Legislation.gov.uk Front-end Development

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done legislation.gov.uk is the UK’s official legislation website, used by millions of citizens to do their jobs or defend their rights. Groundbreaking in 2010, the website’s interface (see https://github.com/legislation/legislation) is showing its age. As the UK leaves the EU, requiring us to publish over 150,000 additional legislative documents, the interface needs rebuilding to deliver the content and features that will help users to understand the legislation they are viewing. We’ve designed and tested wireframes and prototypes. We need a strategic and expert partner capable of building a responsive, compliant and accessible front-end that interacts with the API, to deliver our designs. Problem to Be Solved Building a progressively enhanced interface to the existing and expanding API that meets the designs. You will: • Advise on strategic build issues where challenges or constraints present a variety of options • Build a responsive, rich, sophisticated, standards compliant and accessible interface with the features that implements our designs and aids legal certainty for users. • Build the front end logic to seamlessly deliver against a wide range of complex user scenarios, using the API. • Build front end transformations that speedily provide large and complex documents to the user. • Build a front end that complies with https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology Who Are the Users As a non-legally trained professional I need to quickly cite and access relevant legislation and be alerted when that legislation is revised so that I am confident I’m complying with the law. As a citizen, I need clear messages - is the legislation in force and up to date? Does it apply to where I live? Are other resources clearly signposted - to help me understand what I’m looking at. As a law librarian I need sophisticated search and to view legislation at different levels and at different points in time so that I can accurately respond to solicitors’ enquiries. Early Market Engagement None Work Already Done Legislation.gov.uk has been live for 10 years. The content, core platform and APIs are mature and robust. We have recently completed an in-depth discovery phase of work, which has included analysis of user surveys and in-depth usability labs to identify user needs, and their understanding of legislation. A set of five user personas have been developed to explore the context, needs and behaviours of each user, and identifying a primary persona. We have created wireframes for two design concepts and tested prototypes with users. We will provide design and interaction guidelines for you to work with when implementing our designs. Existing Team You will need to work collaboratively with three teams: • The National Archives’ legislation team; • Our external contractor (The Stationery Office, who are responsible for the architecture and API will undertake any additional development required on the legislation.gov.uk API and data infrastructure) and sub-contractors; • Our external UX consultant consultants (who have undertaken user research, and who will provide website design and wireframes). The project will be led by our User Experience and Online Services Manager, working with our Data Manager, Legislation Services Programme Manager, legislation editors, and managing our contractor, The Stationery Office and our usability experts, Bunnyfoot. Current Phase Discovery Work Location The Legislation Services team is based at The National Archives, Bessant Drive, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU. Working Arrangments You do not need to be based in London, however we expect you to be available to meet face-to-face with the Legislation Services internal team and partner contractors as required. Co-location within The National Archives is preferred. We require you to undertake development using agile methodologies, including fortnightly sprints, daily stand-ups and regular retrospectives, though your preferred ways of working will be taken into account. Security Clearance None required, unless you co-locate at The National Archives. In this instance, baseline security clearance will be required. Additional T&Cs N/A Skills & Experience Experience of XML, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript and XSLT capability Skilled using progressive enhancement (www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/using-progressive-enhancement) to leverage JavaScript and CSS with only HTML being a requirement Experience of meeting the challenges associated with serving large and complex documents to users Skilled using Schema.org (https://schema.org/Legislation) to expose structured data in web pages Experience of providing for ongoing service measurement (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/measuring-success) in line with the Service Manual Experience of providing for ongoing A/B testing to allow the service to evolve incrementally Experience of building a front-end for content heavy, feature-rich websites Experience of integrating websites with RESTful APIs, other applications and databases/feeds Experience of delivering technical projects using agile methodology Experience of implementing responsive web designs Experience of building front-ends that are optimised for commonly used devices and major operating systems Experience of delivering digital services to at least a AA WCAG 2.1 web accessibility standard (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/accessibility-for-developers-an-introduction) Strategic thinking and technical innovation, able to solve build problems and negotiate challenges Able to work collaboratively with TNA and third parties, to deliver to fixed deadlines and to budget Experience of adopting user-centred approaches consistent with the Service Standard (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard) Expertise and capability in information security controls and encryption protocols Experience in transition and handover – ensuring that others can easily use the code you have produced Nice to Haves No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Examples of building front end interfaces for content heavy, functionality-driven, public-facing websites Examples of using progressive enhancement (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/using-progressive-enhancement) to leverage JavaScript and CSS with only HTML being a requirement Examples of using WAI-ARIA (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/aria/) to ensure dynamic content and controls communicate changes to assistive technologies Examples of solving build challenges – specifying your role and contribution to delivering the solution Examples of encoding structured data in web pages using, for example, Schema.org (https://schema.org/Legislation) Examples of where you have used HTML 5, CSS, and JavaScript Examples of where you have built front-ends that comply with the Service Standard (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard) Examples of where you have built accessible front-ends (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/accessibility-for-developers-an-introduction) to WCAG and testing with users of assistive technology Examples of the audit process you have used to ensure your site is WCAG compliant Experience of developing and automating unit and end-to-end tests for digital services Examples of coding documentation produced and/or commented code you have produced Evidence of where you have successfully worked to fixed timelines and budgets How you ensure security eg for passwords, access, using plug-ins and out of the box products CVs of the team you would use for this project Cultural Fit Criteria Collaborative working approach eg how you have worked with back end developers/usability experts as a team Examples of where you have built front end interfaces within constraints Your approaches to project management and your experience of successfully using agile project methodologies Evidenced examples of how you’ve approached and delivered transition and handover of your code and front end Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Case study Work history Reference Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £300-500k, excluding vat