REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Vermont Pathways to Partnerships PURPOSE, DESCRIPTION, AND OBJECTIVES

Contact: Michelle Kessler

Director of Operations and Planning

Vermont Family Network – ATTN: VT-P2P Project

600 Blair Park Road, suite 240

Williston, Vermont 05495

Email: michelle.kessler@vtfn.org 

Proposals are due no later than 12:00 pm/noon EST, Friday, August 16, 2024.

Purpose:

The VT-P2P is a new federally funded project providing information to Vermont children

and youth with disabilities who experience many challenges transitioning successfully

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from high school to adulthood. This project brings together a broad array of partners

who understand their needs and are positioned to create enhanced pathways to

successful employment and postsecondary outcomes. Creating an inclusive web-based

portal with comprehensive, accessible information is critical to this project’s success.

Through the website, youth, families, and VT-P2P partners will have access to a tool

that explains adult services and the postsecondary opportunities available to youth and

young adults in an easy-to-understand and intuitive-to-navigate format.

Description:

Create a flexible, inclusive, accessible, and informative web site that is easy to maintain.

The web site must be flexible and user-friendly while capable of delivering large

amounts of constantly changing information to our key audiences. In addition to a user-friendly site with an intuitive and accessible interface, the website must include a web based, database-driven administration tool that allows key management personnel to

easily update content without accessing source code.

VT-P2P will maintain editorial and administration control of the content on the website,

preferably by using a system with a browser-based user interface.

To be effective, the web site must be:

• Accessible following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
• standards
• Intuitive and easy to use
• Informative
• Safe and secure
• Quick to load and operate
• Easily maintainable
• Visually appealing

Objective:

VT-P2P’s objective is to provide a comprehensive information web-based portal where

youth and young adults with disabilities, their families, and professionals can access

valuable and current information for transitioning from high school to successful

employment and postsecondary outcomes.

VT-P2P Vision for web site:

• Improve self-advocacy of youth with disabilities by providing readily accessible

information via an easy-to-use web site.

• Improve student with disability transition outcomes by empowering them with the

comprehensive information needed to develop ambitious transition plans that

create meaningful pathways and outcomes in postsecondary education and employment.

VT-P2P- REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL – WEBSITE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, & HOSTING

Provide one comprehensive source of information that explains opportunities

available to students with disabilities who are transitioning from high school.

Report high engagement and satisfaction of the web site by after 3 years.

TIMELINE

This RFP is dated July 29, 2024. Proposers may also request a copy be sent via

email by contacting Michelle Kessler at michelle.kessler@vtfn.org.

Proposals are due no later than 12:00 pm/noon EST, Friday, August 16, 2024.

Proposals will be evaluated immediately thereafter. During this time, the VT-P2P

partners may require interviews with our evaluation team. Proposers will be

notified if this is requested.

The name of the candidate firm who has been selected will be decided on or

about Monday, August 26, 2024.

Negotiations will begin immediately with the successful candidate and should

conclude no later than September 20, 2024

All other candidates will be notified on or about September 20, 2024.

Project deliverable dates will be determined during the negotiations.

BUDGET

Please provide cost proposal to accomplish the scope outlined below. The budget must

encompass all design, production, training, and software acquisitions necessary for

development, implementation, and maintenance of the web site.

Hosting will be addressed separately and costs for hosting are not included in the

budget for this project.

List pricing for:

Phase I: Discovery, Requirements Planning, and Site Definition.

Phase II: Site Development, Testing, and Implementation.

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The VT-P2P project has allocated $25,000 for this project (Phase I and Phase II).

However, we will entertain responses greater than $25,000 if the proposal shows an

incremental project plan.

SCOPE AND GUIDELINES

The scope of this project is to create an accessible, inclusive, informative, and user-friendly web site. The site must include a technology solution that allows the in-house

VT-P2P staff to easily and cost effectively update content and modify site design after

the initial launch.

Discovery:

Confirm demographics, audience, objectives, graphics look and feel, navigation,

technology, required functionality, and budgetary constraints, resulting in the creative

brief for the web site design.

Design:

Design the web site information architecture, graphic look and feel, user navigation,

accessibility, inclusiveness, home page and main navigation templates for each

navigation link.

Development and Implementation:

The web site designed by the successful candidate must meet the following criteria:

Create a content management system that will enable non-technical staff to

instantly update the web site content on specific pages.

Visually appealing – the site must have a mix of text and graphics.

Accessible to individuals with disabilities following the Web Content Accessibility

Guidelines (WCAG) standards.

Secure and safe.

Common theme – each section of the web site should have a common look and

feel with the VT-P2P logo prominently displayed on every page.

Consistent Design with each section of the site using a common look and feel of

graphics/photographs, fonts, and layouts.

Easy to navigate – the site should be easy to navigate. Information should be

grouped and presented in a logical manner and require no more than three levels

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of “drill down” for users to find the desired information.

Provide search capabilities using key words or phrasing that will identify content

throughout the site.

The site must have a tracking tool providing the following information:

o Web traffic analysis

o Path analysis

o Visitor trends

o Page views

o Entry pages

o Top pages

o Exit pages

 Once the web site has been completed, tested, and accepted by VT-P2P, the

web site design and all of its contents, software, and architecture become the property of VT-P2P.