CLAHRC West
Invitation to tender: Rebuilding and hosting the CLAHRC West website
Contents 1.
Background ............................................................................................................................... 2
2.
Project objectives ..................................................................................................................... 2
3.
Website goals ........................................................................................................................... 3
4.
Technical specification ............................................................................................................ 3
5.
Look and feel............................................................................................................................. 3
6.
Content management system ................................................................................................ 4
7.
Information architecture........................................................................................................... 4
8.
Social media and RSS............................................................................................................. 5
9.
Metadata and search ............................................................................................................... 5
10.
Password protected area .................................................................................................... 5
11.
Training course search ........................................................................................................ 6
12.
Cookies .................................................................................................................................. 6
13.
Forms and email newsletter................................................................................................ 6
14.
User testing ........................................................................................................................... 6
15.
Hosting and ongoing support.............................................................................................. 6
16.
Responding to this invitation to tender .............................................................................. 6
17.
Timescales and selection process ..................................................................................... 7
18.
Selection criteria ................................................................................................................... 7
19.
Contact details ...................................................................................................................... 7
1. Background Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs) are funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). There are 13 across England. CLAHRC West works with its partner organisations to conduct applied health research and implement research evidence, to improve health and healthcare across the West of England. We undertake applied health research projects, in collaboration with our partners and others in our region and nationally. The research we do must have a real world application and fall into one of our broad thematic areas of ‘improving the management of chronic diseases’ and ‘public health interventions and population health’. Our ethos is to focus on research and implementation that is: • • •
equitable and fair appropriate: providing optimum advice or care, at the right time and place for prevention or care sustainable: taking account of resource-use and future continuation
CLAHRC West brings together universities, local authorities, NHS Hospital Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups to focus on improving health and healthcare for local people. We have a very basic website at http://clahrc-west.nihr.ac.uk, based on the NIHR’s Google Sites platform. With the severe limitations of Google Sites as a CMS, the site is not fit for purpose in terms of design, functionality, or back end management. The information architecture has grown organically, and needs to be rationalised. We have just announced the first round of projects that we will be working on, and we are likely to put out another call for projects in the spring. We need a new website to support these activities. We also have several cross-cutting programmes such as capacity building and patient and public involvement, which need effective representation as their work develops. This document outlines the requirements for a new website, for which we are seeking to appoint a digital agency partner to design, build and host the new website.
2. Project objectives We are seeking a digital agency partner to: a. Develop a look and feel for the website, based on the NIHR identity guidelines b. Develop a new information architecture for the site c. Develop and manage a content management system for the site d. Ensure the site meets WAI AA accessibility guidelines, AAA where possible e. Create templates for each layout required for the site f. Implement a metadata schema to allow different content types to be associated with each other, eg a news story can be associated with a work programme or research theme g. Implement search and forms h. Integrate social media and RSS i. Manage news, events and training courses j. Implement cookie notifications k. Implement traffic analysis, ideally Google Analytics
l. m. n. o. p. q.
Use, as a minimum, the principles of usability, or, if budget and time allows, build user testing, into each stage of the design Automatically migrate content where possible Develop a password protected area and user interface that can be used to manage our call process Train CLAHRC West staff on use of the CMS as necessary Retain the URL of http://clahrc-west.nihr.ac.uk, which is managed by NIHR Host and provide technical support for the site on an ongoing basis
3. Website goals a. To engage key audiences, including researchers, clinicians, public health practitioners, NHS managers, patients, carers, service users and the wider general public, particularly in the West of England but also further afield, with the work of CLAHRC West b. To showcase the work of CLAHRC West and encourage participation c. To build the ‘brand’ of NIHR CLAHRC West, by contextualising our activity and giving it meaning d. To streamline the call for projects and ideas process
4. Technical specification The website must comply with the following technical specification a. b. c. d.
XHTML 1.0 CSS layout using the Zen Garden approach (www.csszengarden.com) Compliance with WAI AA accessibility guidelines, and AAA where possible Responsive design that works across multiple devices, including mobile, tablets, laptops and desktops e. Cross-browser compatible, as a minimum, with: i. ii. iii. iv. v.
Internet Explorer 8.0 and later Firefox Chrome Safari Across multiple mobile devices including iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows vi. Across multiple platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux
5. Look and feel The site must comply with the NIHR’s identity guidelines. The design will be signed off by the NIHR’s communications team, as well as CLAHRC West. While the identity guidelines are strict, there are several CLAHRC sites that have been built outside the NIHR platform while conforming to the guidelines, including: • • •
Greater Manchester CLAHRC Oxford CLAHRC South West Peninsula
We have undertaken a competitor analysis of all the CLAHRC websites, as well as a critical review of our own, which we can share with the successful agency.
6. Content management system The content management system must be web-based. Ideally, the CMS will be open source. If this is not possible, then it will have very low licensing costs. The CMS must include standard functionality, including: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l.
