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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/21/1998, C2 - REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR CITY WEB SITE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, SPECIFICATION NO. 9207 council '°;, z , 1998 j acEnaa Report C42- CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FROM: Bill Statler, Director of Finance Prepared By: Sue Baasch, Administrative Analys It SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR CITY WEB SITE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, SPECIFICATION NO. 9207 CAO RECOMMENDATION By motion, approve the request for proposals for City web site design and development services, specification number 9207, and authorize the City Administrative Officer to award the contract, if within the project budget. DISCUSSION The recommended action will authorize soliciting proposals for web design and development services,and authorize the City Administrative Officer to award the contract, if it is within the approved project budget of$30,000. This action is in accordance with the City of San Luis Obispo's 1998 Web Policy which recommends contracting with a professional fine for assisting departments with the design and development of a City web site. The Web Policy states that the goal of the City's web site is to provide easy electronic access to public records and be used as a public communications tool through the use of current technology. The Web Policy establishes guidelines to ensure the site is friendly,professional and has a unifying theme,while allowing for differing departmental information needs. Other goals for the City's site are to provide the public with an alterative means of communicating with City officials and staff;to enhance the delivery and awareness of public services and facilitate a process for public inquiry; to provide an electronic forum for discussions;to develop a capacity to provide a 24-hour City Hall; and to ensure representation of all departments by including a minimum of at least one page for every City department. The key tasks for this contract are as follows: • Design of site graphics, navigational tools and search engine • Assist Departments with information design • Test web site for compatibility to all platforms • Identify host server for the City's web site and the City's search engine • Register site with a variety of search engines,provide links and upload to Internet • Promote site • Train staff to maintain the site • Provide ongoing technical assistance,as requested r Council Agenda Report—RFP for City Web Site Design and Development Services Page 2 Background The current City web site is excellent in that its existence is due to the vision of the SLONET founders and that it offered a cost-effective,pilot City presence in the early stages of the internet. The current site was almost wholly developed using intern resources, and while it provides good information, it should be updated and refreshed. Based on the findings of the City Web Team, an ad-hoc committee with representatives from all City departments, it is an appropriate time to look to the future, to take advantage of technological advances and professional assistance to further City information goals and work efforts. The City's Web Policy is the result of the Web Team's research, analysis and discussion over a period of four months. While responsibility for developing and updating the web site rests largely with individual departments,the policy reflects shared goals and a shared process to achieve those goals. The Web Team began the project by identifying shared hopes and then researched other municipal web sites to determine the key characteristics of a successful city site. Next,the committee collected information on local web development through presentations by four local firms. Following this information-gathering,the committee developed the Web Policy and the recommendation to seek professional assistance for identified tasks. Key Elements of the City's Web Policy(the full policy is attached to this report) Prioritization The policy recommends that the $30,000 currently budgeted in Information Services fund professional web design, development and maintenance-training services. The Web Team envisioned a design concept competition that would ultimately result in a new City home page and design shells for each of the Department's main pages. This process creates equal opportunity for all departments to proceed in web page development. It also ensures consistency of graphic and information development. The professional services would include some level of technical assistance for departments through the design phase and would fund maintenance training for responsible staff. The Team's belief is that this full array of services will use all of the $30,000 currently budgeted . If departments elect to expand upon this initial development,they will budget accordingly. Site organization While the Web team recommended a departmental approach in organizing and developing information,their goal was to develop a site that did not require any user knowledge of city organization. Their recommended approach emphasizes the use of consistent graphics,well- organized and updated information, easily and quickly accessed through a search engine. A search engine will allows a user to type in a key word and find that topic of interest immediately. A user should have access to the search engine immediately upon entering the City's web site. Council Agenda Report—RFP for City Web Site Design and Development Services Page 3 Links External links to other web sites will be chosen for their ability to provide information that is consistent with the purpose and mission statement of this policy and to address the target audience. Links must have a clear City business related purpose and should be made only to other governmental agencies or 5016 non-profit organizations. Exceptions will require CAO approval. Providing links to web pages of other, independent organizations does not equal an endorsement of that organization, its web page, or its mission. Ongoing Maintenance and Support The policy recommends that initial training in maintaining departmental sites be provided by the web consultant. The Web Team felt that departments should choose through design how much ongoing maintenance their sites would require. Therefore, departments will be responsible for the resources to maintain their sites beyond the initial training. Evaluation and Selection Process The proposal closing date is scheduled