Website Proposal for United Herzlia Schools

BRIEF DOCUMENT: WEBSITE PROPOSAL FOR UNITED HERZLIA SCHOOLS

PROPOSAL CLOSING DATE: 12 March PROPOSAL CLOSING TIME: 2pm

Final Version 7 February 2012

Enquiries: In case of any enquiries, please contact - Tracy Klass Tel: 021 464 3393 Email: [email protected] WEBSITE PROPOSAL FOR UNITED HERZLIA SCHOOLS FEBRUARY 2012

Appointment of a company to develop the United Herzlia Website

INDEX: 1 Instructions for submissions 2 Company particulars 3 Required documentation 4 Project and company overview 5 Brief and specifications 6 Evaluation criteria 7 Quote and breakdown of costs

2 WEBSITE PROPOSAL FOR UNITED HERZLIA SCHOOLS FEBRUARY 2012

1. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSIONS PROPOSAL TITLE: WEBSITE PROPOSAL FOR UNITED HERZLIA SCHOOLS 1.1Proposals and supporting documentation must be provided electronically as a PDF file in A4 format and clearly marked with the following:  Website proposal for United Herzlia Schools  Name of Company  Contact person at company 1.2This original brief MUST BE SIGNED by an authorised representative of the company. This signed document must also be provided in the PDF document, 1.3Proposals, supporting documentation and this signed document must be emailed no later than 17h00 SA Time on the 12 March 2012 to [email protected] 1.4The subject title must be "RESPONSE TO WEBSITE PROPOSAL FOR UNITED HERZLIA SCHOOLS" If you have any enquiries, please call Tracy on the following number Tel: +27 21 464 3393 Submit all information on forms provided in addition to requested documentation. If any of the requested documentation is omitted, the proposal will be disregarded. Companies that are shortlisted may be contacted to supply additional documentation at a later date.

2. COMPANY PARTICULARS

Company Represented

Postal address

Street address

Telephone Number Code ( ) Number

Cellphone Number Code ( ) Number

VAT Registration number

Signature

Capacity of signatory

Total of quote (ex VAT )

3. REQUIRED INFORMATION

List of information to be submitted with proposal It is mandatory to supply the following information in your proposal. If any of these items are not applicable - please state which and provide a reason.

ITEM SUPPLIED Company overview and details (max 5 pages) Detailed list of past and current work – with links and/or screenshots. (max 10 pages) Detailed explanation of websites and CMS experience (max 5 pages) List of contactable references (max 5 contacts) Detailed methodology and proposed work for this project (max 5 pages) High level description of proposed website solution (max 5 pages) Detailed description of support and maintenance solution offered (max 5 pages)

Please state if any of the required items have not been supplied:

Reason:

4. PROJECT AND COMPANY OVERVIEW

 Herzlia is inviting the industry to put forward proposals to design and develop a new website for United Herzlia Schools.  The following aspects of the requirement are discussed further in this briefing document: o Design o Wireframe and sitemap o Ease of use o Copywriting o Functionality o Content o Innovation o CMS o Minimal technical requirements o Testing  The site will need to run off a live Content Management System (CMS) and be easy to update.  It should run successfully in all browsers, all operating systems and be mobile friendly for hand-held devices.  The overall scope might need to be developed in phases.  The current site’s content should be used as a starting point for the information that will be presented on the new site.  The site will require on-going maintenance.  There will need to be training provided on the CMS and updating of the site.  The proposal also needs to include a hosting solution, with related costs.  The client will not require copyright ownership of design or the IP of the software.

Introduction to Herzlia United Herzlia Schools is an independent Jewish Day School and is a leader in Western Cape education. It runs one playschool and day care centre (Herzlia Sarah Bloch), four pre-primary schools (Herzlia Alon Ashel; Kerem; Dafna and Gan Aviv), three primary schools (Herzlia Constania; Highlands Primary and Weizmann), the Herzlia Middle School and the Herzlia High School. Herzlia educates over 2,000 children ranging from age 18 months through to 19 years – 17 years of education under one umbrella.

A Herzlia education rests on four main pillars: (i) academic, (ii) arts and culture, (iii) sport and (iv) Jewish life and learning. Herzlia’s mission is to provide an educational ‘home’ for Jewish children, irrespective of their specific Jewish religious affiliation, irrespective of any special needs these children might have and irrespective of their parents’ financial status. We are also happy to welcome non-Jewish children from any religious denomination, colour or creed. The school is dedicated to the development of the whole child and therefore offers a plethora of opportunities beyond the classroom. Our aim is for our students to have a strong and positive sense of Jewish identity and most importantly we would like our students to live lives informed by Jewish values. We strive to prepare our children to take their place as citizens of our democratic South Africa. Hebrew and Jewish studies are compulsory until the end of Grade 9. [I think these paragraphs are a bit repetitive and unnecessary for this document– MT]Herzlia is also an inclusive school with various programmes that cater for pupils needing support, those who will not write matric and those with serious developmental delays.

Who will use the site  Parents (from ages 20 to 50+)  Learners (from ages 6 to 18)  Prospective students and parents  Staff of Herzlia The site has a vast range of users from parents to learners as well as prospective families and children. This means that the information and presentation thereof on the site needs to be easy to access and will need to speak to each of these groups in a way that makes sense to them.

The old website

What is good about the current website:  It is neat.  It contains a lot of information.  It is reasonably attractive.

What is bad about the current website:  It looks dated.  Doesn't convey the right image of Herzlia.  It is not easy to update.  The navigation is cumbersome.

 The user-journeys and ways of finding information are not clear.  The presentation of the content is not refined and it’s very long-winded.

How long ago was the current site built?  2007

Current levels of traffic:  Unknown

Who updates the current site?  The marketing manager currently updates the site.

Who will be updating the new website and what type of user are they?  The users range from novice to super-user - which means that the CMS needs to accommodate the different levels of users i.e. not too many features and not too basic.  Media committees from each school run by students.  Secretaries from the various schools will update the site.

What additional content requirements have been identified?  Articles written by students.  Reviews or feedback on events and fixtures.  Learning tips and groups.  Other activities and programs.

What the new website will not be:  An extranet.  An online tool for administrative tasks or functions with regards to running the daily tasks or internal HR.  An online learning platform.  An alumni site.

The new website

Aims:  The website should be the automatic primary source of news and information for all Herzlia stakeholders.

 Increase traffic to website.  Encourage return visits via regularly updated information.  Supply important information to parents and students as well as prospective students.  Create a modern online face for Herzlia.  Represent the culture and values.  Consolidate communication and newsletters.  Get students to contribute to the content on the site.

How:  By providing content that is useful and entertaining.  Creating an enjoyable experience for visitors.  Modern and stylish design that is pleasing and attractive.  Regular updates with relevant content.  Engage an effective content strategy.  Provide rich media galleries from events and archives (video and images).  A regular newsletter that highlights new information which directs people back to the website.  Use the newsletters to direct users to the website for all information.  Easy to use CMS and asset management for updatability.

What are the unique or existing selling points that should be emphasised?  It is a Jewish Institution.  The community.  Outreach programmes.  Inclusive to all people, able-bodied or other. Herzlia prides itself in its community and the high level of education it provides to students. The brand is very fresh, minimal and bold and this is in line with the image they strive to communicate to the public and staff. It has well-established schools with varied extra curricular activities that help enrich the lives of all students.

Website comparisons Competitor websites: Reddam House - http://www.reddamhouse.org.za/constantia/constantia.html

Herschel Girls School - http://www.herschel.org.za/ International School of Cape Town - http://isct.co.za/

Websites that are good reference: Schools: Elkanah House - http://www.elkanah.co.za/ Wheaton College - http://150.wheaton.edu/ Educational: Exploratorium - http://www.exploratorium.edu HIP2B2 - http://www.hip2b2.com/ 5. BRIEF AND SPECIFICTIONS Design  The design should be fresh and modern.  There should be a feeling of warmth and a strong sense of community.  The website needs to be visually appealing and evoke confidence in the Herzlia brand.  The design must include the Herzlia branding.  Good attention must be given to an aesthetic grid and layout principles.  A pleasing colour palette must be used in line with the corporate identity with decent contrast between the background and text.  Legibility is important which means font choice, typography and layout are important.  Each of the schools under the Herzlia name needs to be visually differentiated. This should be done in such a way that each school still feels part of the larger brand but conveys that institution’s personality to the public.  The front page has enormous impact and should embody Herzlia's personality. Wireframe and Sitemap  A wireframe and sitemap need to be supplied.  The wireframe (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_wireframe) is an important road map to features and user journeys through the site.  Elements of the wireframe include information design, navigation design and interface design.  It will act as a comprehensive schematic for the above. The wireframe is not the look and feel of the design, but rather a functional blueprint; and should not be confused as the design.

 The sitemap shows the list of pages and the different levels of navigation and section names. Ease of Use  The navigation and interface elements need to be easy to grasp and not complex.  The interface needs to be intuitable over intuitive as something that is intuitive, or familiar is not necessarily novel or best practise.  User journey considerations should include questions such as: o Who are the users? o What do they know? o What can they learn? o What is the best way to present options to the user? o In what context will the site be used? o What will users need to do on the site? o What paths are in place to guide users from errors or wrong paths? o What method of dealing with error states is to be used? o What is the approach for hints or tips (if any)?  Keep options simple and clear - don't overwhelm the user.  Empower the user and don't swop speed for being helpful.  Keep the appearance and behaviour of elements consistent.  Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.

