TERMS OF REFERENCE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT- NIHR SHINE PROJECT

Introduction

LVCT Health is an established Kenyan NGO that is renowned for the implementation of health programs at scale in Kenya and beyond. Through internal and external communication, LVCT Health reinforces its position as a relevant, dynamic partner and a leader in designing and implementing innovative HIV prevention and treatment approaches, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, maternal, neonatal and child health, gender-based violence programs and health systems strengthening, including addressing emerging global health priorities while leveraging the digital health space to reach the most vulnerable populations. LVCT Health works with the government and other stakeholders at the national and county levels.

LVCT Health is the lead partner for the NIHR SHINE project-Strengthening Health Systems by Addressing Community Health Worker’s Mental Well- being and Agency. The project aims to develop a comprehensive approach that promotes well-being and resilience among Community Health Workers (CHWs) while incorporating training, community cohesion, and support within the health system.

Achieving the project’s objectives requires an effective a visually appealing and content rich website to communicate the project activities, including its impact on its diverse target audiences. LVCT Health seeks to engage the services of a website developer to design a vibrant, attractive, user-friendly and functional website to meet the project’s communications and visibility needs.

Objectives

The primary objective of this consultancy is to design and develop a comprehensive and responsive website that offers a visible web presence for the LVCT Health’s NIHR SHINE project work and impact and as a valuable information platform for key stakeholders including donors, governments, development partners, academicians, and populations we serve. The website should:

• Clearly communicate the goals, activities, and outcomes of the SHINE project
• Provide an intuitive user experience for visitors, including easy navigation and accessibility features
• Showcase project resources, publications, and success stories
• Facilitate engagement with stakeholders, including CHPs, project partners, donors, and the wider community
• Serve as a platform for sharing updates, news, and events related to the SHINE project
• Integrate multimedia elements (e.g., images, videos) to enhance the visual appeal and storytelling capacity of the website.

Scope of work

General Requirements

• WordPress is the required Content Management System and back end
• Developed using standard open-source web development to allow LVCT Health ICT and CKM teams to make future changes independently/with minimal support from the developer
• Language of the website: built-in official English Language

Design Standards

• Design, and develop a dynamic, responsive and world-class website capturing the latest trends for website presentations such as strong SEO/placement guarantee compatible and easily accessible to most common devices’ browsers (laptops, mobiles and other handheld devices);
• Designing wireframes and mockups for key pages of the website, including the homepage, about us, project overview, resources, news/events, and contact us
• The logical designs of the modules to be interlinked and organized
• A website that is compatible with all screen sizes and resolutions, as well as with most global browsers.
• Ensure a consistent visual language on the new site by introducing fixed styles in templates ensuring consistency in fonts, formatting, icons, images, layout techniques.
• The website should be expandable to include new content, and new profiles where appropriate
• Ensure the website aligns to the project color palette as provided in the project’s branding guidelines
• Develop corresponding user interface components (web templates, style sheets, scripts, images, etc,) as needed.
• Create visually appealing sites that feature user-friendly and clear navigation
• Search function by news, type of publication/guidance, type of resource, events, country story and issue;

Adaptability

• The website should be adapted to homepage, sections, subsections and the following components of the site: Latest News and Stories, Blogs, resources, etc.
• Browser compatibility: The site must be compatible with the current versions of the following browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Chrome), as well as Microsoft Edge.
• Standard page elements including header, footer, tabs, persistent navigation, contact us, email, and page print options should be included in the new templates. All section and subsection pages should incorporate functionalities that guarantee the latest information on that section and sub-section is displayed (latest news, explore our projects, resources, publication/guidance, success stories, events), etc.
• The website should be expandable to include new content, new members, and new member profiles
• Navigation: The website navigation should be intuitive and easy to use. It should allow users to quickly find the information they are looking for and should be consistent across all pages.
• Responsiveness: The website should be designed to be responsive, meaning that it should be accessible and usable on all devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Administration & Management

• The administrator/s should be capable of uploading and downloading any file formats on the website;
• The administrator/s should be able to monitor the website visitors, the number of documents downloaded, and all related details of website visitors categorized by countries
• Email alert function to authors when published
• User upload process – improve design, functionality, and automation of user content upload process (documents, links, projects, events, videos, and practices) to increase and facilitate wider usage, including providing frontend design and styling to all web forms.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

• Enhance SEO to increase visits and ensure high, relevant traffic from the main global search engines
• Optimized search function
• On-page optimization
• Mobile-responsive design
• Page speed optimization (<2s page load)
• Image optimization

Maintenance & Security, Bug fixing, Spam/Malware Control

• The website should provide an automated challenge system that reduces the number of spam comments/posts that either needs moderation or slip through filtering mechanisms including malware that may affect the optimal functionality of the website

User experience and accessibility

• Compliant to international accessibility standards (accessible via screen readers, colorblind friendly color schemes, etc.);
• Responsive design on mobile devices- accessible in various devices including desktops/laptops (Windows and Mac), mobile phones, and tablets (Android and iOS)
• User-friendly front-end design and development to optimize public use
• Compatible with all modern browsers
• Optimal performance in low-bandwidth locations.

