K12 Maker Site
Field Trip Central migrated over 50 pages from Wix to Webflow for this K12 maker education platform, conducting a thorough UX review and building a custom CMS while implementing WCAG accessibility standards and preserving the site's playful, student-friendly personality.
User Experience, Web Design, Web Development
K-12 Maker Lab at the MIT Edgerton Center
2025
Intro
Field Trip Central supported a comprehensive digital transformation for this K12 maker education platform, migrating over 50 pages from Wix to Webflow while preserving the organization's signature playful personality. The project began with an exhaustive UX review of the existing Wix site, analyzing user flows, navigation patterns, content hierarchy, and pain points to ensure the new platform would dramatically improve the user experience while maintaining what worked well.
The Challenge
Transform a sprawling Wix site into a streamlined, accessible platform without losing the creative spark that makes maker education so engaging. Through our UX audit, we identified navigation bottlenecks, inconsistent content organization, and accessibility barriers that prevented some students and educators from fully engaging with the platform. The new site needed to be both universally accessible and delightfully quirky—meeting WCAG standards while keeping the creative energy that makes young makers feel at home.
Our Approach
The UX review revealed opportunities to reorganize content around user goals rather than organizational structure, simplifying pathways from project inspiration to step-by-step instructions. We designed a custom CMS architecture that empowers teachers and administrators to manage resources, project galleries, and student showcases without technical expertise. The migration preserved the site's quirky visual identity—colorful illustrations, playful animations, and unexpected interactive elements—while implementing accessible color contrast, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and semantic HTML structure throughout.
Technical Highlights
- Conducted comprehensive UX review with user journey mapping and stakeholder interviews
- Migrated 50+ pages with careful content optimization and URL preservation for SEO
- Built custom Webflow CMS collections for projects, resources, and maker profiles
- Implemented WCAG 2.1 AA compliance including proper heading structure, alt text, and focus indicators
- Created intuitive navigation that scales from elementary to high school audiences
- Integrated role-based access for students, teachers, and administrators
- Ensured keyboard accessibility and screen reader compatibility across all interactive elements
The Result
A vibrant, inclusive platform where every student—regardless of ability—can discover their inner maker. Educators confidently share resources knowing the site welcomes all learners, while the playful design keeps the maker spirit alive. Navigation is intuitive, content is findable, and the experience delights without excluding.