for May 14, 1998. After a"desk top"review of the proposals based on the evaluation criteria set forth in the RFP, finalists will be invited for a design concept presentation/interview before the members of the City Web Team. Based on the results of the written proposal, design concept, oral presentation and reference checks, the Web Team will make its recommendation for selection to the CAO. It is anticipated that contract award will be made by June 8, 1998. Prospective Bidders In addition to publishing a formal notice requesting proposals,the RFP will be mailed to those firms specializing in this type of service who have indicated their interest in performing this work. A list of prospective bidders is attached. CONCURRENCES The City Management Information Systems Committee and Department Head group have reviewed the Web Policy and concur with the recommendation to seek professional assistance in the design and development of a City web site. FISCAL IlVIPACT The projected cost for this work is $30,000. Funding has already been appropriated by the Council to support this project(1997-99 Financial Plan,page D-145). C-'V 3 Council Agenda.Report—RFP for City Web Site Design and Development Services Page 4 ATTACHMENT Web.Policy ME Proposer's List ON FILE.IN THE COUNCIL OFFICE Request for Proposal's for Web Desigmand Development Consultant,Services C.,2 ATTACHMENT I'l�:ll III I i ll�i �II I�I I III city of San Luis OBISp0 WEB POLICY OVERVIEW Purpose. The City's web site will provide easy access to public records and be used as a public communications tool by: ■ Providing easy electronic access to public information for use by the target audience. ■ Providing the public with an alternative means of communicating with City officials and staff. ■ Enhancing delivery and awareness of public services and facilitate a process for public inquiry. ■ Providing an electronic forum for discussions. ■ Developing a capacity to provide a 24-hour City Hall. ■ Keeping current with changing technology. ■ Providing a web site that includes a page for all City departments. ■ Establishing guidelines to ensure a unifying theme to the web page, allowing for different departmental information needs. Target Audience. The information on the web site will be directed toward five primary groups -the general public;tourists; students;businesses; and other governmental agencies. Contents. A broad range of information will be accessible through the City web site including(but not limited to): ■ General information about City government ■ Department information ■ City employment information ■ Economic development opportunities ■ Emergency information ■ Agendas,minutes, and staff reports ■ Municipal code ■ General plan ■ Financial plan,comprehensive annual financial report, and other fiscal information ■ Major policy documents (Parking Plan, Urban Water Plan,etc.) ■ Advisory body information(summary,members, openings, applications) ■ Links to: ChamberNisitors Bureau, other government agencies, library,transportation information, and news. C,:IJ Web Policy,continued POLICY ORGANIZATION The web policy is comprised of four key components: ■ Design ■ Development ■ Implementation ■ Maintenance DESIGN The design component is the conceptual development of look and format; it includes the scope of information and identification of how the page will be accessed. It is the vision as well as the specifications. The City shall strive for the highest degree of professionalism and the best use of current technologies in its web sites. Departments should use a variety of resources (information and technology) and should apply the following basic design principles: ■ Content • Use consistent unified or common themes. Bring all pages in sync with the entire web site while allowing some level of individuality and/or functionality between departments/divisions. The City will develop a basic shell with modestly sized banner graphics or logos, signature icons and action buttons as base design. • Provide a user-friendly site. Use logical and intuitive links. Design to use on both major web browsers and keep in mind non-graphical browsers as well. Do not overwhelm the user with clutter. • Provide links relative to City. * External. Links to other web sites should be chosen for their ability to provide information that is consistent with the purpose and mission statement of this policy and to address the target audience. Links must have a clear City business related purpose and should be made only to other governmental agencies or 5016 non-profit organizations. Exceptions will require CAO approval. Providing links to web pages of other, independent organizations does not equal an endorsement of that organization, its web page, or its mission. * Internal. Include link to City home page on every page. Minimize the number of links on each page. • Provide navigational tools. Include graphic navigation buttons or bars leading forward, back, and to the original index on deeper-level pages. • Allow for interactivity. Include e-mail response, surveys,feedback, forms, etc. • Value of material should be relevant and timely. Keep all text reasonably short and to the point. Proofread and edit carefully. • Graphic files should be relative to site. Design with care to allow for quickest loading. 2 Web Policy, continued • Allow for search capabilities. Use existing search engines and/or create City database within home site. • Track page hits per department. Locate hit counter unobtrusively at bottom of page. • Simplicity. Keep page address (URL) short and simple. ■ Responsibilities. • Web Policy Team. Will request Council to approve an RFP for professional services for design and development,interview respondents, evaluate the design concept competition, and make a recommendation for contract award to the MIS Steering Committee and the CAO. Professional services will be funded from the City-wide web account. This project team will disband after consultant selection. • Department Heads. Will ensure that all links are relevant and appropriate,and within the guidelines established by other City policies. • NUS Steering Committee. Will determine the City's service provider and approve the domain name address. • Information Providers Group. This is a new ongoing support group with representatives from each department who will assume the duties of departmental webmaster, work with the consultant designing the City's main page, and perform at least an annual review of the site. DEVELOPMENT This area defines the process of creating the web pages using design guidelines. ■ Content. Development of the City's web site should cover some basic components that will have purpose and information relevant to the site users. ■ Responsibilities. • Each City department should have information available on the web. • Each departmental or division site should define their main objectives in developing their site. • With the assistance of the professional consultant, each department should produce an outline of their site contents prior to building their web site. • Departments are encouraged to contact other comparable web sites in other municipalities for methods on user feedback, staff responsiveness, etc. ■ Community needs. Assessments should be accomplished to determine the value of what should be on the web page. Information should be relative, easy to find,timely, interactive (if possible), accessible, and easy to navigate. Web Policy, continued ■ Site development issues. Identification of departmental services; documents that are frequently requested by the public can be made available for downloading by users; launch departmental surveys; and other related needs. ■ Other Resources. Local agencies-BIA, Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Cal Poly, County of San Luis Obispo, Cuesta College- should be contacted for their participation on the site either through information, linkages, etc. EAFLEMENTATION The Implementation phase identifies a schedule and process for completing the web page project; responsible parties; administrative reviews; and priorities for implementation. ■ Promotion. Promoting the City's domain address needs to be accomplished as close to or at the time implementation occurs. Suggested methods include use of the City's web address on letterheads, business cards, correspondence; City mailings/publications(utility bills,parks& recreation brochure); news releases, etc. ■ Budget. Budgetary considerations for the City's web site should include initial costs of creating each department's main page as well as the City's home page; initial and ongoing costs of domain name ownership; costs of any licensing or images,trademarks, name hosting, etc. These costs will be funded through the City-wide web account along with initial training for each department. Funding in the amount of$30,000 is provided in the 1995-97 Financial Plan for start-up purposes; after this, departments are responsible for ensuring that adequate resources are available in their department budgets to continue to develop and maintain their web pages. ■ Responsibilities. • Department heads will need to identify who will be serve as their Information Provider to provide the new site HTML files; structure and archive files,upload files to the site, clean-up site when completed,how the design will be determined to link to the City's main home page, add the departmental site to the City's main home page,and when needed, contract for technical assistance. • Each department shall assume responsibility for the content on their web page and keep the information current and timely. ■ Authority. • Department heads are authorized to approve information that goes on their department's web pages- • The CAO approval is required for items on the City's main web page. ■ Response. User activity should be tracked at each department site in the form of number of raw hits, registration of home pages with search engine providers, number of e-mails received, and number of files downloaded by users. ■ Testing. All pages should be tested for compatibility with multiple platforms prior to implementation. 4 �2.4 Web Policy,continued MAINTENANCE The maintenance component of the City's web policy establishes and clarifies on-going responsibilities for departments with web pages. However,no one component of the policy(design, development, implementation, or maintenance) can stand alone. While performing maintenance/monitoring-type activities,which may be more clerical in nature, it may become apparent that the web page appearance or character needs to be"refreshed",which would necessitate re-designing a page. The City will provide software to make updates simple. The following establishes the key components of the maintenance function: ■ Responsibilities. Each department is responsible for maintaining its own web page. • Information must be kept current by updating regularly and timely. • Accuracy and relevance of information provided is essential. • All information updates should contain the current date so both the user and provider can easily determine its applicability. • Information added to a web page must maintain a consistent look with the page design. • A professional consultant will provide initial maintenance training and a specified level on on-going technical support for each department. ■ Budget.Each department is responsible for adequately budgeting resources for web page maintenance. • Individuals should be designated by each department with web page maintenance as a part of their regular workload. • Each department must commit to providing adequate financial resources for training staff to obtain and maintain technical expertise for on-going web page support. • The City-wide account will be used to fund initial maintenance training and the on-going technical support provided by the professional consultant. ■ Review. Each department should develop a process for periodic review of its web page for relevance and user interest • Pages that are visited infrequently should be revised or eliminated. • Links should be periodically reviewed for relevance and tested for operational accuracy. ■ Feedback Maintaining the department's web page includes monitoring the interactive feedback vehicle. • User surveys or other interactive methods should be developed to receive opinions on relevance of web page information, or other information requested. • Each department is responsible for identifying, extracting, and directing the user comments received to the appropriate individuals for follow-up. 5 C-��j ATTACMR24T PROPOSERS LIST WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES SPECIFICATION NO. 9207 BARNETT,COX&ASSOCIATES ERNEST&ALLEN Dave Cox M. Ernest Hull 979 Osos Street, Ste F 3220 S. Higuera Ste 322 San Luis Obispo,CA 93401 San Luis Obispo,CA 93401 Phone No. 805. 545.8887 Phone No. 805.781.0317 Fax No. 805. 545.0860 Fax No. 805.781.0725 INFINITE COMPUTER SERVICES KIOSK SOFTWARE,INC. Annie and Bill Mueller Lori S. Fisher,President 1199 Fifth Street 3534 Empleo- Suite A Los Osos,CA 93402 San Luis Obispo,CA 93401 Phone No. 805.534.9807 Phone No. 805.541.4001 Fax No. 805.534.9017 Fax No. 805.541.2309