RM1043.8-1 - OIA Website

Description

Summary of work Our existing website uses Umbraco CMS version 8, which is going "end-of-life" in September 2024. This means the site will need to be re-coded to suit the latest version of .Net. Although we currently use Umbraco 8 as our CMS and we have used Umbraco for previous iterations of the website, we are open to a different open-source CMS if it is recommended. The overall design of the website will be the same as our current website (https://www.oiahe.org.uk). Most templates and functionality will be the same. The templates will continue to be accessible and responsive to be able to be accessed on mobiles and smaller screens/tablets. In addition to the development work, we also require a support service to help maintain, patch/upgrade and troubleshoot the website for up to 3 years (total possible contract length). We are looking for a developer who has demonstrable experience of working with organisations in the charity and public service sector and has completed similar projects, with references available. When you provide us with your response, please set out in as much detail as possible a breakdown of costs for each stage of the project. Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Why the work is being done The reason for this project is that our website content management system, Umbraco 8, is nearing end of life meaning it will become susceptible to security flaws and errors. EOL will happen from September 2024, so we we plan that our website will be updated before then (June/July 2024). Our external website is a key way of the organisation demonstrating its values and supporting its organisational aims. In particular: > To provide an effective, trusted and responsive service for the efficient, timely and proportionate review of student complaints. > To ensure consistency within our work through effective quality control. > To use knowledge and skills acquired from our work, and promote awareness of our service, in order to develop and improve practice across the sector. > To build trust and influence policy and practice by engaging with students’ groups, providers, government, sector bodies and regulators and other ombuds. > To recruit and develop staff of the highest calibre who are committed to our vision and values, and to promote a positive and collaborative working culture. ---- Our Current Website Developer Our current development and support contract has been in place since 2017 and we launched the website in February 2018. --- Analytics Throughout 2023, we average 17,000 visits per month which is an increase of 53% on last year. The pages with the highest views include our case summaries, our student pages, and our Good Practice Framework pages. Nearly 32% of users access our website via a tablet or mobile. --- Our current website functionality Our website is a relatively simple website as our portal and provider reporting tool are separate to the website and run on separate servers. Our main functionality requirements are: > Our membership list – This pulls data from our Dynamics system, but is currently a manual process > Contact us form – This sends the form to our enquiries team who then triages the message > Case summaries – A bank of case studies from complaints that we have resolved to help providers and students understand more about our casework. > FAQ list – A keyword search and view tool that we developed, but we are not using as intended. Unlikely that we will move this over to the updated site. > Guide pages – These are a way that we can present PDF documents in a web format. > News and updates – A way we present news on our website and also has a webpart that is populated on our homepage when a new article is published. --- Issues with current website > The Umbraco 8 CMS is now coming towards ‘end of life’. > The website is compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA, but this has now changed to version 2.2 so will no longer be compliant. > Members list doesn’t automatically update and we have to manually make the changes which costs us time and resources. > The webparts available to us are basic so content displayed throughout the website can look very similar. > There are some page resizing issues when the browser screen is smaller. The business problem Specifications and requirements Coding: The reason for updating our website is that our Umbraco CMS version 8 will come to end of life from September 2024. This means the site will need to be re-coded to suit the latest version of .Net. --- Content Management System: We currently have Umbraco 8 as our CMS and we have used Umbraco for previous iterations of the website, but we are open to a different open-source CMS if it is recommended. --- Design and templates The overall design of the website will be the same as our current website. Most templates and functionality will be the same. The templates will continue to be accessible and responsive to be able to be accessed on mobiles and smaller screens/tablets. Some of our templates include: Webparts will also be transferred to the new site with some additional parts to allow for content to be refreshed. Examples of the type of web parts we use: > Download document CTA > CTA buttons > Profile boxes > Highlight / alert boxes > Image Along with our current types of content, we may like some additional webparts that improve how we present content. These include: > different ways we present our profile boxes > an accordion drop-down tool for longer FAQ type pages. > a video embed tool (currently embed from Vimeo) > and additional colour options to highlight text content. --- Digital accessibility Digital accessibility is very important to us at the OIA and consider it a key specification because we have a number of students that complain to us to have accessibility requirements. Due to the nature of our work, we are committed to making our website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. This requires our website to be compliant to the latest WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standard. The website should also be compliant with