Terms of Reference: Web Designer and WordPress Developer

/by

About RNW Media

RNW Media is an international digital media organisation working on social change. We believe in a world in which young people, in all their diversity, confidently claim their rights, assume their place in society and drive social change. Our mission is to accelerate the impact of changemakers by co-creating youth-centred digital media solutions built on data insights and mutual learning experiences. RNTC is RNW Media’s internationally renowned training centre.

Objective

RNW Media is re-vamping its branding guidelines and its website design. We are seeking a web designer and WordPress developer to assist with this re-vamp process, ensuring that RNW Media brand book is formatted consistently with the RNTC brand guidelines, and presented in an accessible manner.

Scope of the Assignment

  • Re-Vamping the RNW Media Brand Guidelines: The RNW Media brand guidelines need to be re-vamped so that they have more alignment with the RNTC brand guidelines including a more synergetic colour palette, typography, and font with an “accessibility first” approach that reflects the shared mission of RNW Media and RNTC.
  • Re-Design of the Website: Re-Design the website including the site structure with newly added and discontinued pages, new user interfaces and visual elements while maintaining an accessible, easy to consume, and responsive design.
  • WordPress Implementation: Integrate the new design into our existing WordPress environment by deciding on new or discontinued plugins, themes, and other WordPress elements.
  • Documentation: Provide documentation on how to operate the WordPress environment for different stakeholder including administrators and editors.

Key Deliverables

  1. Renewed RNW Brand Guidelines: Renewed RNW Media brand guidelines that clearly specify usage of style, colours, font, and typography to be used by the entire organization and to be approved by the positioning and visibility team.
  1. Fully functional RNW Media website with a new design: A final report detailing the completion of the migration process, including any challenges faced and how they were addressed.

Activities

1. Design (Vendor): 4 Weeks

– Re-Vamp the RNW branding guidelines including new usage procedures for colours, font, typography.

– Develop the information architecture and sitemap.

– Create wireframes or prototypes to visualize the website’s structure and layout.

– Design the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) elements.

– Obtain feedback and iterate on the designs.

2. Development (Vendor): 2 Weeks

– Convert the design into a functional website using relevant plugin and themes on the WordPress CMS.

– Implement interactive features, such as forms, navigation menus, and integrated social media posts (e.g. in article pages).

– Integrate with databases or other systems, if required.

3. Testing and Quality Assurance (RNW Media): 1 Week

– Perform functional testing to ensure all features work as intended.

– Conduct cross-browser and cross-device compatibility testing.

– Validate the website’s accessibility and compliance with web standards.

– Identify and fix bugs and issues.

– Perform performance testing to optimize page load times and responsiveness.

4. Launch and Post-Launch Activities (RNW Media & Vendor): 1 Week

– Make the website publicly accessible.

– Monitor the website’s performance, security, and user feedback.

– Conduct automated testing in accordance to accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.1 A).

– Address any issues or bugs that arise after the launch.

– Continuously improve the website based on user feedback and evolving requirements.

Timeline

  • Start Date: 11 November 2024
  • Initial assessment deadline before final QA: 23rd December 2024
  • Final deadline: 14 January 2025

Requirements

Brand Book and UI/UX Design:

  • Strong experience in creating accessible, user-friendly designs that prioritize simplicity and ease of navigation.
  • Proficiency in renewing or creating brand guidelines.
  • Experience in implementing brand guidelines and refreshing the look and feel of websites while maintaining brand consistency.
  • Experience in selecting relevant and easy to use WordPress themes, plugins and other integrations that are easy to use.

WordPress Development:

  • Experience in implementing custom yet easy to use and navigate designs within the WordPress CMS.
  • Familiarity with WordPress themes and customization (without heavy code changes).
  • Ability to integrate social media features and ensure content is well-structured for easy updates.

SEO and Web Performance:

  • Basic understanding of SEO principles, particularly regarding internal linking and sitemap generation.
  • Knowledge of creating well-linked, navigation-friendly websites.

Collaboration and Communication:

  • Ability to collaborate with a positioning and visibility team to ensure the website aligns with overall brand and digital communication strategies.
  • Excellent communication skills for incorporating feedback and iterating on designs.
  • Previous know-how and experience on SEO best practices on blogs articles

Project Management:

  • Ability to meet deadlines and deliver an MVP within six weeks, followed by revisions and implementation within two weeks.

Application

To apply, send in:

  • Your offer including a proposed timeline (if you fully agree with the above, you can use that one), budget, key contacts and short explanation of your background and services.
  • Examples of past work (portfolio including similar web design and/or development projects).
  • An additional online interview might be required if necessary.
  • Interested applicants are invited to submit their proposals to noyan.er@rnw.org.

In case you have any questions about this assignment do not hesitate to contact Noyan Er (Digital Product Manager) at noyan.er@rnw.org.