them.

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Empowering Extended Teams

When business teams, regional marketers, or agency partners create content, they often lack the deep institutional knowledge that central brand teams have accumulated. QA reports bridge this gap by:

• Providing real-time guidance as content is created
• Explaining not just what’s wrong, but why and how to fix it
• Reducing back-and-forth review cycles between authors and approvers

The result: extended teams move faster because they can self-correct issues before submitting content for review.

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Catching Critical Issues Early

Not all issues are equal. Some are minor style preferences; others could create legal exposure, damage brand perception, or break functionality. QA reports help you categorize and prioritize: Editorial Issues

• Voice and tone violations
• Terminology inconsistencies
• Grammar and style errors

SEO Issues

• Missing or duplicate meta descriptions
• Heading hierarchy problems
• Keyword usage guidelines

Functional Issues

• Missing alt-text on images
• Broken asset references
• Incorrect component configuration

Compliance Issues

• Required disclosures missing
• Unapproved claims or language
• Regional regulatory requirements

By surfacing these issues before content reaches the publication stage, you avoid costly rework and reduce risk.

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Workflow Integration

QA reports fit naturally into content workflows:

1. Author creates content using the Authoring agent, which provides guidance based on active rules
2. Author runs QA to validate the content before submission
3. QA report highlights issues that need attention, with clear explanations
4. Author resolves issues and re-runs QA to confirm fixes
5. Content moves to review with confidence that baseline quality standards are met

Reviewers can then focus on higher-value feedback—strategic messaging, creative direction, stakeholder alignment—rather than catching basic compliance issues.

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Best Practices

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Writing Effective Rules

Be specific and actionable. Instead of “Use appropriate tone,” write “Address the reader directly with ‘you’ and use ‘we’ when referring to the company.” Include concrete examples. Show authors exactly what good looks like. A before/after comparison is more useful than abstract guidance. Explain the why. When authors understand the reasoning behind a rule, they’re more likely to internalize it and apply it consistently. Start with high-impact rules. Focus first on rules that catch the most common or most critical issues. You can always add more nuanced rules later.

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Organizing Rules

Use categories strategically. Group related rules together so authors and reviewers can quickly find relevant guidance. Balance global vs. workspace rules. Keep organization rules focused on universal standards. Use workspace rules for team-specific needs. Review and refine regularly. As your content strategy evolves, update your rules to reflect current priorities and lessons learned.

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Rolling Out to Teams

Train authors on the QA process. Help them understand that QA reports are a tool to help them succeed, not a gatekeeping mechanism. Celebrate quality improvements. Track pass rates over time and recognize teams that consistently meet standards. Gather feedback on rules. If authors frequently struggle with a rule, it may need clearer examples or revised guidance.