Supervisors weigh website options after ADA compliance deadline resurfaces

Black Hawk County officials told the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 9 that the county’s public website needs work to meet upcoming accessibility requirements and to improve back‑end performance, and presented two options: continue with the current host (CivicPlus) while addressing accessibility and functionality, or issue a request for proposals to build a new, consolidated site.

IT Director Al U and Communications Director Gabby (last name not specified in the transcript) summarized a year of committee work and public and staff surveys used to develop an RFP draft. Al said the county pays roughly $15,000–$16,000 annually to CivicPlus for hosting but that the platform’s back‑end performance and certain user features—especially agenda/document linking—are insufficient for county needs. He said some edits, such as color palette changes, required paid support from the vendor in prior work.

Staff emphasized that the county’s main immediate challenge is meeting new accessibility (ADA) requirements, a multi‑step process that includes making PDFs and page headings accessible and auditing hundreds of pages. The county’s deadline for a compliance plan is April 26, 2026, and staff asked supervisors whether to (1) stay with CivicPlus and press the vendor to address functionality and accessibility, or (2) delay and pursue an RFP and possible migration that could take 6–9 months to build and may require an upfront cost in the next budget.

Several board members asked about costs and timeframes. Staff said vendor estimates can vary widely; some vendors quoted $50,000–$60,000 for a full rebuild during initial market conversations, while others (notably vendors working only on elections sites) reported much lower costs for a single‑site migration. IT staff said they can survey other counties for real costs and prepare an estimate for budgeting. Supervisors expressed interest in issuing an RFP but asked staff to return with estimated costs and consolidation scenarios before committing.

Staff also noted potential operational benefits from consolidation: a single host and modern back end could make agendas and public documents easier to publish and reduce staff time spent on formatting and support. No vote was taken; supervisors asked staff to gather cost estimates, finalize the RFP draft for review and continue the ADA remediation process.

The board asked for page‑view analytics and prioritized features (search, mobile optimization, robust agenda manager and accessible documents) so that any RFP would reflect user needs. Staff said they will circulate the draft RFP and survey results to supervisors and get additional vendor cost estimates.