popular browsers (Chrome, Edge, Safari, etc.) and some older versions of the browsers. Our membership also covers higher education providers from Wales. As on our current site in the top right side, we would like to have the ability to google translate the written content to Welsh. --- Functionality We would still need all our current functionality to work as on the current site. These include: > Case summaries > News and updates > Site map We would also like improvements to some of the functionality including: > Guide pages – Improved navigation so we don’t have to create pages per heading > Contact us page – To be reviewed > Membership list – To be an automated process from Dynamics, updated design, additional triggers/filters and improved search function. > Site search – improved functionality Some of the designs might require updating to modernise how people use our site and for accessibility reasons, but the majority will stay the same. --- Cookies We will continue to have our cookie control enabled by CIVIC, at the same recommendations as our current site. --- Analytics We will want to continue to have our analytics covered by Google Analytics and have our search analytics covered by Google Search Console. --- Website structure For now, we don’t anticipate any major changes to our site map or structure. While the website is in development stage, we will be running a content review to ensure our content meets accessibility standards and is current and up-to-date. --- Content Migration This is something that we would want to do ourselves as we are reviewing all content. We have a team of people who all have sections of responsibility for the website who will assist in loading content and testing. The people who will use the product or service User type: Students Definition: Our main objective is to make sure our service is accessible and easy to understand for students. The audience group varies significantly in terms of gender, age, nationality, religion and disability. If they are in some form of higher education, they may be able to complain to us. We receive a disproportionally high number of complaints from international and disabled students making it even more necessary that the website is easy, fair and accessible. We would like students: > to understand our Scheme and remit > to triage their own circumstances, to see if they can make a complaint to us. > to manage their expectations. > to have clear understanding of what they can expect from the complaints process. User type: Student representative bodies Definition: When students need help, they may turn to an advisor at a student’s union to help them with their complaint. We offer guidance to advisors on how they can assist students who need the help. We would want student advisors: > to use our guidance tools to be able to assist students and provide good advice. > to make sure that they are providing students the correct, relevant and up-to-date information. > to have the ability to represent a student in a complaint to us. User type: Providers Definition: The providers are the organisations being complained about and we analyse their decisions when a complaint has been made about them. We must be impartial to both providers and students, but we tend to have more on-going interaction with these providers. We would want providers: > to find our good practice framework > to improve their learning about the OIA and what our processes are > to guide them to improve their procedures and learn good practice points through outreach, workshops, webinars and events. > to be kept up-to-date about changes in our scheme and relevant publications that might affect how they resolve complaints at provider level. User type: Higher Education and other sector stakeholders Definition: HE is a large sector and has many agencies and regulators that are related to us. They work with us and will want to keep up-to-date with information from us to see how and what we are doing. They are also good sounding boards for good practice and networking. Other stakeholders include mission groups, professional regulatory bodies and other ombudsman organisations. We would want stakeholders: > to find and access our publications such as our Annual Report. > to review our news and policy updates > to read about our governance and how the OIA is run > to gather a general understanding of the OIA Scheme Any pre-market engagement done We have spoken with our current supplier regarding the work required to upgrade from Umbraco CMS 8 and approximate costs. Work done so far No work has been started on this project. Please note: the upgraded website is intended to broadly look and function the same as the existing one. Which phase the project is in Not started Existing team > Lead user: Steven du Cros (Digital Communications Officer) > Project Manager: Cathy Green ( Head of Operational Services) > Technical Support Lead: Dan Saward (Head of Digital Technology) > IT Infrastructure Support: Christopher Dallaway (IT Infrastructure Lead) Address where the work will be done OIA staff utilise Hybrid working, attending the office approximately 1 day a week. The successful supplier is expected to complete work on this project remotely, utilising web based conferencing tool for collaberative working (MS Team, etc..) Working arrangements No visits to, or work from, the OIA office is expected or required. All work is to be completed remotely, using web based collaboration tools for meetings etc. No additional expenses are expected to be incurred, but suppliers should note all potential costs in their response. Security and vetting requirements No security clearance needed Latest start date 1 March 2024 Expected contract length Contract length: 2 years 0 months 0 days Optional extension: 1 years 0 months 0 days Budget Indicative maximum: £70000 Indicative minimum: £50000 Further information: The above does not include costs for ongoing annual support services. Please provide costs for these services as a separate line item/option in your response. Contracted out service or supply of resource? Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply