Website Redesign and Development Services

The vendor is required to provide web design and development firms to submit proposals for the design and development of a new, responsive, comprehensive, and fully accessible website.
- Current website
• Website, bucks.edu, was developed in-house by a team of developers in 2017 and refreshed in 2020–2021.
• The site is built on the terminal four (t4) content management system (CMS) and is managed in a decentralized environment. 
• With approximately 3,000 pages, it serves a diverse range of stakeholders, including prospective and current students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and community members.
• The current website presents several challenges.
- Engagement and marketing goals
• Strengthen the college’s reputation and public perception. 
• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring post-launch success. 
o Example KPI: increase in applications. 
• Enable content personalization based on marketing campaigns or user behavior. 
• Improve analytics and tracking integration. 
• The college currently uses site improve and is open to exploring alternative tools based on vendor recommendations.
- Content management and maintenance goals
• Adopt a user-friendly CMS with robust administrative features to support web governance.
• Streamline content to eliminate duplication and improve consistency.
• Provide capabilities for multilingual translation
• Provide a print conversion system that creates clean, printable pages.
- Content strategy
• Deliver site architecture plan and high-level sitemap.
• Develop a content strategy and a style guide (ap style aligned).
• Offer guidance on web writing best practices.
• Prioritize personalization, student and faculty storytelling, and a strong visual sense of place.
- Design
• Develop wireframes for key page templates (e.g., homepage, program finder, program, student stories, events, news, directories).
• Develop full design mockups aligned to institutional branding and style guidelines.
• Share responsive layout designs for mobile, tablet, and desktop during the design phase.
• Incorporate accessible design principles.
• Present at least two-three initial design concepts for key page templates for feedback.
• Conduct website usability testing with primary audience segments.
- Development
• Build the site on and for a modern, scalable CMS (e.g., modern campus or Drupal).
• Develop reusable, flexible templates and page-building components. 
• To include photo galleries, video embeds and the like.
• Integrate tools such as social engagement, event calendars, news feeds, directories, and forms.
• Include a translation mechanism that is persistent and easily visible (e.g., google translate or better).
• Include an alert box ‘widget’ for emergency alerts. integration with Omnilert for emergency messaging. 
• Develop a second alert option for non-emergency notifications.
• Develop a robust program finder tool that incorporates all programs (credit and noncredit).
• Build a robust tool for transfer planning opportunities (e.g., by major, by institution).
• Configure robust search functionality and set up SEO best practices.
• Set up redirects as needed to preserve SEO value.
• Integrate with third-party platforms (e.g., workday, element451 CRM, Canva, 25live, live chat, etc.).
• Ensure site is functional upon delivery, even if handing-off to a third party.
• Recommend optimized hosting solutions with pricing details.
• Security of the website and CMS is paramount; proposals should cover this topic in detail.
- Training and documentation
• Develop style guide and usage guidelines (colors, components, templates, fonts, photography, videography, etc.).
• Deliver administrator and editor training for the CMS.
• Provide detailed user manuals and workflow documentation.
• Include guidance on maintaining SEO and accessibility standards after launch.
• Provide training and documentation for developers. to include third-party integrations.
- Quality assurance and testing
• Perform cross-browser and cross-device testing.
• Conduct usability testing with representative users.
• Conduct final review of performance, SEO, security, and accessibility compliance.
• Train staff in applying and adhering to SEO standards.
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: July 15, 2025