Case Study
Wayne County Community College District
Wayne County Community College District serves the metropolitan Detroit area across multiple campuses, with the Northwest Campus serving as the main hub for nursing, health sciences, information technology, business, and education programs. eWay Corp partnered with Stamats Communications to build Cascade CMS templates with a distinctive tray-based section reordering system, a separate mobile header design, and WCAG 2.1 level AA accessibility built in.
- Industry
- Higher Education
- Platform
- Cascade CMS
- Services
- Cascade Template Development + Accessibility
- Engagement
- Project-based
Client Snapshot
About Wayne County Community College District
- Scale
- Multi-campus public community college district serving the metropolitan Detroit area
- Website
- www.wcccd.edu
Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) is a public community college district serving the metropolitan Detroit area across multiple campuses. The Northwest Campus is the main location for the district's programs in nursing and other health science fields, with additional concentrations in information technology, business, and education.
The district's flexible enrollment model lets students take courses at any WCCCD location, supporting career changers, transfer students preparing for four-year institutions, and students building skills around their work and family schedules. WCCCD's high-quality, affordable education is designed to match programs to students' goals rather than forcing students to fit predefined paths.
The Challenge
Cascade templates that let editors reorder anything anywhere.
WCCCD's website serves a diverse audience across multiple campuses, programs, and student populations. The college district needed Cascade CMS templates that gave their editorial team genuine flexibility in how content gets arranged on a page rather than forcing every page into a rigid template structure.
In 2022, eWay Corp partnered with Stamats Communications to create Cascade CMS templates for the WCCCD website. Stamats provided XD designs with design guidelines and animation requests. eWay's role was to translate the design into Cascade-ready templates with the specific tray system that WCCCD needed for editorial flexibility.
The defining challenge was the tray system itself. WCCCD wanted to use any section before or after any other section, and to change content position from left to right and right to left within sections. Most template systems lock sections into a rigid layout. This one needed to support arbitrary section ordering and content-direction switching from the editorial side, plus a separate mobile header design and the full WCAG 2.1 level AA accessibility bar.
What had to be on the page
Cascade CMS templates implementing the Stamats XD designs precisely
Tray system: editors can place any section before or after any other section
Editor-controlled content positioning, swappable left-to-right within sections
Different mobile header design distinct from the desktop header
Animation requests integrated into the templates as specified
Full WCAG 2.1 level AA accessibility throughout
The Solution
Cascade-ready templates with tray-based section flexibility and accessibility built in.
After receiving the XD designs and the tray-system requirements from Stamats, eWay built Cascade CMS templates using HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and JavaScript. The tray system was implemented as the structural foundation: every section can be placed before or after any other section, content positioning can be switched within sections, and the templates work consistently across desktop and mobile with a separate mobile header design. WCAG 2.1 level AA compliance was built into construction.
Cascade-ready templates implementing the Stamats XD designs across desktop, tablet, and mobile
Tray system enabling editors to reorder any section before or after any other section without code changes
Editor-controlled content positioning, swappable left-to-right and right-to-left within sections
Separate mobile header design distinct from the desktop header rather than a scaled-down derivative
Animation requests integrated into the templates per the Stamats design specification
WCAG 2.1 level AA accessibility built into every component
Bootstrap-based responsive baseline supporting desktop, tablet, and mobile screen sizes
Architecture
A glimpse of the stack
Application
Cascade CMS template with tray-based section system
Framework
Bootstrap (responsive baseline)
Frontend
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery
Accessibility
WCAG 2.1 level AA compliance built into construction
The Outcome
Cascade templates that fit the editor, not the other way around.
Editorial flexibility through the tray system
Editors can place any section before or after any other section, and switch content positioning from left-to-right or right-to-left within sections. The template does not force a rigid order on how pages are assembled.
Mobile-first when it needs to be
A separate mobile header design ensures the navigation and visual hierarchy work specifically for smaller-screen experiences rather than being a scaled-down version of the desktop header.
Accessible by construction
WCAG 2.1 level AA compliance is built into every component. Visitors using assistive technology, keyboard navigation, or alternative input methods can use the site as designed, which matters for a community college serving a diverse student population.
Cascade-ready hand-off
The templates were delivered ready for Cascade CMS to use as the publishing foundation. WCCCD's editorial team can build the rest of the site against the templates without re-doing front-end work, and can rearrange sections through the tray system without developer involvement.
WCCCD's website now runs on Cascade-ready templates that combine editorial flexibility through the tray system, mobile-specific design, and WCAG 2.1 level AA accessibility from construction. Editors can reorder sections, switch content positioning, and build pages without the constraints that come with rigid template layouts.
Common questions about this engagement
What buyers ask before engaging us on a project like Wayne County Community College District
What is the 'tray system' and why does it matter?
The tray system is the structural pattern that lets editors place any section before or after any other section on a page, and switch content positioning (left-to-right or right-to-left) within a section. Most Cascade template systems lock sections into a rigid order, which forces editorial workarounds when a page needs a different structure. The tray system gives WCCCD's content team genuine compositional flexibility from the CMS side without writing code or rebuilding templates.
Why a different mobile header instead of a scaled-down desktop header?
Mobile and desktop are different reading environments with different navigation patterns, different attention budgets, and different physical interaction. A header designed for a 1440px desktop screen scaled down rarely produces a good mobile experience. WCCCD wanted a mobile header designed specifically for mobile, which the template implements as a separate component rather than a responsive derivative of the desktop pattern.
Why does WCAG 2.1 level AA matter for a community college website?
Public-facing higher-education websites are subject to ADA and Section 508 accessibility obligations. WCAG 2.1 level AA is the conformance standard commonly required for institutional websites and is the current US federal Section 508 reference. Building accessibility in from construction rather than retrofitting at the end produces a template that holds up under audit and serves every prospective student consistently regardless of how they interact with the site, which matters for a community college serving a diverse population including students with disabilities.
How did Stamats and eWay work together on this project?
Stamats led the visual identity work for WCCCD, providing the brand language, the XD designs, design guidelines, and the animation specifications. eWay was the technology partner: building the Cascade-ready templates, implementing the tray system, integrating the animations, and meeting the WCAG 2.1 level AA accessibility bar. The two organizations operated as a paired team where Stamats owned the design and eWay owned the technical implementation.
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