The vendor required to provide website design to enhance the clarity and accessibility of the site's information by improving and streamlining existing content suitable for accessibility, ADA and compliance and general usability.
- Review of existing research and materials shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
• Receive materials from commission, including research from phase 1 and a content workbook analysis developed by the department.
• This analysis details the current website's information architecture and hierarchy, aligning with the state digital playbook.
• Review the existing survey insights and review any analytics that may help better understand the target audience and behavior.
- The following strategic objectives must guide the revision and creation of all content:
• Streamlining and consolidation of content: the content architecture must be rationalized to eliminate duplication and reduce the cognitive load on the user.
• Information should be presented clearly, concisely, and with a logical hierarchy, ensuring that visitors can quickly locate the information they seek.
• Emphasis on areas of strategic importance: key initiatives, priority programs, and essential data that reflect the commission mission and regulatory functions must be prominently featured.
• The content strategy will utilize visual hierarchy, strategic placement, and persuasive copy to direct the audience to the most critical information and calls to action.
• Audience engagement and user-centric design: content must be crafted with a deep understanding of the target audience, including consumers, providers, policymakers, and researchers.
• The language and presentation must be engaging, accessible, and designed to foster trust and facilitate action, moving beyond a simple repository of documents to a dynamic and interactive information hub.
• Implementation of plain language principles: all textual content must adhere to plain language guidelines in accordance with the following.
• This involves using common vocabulary, short sentences, active voice, and clear organizational structure to ensure that complex information is immediately understandable to the widest possible audience, regardless of their health policy literacy level.
- Conduct a comprehensive content audit and strategic refinement process for the commission website content.
• Systematic content review: collaborating with the commission team to review all existing content to identify gaps, inconsistencies in messaging, and redundancies.
• Opportunity identification: pinpointing areas for improvement, consolidation, or deletion of outdated or irrelevant content.
• Refinement goal: ensuring all commission digital and published content achieves a cohesive, consistent brand voice, tone, and message that accurately reflects the commission's mission and strategic objectives.
• Foundational outcome: improving the overall user experience and clarity of communication for all commission stakeholders.
- Provide expert advice and recommendations on user experience (UX) improvements, particularly in relation to content presentation, to ensure the new commission website is intuitive and engaging.
• Content presentation: offering suggestions on how to visually and structurally present content using formats that are easy to consume online, such as bullets, accordions, collapsible menus, cards, etc.
• As mentioned in the general requirements for content editing.
• Information architecture: advising on the logical flow and hierarchy of information as it relates to user journeys on the new wireframes and web page designs.
• Visual integration: identify content areas that would benefit from visual elements (e.g., infographics, flowcharts) to enhance comprehension and user engagement.
• Best practices: applying up-to-date UX principles to ensure that the content is presented in a manner that maximizes user satisfaction and helps achieve the goal of reducing bounce rates.
- Edit website content with a keen focus on how users consume information online, specifically by "chunking" it to improve readability and user experience.
- This approach to content presentation shall utilize various formats to break up large blocks of text, including:
• Bullets, accordions, and collapsible menus: these structural elements are to be used for organizing information in scannable lists and hiding nonessential details until a user actively requests them, which helps to reduce cognitive load on the page.
• Cards: the use of "cards" is specified to present summary information or links to related resources in a visually distinct and digestible format.
• Clear headings: ensure the strategic use of clear headings to establish a logical hierarchy and organization, making it easy for users to scan the page and quickly find the content they are looking for.
• Visuals: identify which content areas would be most enhanced by visual elements, thereby improving comprehension and user engagement.
- Content and web style guide development
• Content standards: defining tone, voice, plain-language principles, and audience-appropriate writing practices
• Content strategy documentation: outlining best practices to guide the creation of content with a consistent style and structure.
• Accessibility requirements: ensure consistency with WCAG 2.1 level aa and applicable federal and state accessibility regulations, including guidance for headings, links, forms, images, tables, and multimedia content.
• Editorial rules for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, terminology, acronyms, and inclusive language
• Page template and component usage: develop interior page templates and provide guidance on how to effectively use available templates and components to maximize content engagement.
• Workflow establishment and content lifecycle: creating a defined process for content creation, review, approval, and publication.
• Accessibility review checkpoints prior to publication, version control and content maintenance standards.
- Project Kickoff Meeting Date: January 19, 2026