Copywriting  The text on the current website will form the basis of the structure content for the new website.  It should, however, be rewritten in a more suitable tone and shortened where necessary.  The tone of the content needs to be friendly and easy to understand.  As far as possible opt for shorter text and try to get to the point as quickly as possible. Functionality  There should be a consistent navigation across the site - even if there are many levels of navigation or ways of accessing information.  The wireframe will play a big role in defining this.

 Functions like printing and mailing content need to be included.  Tracking and reporting will play an important role in assessing the traffic and drop-off on the site. Tracking should monitor what content is being viewed, what is being searched for and then present this information in a clear and concise way. Content  The site needs a content strategy – this will advise on what type of content goes on the site, what gets updated,when and how it is formatted.  An archive facility needs to be developed to handle content from the new site.  There should also be capacity in the archive facilities to handle information from the current site.  Good quality photographs should be used with a consistent standard of grading.  Video should also be well edited and not too long with decent sound quality and an optimised data rate for web playback.  A content plan for newsletters to the various schools needs to be developed.  Comprehensive predictive search facility  Content outline includes: o A dynamic front page o The various schools (similar sub sections) o Organisation information o Administrative resources o Easy to use calendar of events and holidays o Online order forms for the uniform shop o News and events o Calendar for each school o Photographic archive o Events reviews and feedback o Articles from learners o Timeline o Contact details

Innovation  Innovation is important! Many sites designed these days have all the features but are lacking in innovation.  This will ensure a superior product and user experience.  The website should find the balance between innovation and usability. CMS  The CMS should be based on a stable database structure and technology.  Previous CMS work examples must be given, including details and references.  If the CMS is built on a proprietary platform then a guarantee should be given that the code is held in escrow in case anything should happen to the company, in which case Herzlia will then own the code.  The CMS should handle everything from the site structure and dependencies to digital media as well as content.  Template spacing should dynamically update so the content displayed always has good spacing and adheres to a grid. Minimal Technical requirements  The website needs to render to Html compatible devices and browsers.  The browsers to support are IE7 and higher, Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera on Windows, OSX and Linux. All must be tested.  The site needs to be able to run on iOS and Android devices.  If there are parts that are written in a technology that won’t be work on iOS devices such as Flash or Java plug-ins – then a degradation strategy needs to be in place.  The look of the site would need to be consistent across all browsers and all platforms.  The site file sizes need to be optimized.  The page renders can be dynamic pages such as PHP, .net or Java or any other server side code.  If there are any API’s used for the site such as news feeds, email CMS or third party plug-ins these need to be documented for other developers to hook into.  A technical specification will need to be supplied by the winning company.  The site should have a staging server setup for testing and updates.  The source code development needs to be hosted on an SVN or Git or some other version control system.  The source code needs to be protected and safe from accidental loss. Testing

 Testing and review is crucial before launch.  It is usually recommended that 2 types of testing happen: o First: the site should be tested by members of the team who are familiar with the content so they can check the content, layout and that the general appearance of the site is acceptable. o Second: the site should be tested by a group of users who are unfamiliar with the project and it should be tested off-site. This way, load times and browser incompatibilities can be discovered.

Maintenance and support  An outline for the maintenance strategy is required.  Who will be responsible for this?  What is the cost and what does it include?  Will the maintenance be in-house or outsourced?  What happens if the person responsible for maintenance leaves the company?

Deliverables for the project  Functional Spec  Technical Spec  Assumptions  Timing plan  Wireframe  Look and feel  Testing  The completed website  Documentation  Maintenance plan  Hosting solution

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA The proposal will be evaluated on the criteria and relative weightings listed below and a score will be given by the adjudicating panel.

Number Criteria Score 1. Demonstrate innovation in approach towards the project 5 2. Previous experience with similar projects (minimum 3-5 years) 20 3. Submission of detailed programme 10 4. Proposed methodology 10 5. CV, qualifications and team skills and experience for the project 5 6. Price 25

Note. If the company submitting a proposal is not based locally, there needs to be at least one local consultant in Cape Town.

7. QUOTE AND BREAKDOWN OF COSTS Please complete the table below and supply an additional cost breakdown and motivation of costs where appropriate.

Description Total Wireframe Design CMS Development costs Copywriting Photographic and image preparation Content load Communication Project Management License fees

HOSTING Fees Solution

TOTAL EX VAT

POST LAUNCH Maintenance (6 months) Support (6 months)