Website Case Study

Georgia Department of Education's Virtual Learning Network

When students, teachers, and parents need to access virtual courses, tutoring, or professional development, they need it to be as simple as possible. The Georgia Department of Education’s Virtual Learning (GaVL) division recognized their well-intentioned growth over nearly two decades and across six websites had created access barriers for their users.

After putting the finishing touches on GaDOE’s main website, we consolidated all six sites under the Virtual Learning umbrella into one enterprise-grade platform. Now all users can access everything from AP courses to tutoring and educator resources, and staff can manage it all without needing developer support.

The Situation

Growth Without Guardrails

In 2005, Governor Sonny Perdue signed the Georgia Virtual School bill into law establishing the first official state virtual school. Over the next 15+ years, GaVL expanded their educational offerings. Each new program was a genuine response to educational gaps, including virtual courses, credit recovery, and professional development opportunities for educators.

But patchwork additions over years meant students, educators, and parents or guardians had to navigate multiple websites and logins to access the full range of resources.

The team was ready to address several bottlenecks:

Multiple websites to manage across six different domains that required separate maintenance and updates
Course information was distributed across various platforms, making it hard to view options in one place for students and educational staff
Legacy platform limitations on their DotNetNuke system that restricted mobile-friendliness and other modern features
Inconsistent branding across platforms that didn't unify the broader mission or showcase GaVL’s incredible work
Underutilized valuable programs like tutoring and partnership opportunities that were buried across several websites
Chaotic content organization that had evolved organically over 17+ years without a real blueprint or plan for what goes where
Accessibility improvements needed to keep up with educational publishing standards and regulations so all students could access these digital resources

OLD SITE

Part of GA's Digital Education Ecosystem

Georgia Virtual Learning (GaVL) operates as a division within GaDOE, serving the state’s 1.8 million students and 300,000 educational staff. This consolidation builds on previous projects, including our recent work on their Culinary Hub platform, as part of a broader push to modernize Georgia’s educational technology.

Building Georgia's Unified Learning Hub

The goal was fewer hurdles or hoops to jump through. Our role was to build that vision into a functional, user-friendly platform. We focused on creating solutions that preserved the strength of existing programs while dramatically improving access, security, and usability.

Strategic Content Consolidation

Custom Course Integration

Simplified User Experience

Bringing the Brand Together

Device-Optimized Responsive Design

Strategic Content Consolidation

Organizing 15+ Years of Educational Growth

Educational content tends to be complex, but accessing it shouldn’t be. We worked closely with the Virtual Learning team to consolidate six separate websites into one cohesive platform that makes sense to students, educators, and parents/guardians alike.

Their Unified Content Strategy Delivered:

Resource Reorg: Reassembled content from six separate domains into logical, user-targeted sections that get users where they want to go
Custom Content Management: Built custom post types for announcements, FAQs, student spotlights, and alumni spotlights that let staff easily publish consistent content
Airtight Content Approval Workflow: Custom user roles for up to 10 contributors (and 1-2 people in approver roles) with easy approval processes for easy oversight
Clear Program Differentiation: New navigation pathways so it’s easier to find virtual courses, credit recovery, tutoring, and professional development
Refreshed Content: Used our fresh set(s) of well-trained eyes to reorganize all the content their team had been staring at for 15+ years

Resource Reorg: Reassembled content from six separate domains into logical, user-targeted sections that get users where they want to go
Custom Content Management: Built custom post types for announcements, FAQs, student spotlights, and alumni spotlights that let staff easily publish consistent content
Airtight Content Approval Workflow: Custom user roles for up to 10 contributors (and 1-2 people in approver roles) with easy approval processes for easy oversight
Clear Program Differentiation: New navigation pathways so it’s easier to find virtual courses, credit recovery, tutoring, and professional development
Refreshed Content: Used our fresh set(s) of well-trained eyes to reorganize all the content their team had been staring at for 15+ years

We built a highly customized enterprise WordPress system that handles GaVL’s massive scope but feels as simple as updating a blog post for contributors who use it daily.

User-Friendly Navigation

The original six-site structure forced users to remember which domain housed which resource. This consolidation puts educational needs first, organizing everything by what users want to accomplish.

