Hendrix College Website Leverages Ektron for 'Responsive Web Design' Results

NASHUA, N.H., May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ektron, the company that empowers organizations to fully realize their websites' marketing and revenue-generating potential, today announced that customer Hendrix College recently launched a new website that serves up content geared to the preferred device each visitor uses to access the site – smartphone, tablet or computer.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100709/MM19483LOGO )

Leveraging the cutting-edge concept of Responsive Web Design (RWD), the Hendrix College site executes different content queries based on the maximum width of a visitor's display. This responsive media-based query system, which is enabled by the Ektron Web Content Management (WCM) platform, displays varying degrees of content for visitors reaching the site, regardless of device.

"Try going to the Hendrix site using your desktop browser," said Josh Daugherty, lead designer at Hendrix. "Shrink the width of your browser window and you'll see that some files are removed and some are added. Your browser will request different CSS files based on the maximum width of your display. Now do the same with your smartphone or iPad, it is an almost customized experience."

Given the growing popularity of mobile devices, Forrester Research, Inc. found that 60 percent of online U.S. adults now engage in the mobile channel and 79 million people have three or more connected devices(1) – many companies are deploying a strategy known as "Mobile First!" designing web displays to arrange content optimally for mobile applications.

Hendrix College's site is designed with mobile displays serving as a top priority, catering to the many prospective students and other audiences that make a majority of their connections over the phone. The website caters to each of the Conway, Ark., liberal arts and sciences college's communities. One template engages visitors, including prospective students, parents and alumni, with "goal-oriented" displays, enticing them to sign up for activities or participate in a program. Another template organizes content for internal audiences such as current students, faculty and staff.

"Our home page at hendrix.edu was specifically designed with prospective students in mind," said Jay Burling, director of web applications, Hendrix College IT. "But you'll see from our navigation that we also provide several other 'home' pages for our various audiences – current students, faculty and staff, parents, alumni and other friends of the school, as well as future students."   

The Hendrix College website is enabled with Ektron 8.5, with the home page and various other pages on the site created with PageBuilder, a drag-and-drop interface allowing content authors to enter text, images, video and any other site features quickly and easily. Up to 100 different content authors contribute regularly to the Hendrix website.

"Hendrix College needed a mechanism to engage its stakeholders over the Web through their native devices while making it easy for content authors to contribute to the site," said Bill Rogers, CEO and founder of Ektron.  "The site Hendrix has created, using Ektron technology, accomplishes all of these goals and more. We're confident the results Hendrix will achieve will stand as a model for educational communities everywhere."

For more information on the college's success with the Ektron WCM platform, read this case study, "Hendrix College: Engaging Audiences with Ektron."

To learn more about Ektron, Responsive Web Design and Mobile First, engage @Ektron on Twitter and via the Ektron Community, an online group including global experts and thought leaders.

(1) Forrester Research, "Four Questions Guide Web Mobile Content Management Plans," by Stephen Powers, November 21, 2011

About Hendrix College

Founded in 1876, Hendrix College was named the country's #1 "Up and Coming" liberal arts college for the third consecutive year by U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the 2011 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country's best 376 colleges and is listed in the 2012 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of 25 "Best Buy" private colleges included. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.

About Ektron

Ektron simplifies the creation, management and delivery of digital experiences for global organizations that are looking to drive revenue growth and improve customer satisfaction. Headquartered in Nashua, N.H., with offices in Australia, Canada and the U.K., Ektron has thousands of customers including: Dell, Las Vegas Sands, Microsoft, NASDAQ and National Health Services UK. For more information: www.ektron.com.

SOURCE Ektron Inc.