Automated templates, navigation and internal link management WYSIWYG interface with HTML editor Content scheduling Version control Preview site News, events and blog management Automatic image resizing Friendly URLs Simple publication of stories, events and highlight content to the homepage Allow YouTube videos to be embedded Allow for the application of metadata to content As far as possible, no content should be hard coded, but should instead by editable via the CMS
7. Information architecture The current information architecture has grown organically, and its labelling and structure have never been tested. At present it is very flat, and we are missing opportunities to group content meaningfully. It is also based around organisational structure rather than user needs. The following list of content is not exhaustive, but gives a flavour of the key information the new site will include. All labels and structure are based on the current site and so are to be confirmed. Links are given to content where it currently exists: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
About CLAHRC West How we are funded The team Partner organisations Research Advisory Panels CLAHRC West Board Meeting notes Other CLAHRCs News Events Searchable training courses (linked to capacity building / development) Research themes Chronic diseases Equity, appropriateness and sustainability Public health interventions Methodology (no content at present!) Effectiveness and evaluation Efficiency
• • • • • • • • •
Epidemiology / health service research Ethnography Evidence Research calls Projects Individual project details Capacity development Involvement Contact us
We are open to other ideas for content that would benefit our users.
8. Social media and RSS All pages should include a share button for all major social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. Our Twitter feed should be displayed on the homepage and the news and events pages (if these are separate). RSS feeds should also be offered for these content types.
9. Metadata and search A metadata schema will be used on the site. In the first phase, this will be based around research themes and cross-cutting activity, allowing relevant news stories and events to automatically display links to other relevant parts of the site, and vice versa. The metadata schema should be scalable, so that new items and groups can be added over time. Site search should: a. follow usability standards for search functionality b. be available on every page c. weight results, eg if someone searches on a Health Integration Team name, the sub-site in the Health Integration Team section should be given before news stories d. tell the user how many results have been found e. use the page description in results f. end the page description on a complete word and ellipsis
10.
Password protected area
The site should manage the call process, so that applicants can submit their projects and ideas via the website. The process should allow applicants to: a. b. c. d.
Set up their account Manage their access and passwords automatically Complete forms for research projects and ideas Upload additional information
The process should allow CLAHRC West to: a. See a list of all submissions b. Read, share and download submissions
c. Allow access to Research Advisory Panel (RAP) members d. Allow RAP members to rate submissions e. Download a report showing RAP ratings
11.
Training course search
As part of our capacity building programme, we also want to offer a searchable database of courses. Functionality is still to be decided, but it is expected that users should be able to search by: a. Course subject b. Location c. Date This functionality may not be available when the site is first launched, but will be added over time.
12.
Cookies
Users should be notified that the site uses cookies. The message and functionality should follow standard protocols.
13.
Forms and email newsletter
The website will have a form to allow users to sign up to an email newsletter. The form will integrate with MailChimp, so that new subscribers are automatically uploaded to our MailChimp list. The email newsletter should be promoted on the homepage, news and events, as a minimum. Other forms will be related to specific functionality such as course search and the password protected area as outlined above.
14.
User testing
In an ideal world, every stage of the design process would be subject to user testing. However, with limited budget, we must be realistic about what user testing we can afford. Please separately cost user testing for key stages (information architecture development, design development etc) and advise where user testing would be of greatest value.
15.
Hosting and ongoing support
This invitation to tender includes ongoing hosting and support, as well as initial training as required. We do not expect traffic levels to increase dramatically, and our support requirements will be minimal. These should be costed separately to make it clear what are project, and what are ongoing costs.
16.
Responding to this invitation to tender
The deadlines for responding to this ITT are given below. Your response should: • • •
Not be longer than 10 pages, excluding appendices Include an outline project plan Show relevant previous examples of similar projects
• •
17.
Break down costs by project, including optional user testing, and ongoing support and hosting We do not expect to see design routes at this stage
Timescales and selection process
Ideally the site should be available for the next call which takes place in Spring 2015. The procurement itself will follow this timetable: • • • •
18.
Expressions of interest Tender returns (deadline) Pitch presentations Appointment subject to contract
4 February 9am 12 February 18 February 23 February or earlier
Selection criteria
CLAHRC West will award the contract to the tenderer that best meets the following criteria: a. relevant, proven expertise in website design and build, and experience of undertaking similar contracts b. ability to deliver to the timescales outlined above c. testing and quality assurance procedures to meet technical requirements d. design and creativity track record, based on previous work e. value for money, balancing overall cost with proposed services f. quality and cost-effectiveness of ongoing support
19.
Contact details
The following contact details are for both enquiries and for submitting expressions of interest and completed tenders: Zoe Trinder-Widdess Communications Manager CLAHRC West
[email protected] 07712 390549
