Case Study - CEDIA Education

The CEDIA Education website project is one of our most exciting to date. CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) is a global trade body that, as part of their work, offers a wide range of industry education and certification for engineers, designers and business owners working with electronic systems in high-end homes. The CEDIA Education website offers an online introduction, course catalogue and booking portal for their Region 1 office based in St. Neots, UK.

The design project started with the realization that a large number of students taking part in CEDIA education were now new engineers from other industries looking to get involved in this exciting sector. The new site set out to deliver a better, more inclusive, experience to those students while equaling serving more experienced staff. The CEDIA program offers an introduction to the industry through “pathways”, each made up of groups of courses building toward certification. It was essential to make these routes clear while also allowing regular students to quickly book courses through a course calendar.

Presto approached the new website design through the eyes of the two key visitor groups. Education pathways are highlighted, as are the right route to booking each course. The website also features separate news and blog sections offering visitors updates on the latest developments in technology plus a large resource section for more general information.

The final website design delivers not only static page information but dynamically added booking information such as dates, venues, process and availability. This is taken directly from CEDIA’s own course booking system to ensure accuracy and remove the need for manual updates.

The website was launched in June 2011 at CEDIA’s Home Technology Event to widespread acclaim. The site has delivered a significant upturn in visitor numbers, sustained bookings through difficult economic times and is being updated regularly by CEDIA staff using a full CMS (Content management System).

Project Timescale: 16 weeks