Custom Course Integration

Connecting State Systems with Ease

With the content strategy in place, we tackled the technical challenge of integrating Georgia’s existing course catalog system. The resources themselves were delivering as promised so this was just all about making existing educational infrastructure more accessible to all Georgians.

This integration preserved the investment Georgians had already made in educational technology while dramatically improving the user experience to access these resources.

Third-Party System Integration

Connected the WordPress platform to Georgia’s existing Genius login system and Instructure LMS without disrupting any workflows

Dynamic Course Filtering

Advanced search and filter UI functionality that helps students find specific courses by subject, grade level, and program type

API Data Synchronization

Built an automated connection to Georgia’s existing course database so catalog updates happen seamlessly in the background

Simplified User Experience Pathways

Making Resources More Discoverable

As these technical integrations came together, we stayed focused on making it easy for students, educators, and parents or guardians to find the resources they need. Too many valuable programs were going unused simply because people didn’t know they existed.

Audience-Specific Entry Points

Clear pathways and content designed for students, educators, and parents/guardians

Consolidated Program Access

All six educational programs – Georgia Digital Curriculum, Georgia Virtual School, Georgia Credit Recovery, GaTutor, PartnerUP, and Georgia Virtual Professional Development – are now accessible from one place

Eliminated Tab Confusion

Redesigned navigation so that it keeps users on the main site instead of opening endless new windows

Navigation For All

Built following WCAG 1.3 compliance accessibility standards so students using screen readers, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technologies can access all educational resources quickly and easily

Bringing the Brand Together

Matching Aesthetics to Educational Excellence

We established a cohesive brand identity that could work across all educational programs while maintaining a strong connection to the broader GaDOE visual system.

A Unified Brand Experience:

GaDOE Brand Alignment: Consistent colors and fonts that connect to the state's educational brand while maintaining Virtual Learning's unique identity
Program-Specific Color System: Created a cohesive identity system where each program has its own unique colors (Virtual School green, Credit Recovery blue, GaTutor orange, Virtual Professional Development blue/orange, Digital Curriculum orange/blue) that work within the overall branding
Course Catalog Visual Overhaul: Significant styling updates to match the new branding guidelines and create a cohesive user experience across all resources
Professional Educational Aesthetic: Clean, modern design that communicates expertise and trustworthiness to students, parents or guardians, and educators

Now, when students and educators visit the site, they immediately understand what Georgia Virtual Learning offers and feel confident that they’re accessing high-quality, state-supported educational resources.

Device-Optimized Responsive Design

Meeting Users Where They Are

Whether in the library or on the bus home, educational technology has to work everywhere students and other users need it. We built each page with mobile and desktop in mind from the get-go, scaling every element to deliver an excellent universal experience across all devices.

This approach prioritizes educational resources being accessible whether students and other users are in classrooms, at home, or on the go with different devices.

Touch-Friendly Interface

Optimized for thumb-friendly browsing with appropriately sized buttons and tap targets

Responsive Course Browsing

Course catalogs and resource pages that work seamlessly across all device sizes, with the course catalog specifically redesigned from two columns to one column on mobile, plus dedicated mobile and tablet cleanup work to optimize padding, spacing, and cart functionality for touch navigation

Classroom and Remote Access

Mobile-responsive design optimized to use in the classroom, on the bus, and everywhere in between

What We Built Together

A Foundation for Future Learning

Between the content consolidation, course integration, simplified navigation, and unified brand experience, Georgia’s comprehensive virtual learning ecosystem is future-proof. Our custom WordPress development approach delivered exactly what all the different users needed.

Results With Room to Grow:

One platform replaces a half-dozen, so students, parents or guardians, and educators can find everything they need in one place
Course search that actually works with filtering by subject, grade level, and program type plus automatic updates from Georgia's student information system
Mobile access that meets users (especially students) where they are with a responsive design that works in the classroom, library, or on the bus home
Content updates without calling IT through pre-designed custom post templates that let Virtual Learning staff publish announcements and update pages themselves
Professional presentation that builds trust with cohesive branding that immediately signals state-supported, high-quality educational resources

One Vision, Six Sites

Growing Georgia's Educational Future

The new platform gives Georgia Virtual Learning room to grow – no guardrails required. Whether they want to connect with students, launch new programs, integrate with other state systems, or expand teacher training, the foundation is ready for whatever the future holds.