Social Media Module

• Working links to social media pages. The ability for Users to add more links to other social media pages if need be.
• Video and audio streaming function
• Downloading function-optimized
• The website should be responsive to Web 3.0 technology
• Ability to show live feeds e.g., Twitter, as well as having YouTube links on trending project stories, events etc.

Article Module

• An up-to-date backup system for the website to restore its function in case of damage and provide a one-year maintenance period.

Knowledge transfer

• Develop a user manual and deliver a training for the support staff and system administrators to perform content upload, system maintenance and administration.

Source code handover

• Hand over full source-code including all developed libraries to the ICT Lead/ Manager and CKM Manager

Responsibilities and Expectations

The Website Developer/Consultant will be expected to:

• Organize an online/offline inception meeting with LVCT Health ICT, CKM, and Website Development Team (WDT), NIHR SHINE project Lead and present the proposed approach and methodology for the revamp and development of all proposed new features of the website
• Collect feedback and inputs on enhancements and feature development and requirements
• Develop in coordination with the ICT, Website Development Team (WDT) and CKM team web designs for the remaining website features listed in the scope of work and ensuring an attractive, user-friendly interface in line with project branding and design guidelines
• Ensure the backend development and configuration of WordPress modules, as required and test each feature website development team
• Upon sign-off of the draft designs, complete the design and development of the SHINE website new features and enhancements and coordinate deployment with ICT, WTD, CKM team.
• Test site before going live.
• Hand over all design files and coding to the LVCT Health’s ICT and CKM office.

Timelines and Focal Point of Contact

The assignment is expected to be completed within 50 working days of the award and signing of the contract. As this is a one-off assignment the consultant will work under the supervision of the Communications and Knowledge Management Manager and the ICT Manager/ ICT focal staff with support from the Website Development Team (WDT), NIHR SHINE project lead and the Executive Director.

Website Development Methodology & Milestones

Schedule of Milestones

Timeframe

Phase 1: Planning

• Requirement gathering and website specification on functionality- meet with WDT identify the expectations and features of a redesigned website.

5-working days after signing of contract

Phase 2: Website Design and Wire framing

• Installation of CMS on localhost.
• PSD Designs (Photoshop Designs)
• Designing Global Style Sheets (CSS) Based on the agreed to design styling
• Responsive / Mobile and Cross Browser compatibility based on major browsers
• Navigation Creation
• Home Page Development and Coding
• Header, Configurable Nav/Menu, AJax/Jquery Sliders, Widgets, Body, Custom Elements, Footer
• Interior Page Development and Coding
• Pages, Body, Sidebars, Widgets, Etc.
• Blog Pages and Roll Development and Coding
• Blog Roll, Category Posts, Archives Posts, Recent Posts, Individual Post View, Sidebars, CTA’s, Widgets, Etc.
• Social Account Integration and Linking
• Forms Integration and Testing
• On-Page SEO
• Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3)
• Page Titles
• Meta Descriptions
• Meta Keywords
• Categories / Tags
• Interior Linking
• Image Optimization

28-working days

Phase 3: Database Design, Migration and Training

Training user on functions not limited to;

• Add pages
• Article posting
• Media files
• Make content changes

Quality Assurance – Pre-Live

• Security and functionality testing
• Site Review
• Test Header
• Test Navigation
• Test Forms
• Test Links
• Test Functionality
• Test Footer
• Review Site Settings
• Favicon
• Test Social Links

15-working days

Phase 4: Deployment & Post Go Live Audit

Once the site is live the following post live activities shall take place:

• Final Site Cross Browser Audit
• Mobile Responsive Audit
• Forms Testing
• Submission of Site to Search Engines
• Provide a complete documentation and user manual of the entire website

2-working days

NB: Support and Maintenance: The contractor should offer FREE administrative, technical support, and quality control for a period of 12 months after GO-LIVE.

Work Arrangements

The contractor can work onsite (LVCT HQ) or remote depending on the assignments at hand.

Qualifications and Experience for Consultants

Interested Consultant(s) will be required to have the following:

• Bachelor’s degree or above in computer science, Information technology, or equivalent field.
• At least 5 years of prior experience designing visually appealing and navigation-friendly websites
• Familiarity and relevant experience in using different Content Management Systems (CMS), particularly WordPress;
• Have a broad knowledge of current web development technologies and design tools in the field, and new software and other web programming languages and programs including use of HTML, XHTML, CSS, XML, XSLT, Macromedia Flash, Java;
• Demonstrate the ability to create an innovative and visually appealing design
• Have excellent knowledge of recent trends in graphic design, web sites, including online video publishing, and social media networking
• Have excellent knowledge of recent trends in graphic design, web sites, including online video publishing, and social media networking;
• Graphic designer: The vendor will have a team of graphic designers with prior experience on designing websites with a solid portfolio of at least 5 years of experience.
• Knowledge of Google Analytics and Google Ads
• Knowledge of data and performance analysis
• Knowledge of all relevant social media platforms and digital marketing tools
• Analytic and problem-solving skills]