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City staff outline options for a 2026 website redesign with accessibility, mobile-first goals
Summary
City staff presented plans and cost estimates for a possible 2026 website redesign focused on mobile-first design, WCAG AA accessibility, and future flexibility; no committee vote was required.
City staff presented an informational briefing Tuesday on options for a planned website redesign to be proposed in the 2026 budget cycle, describing goals of mobile-first design, meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) AA levels, and creating a platform that allows easier updates by the many city web editors.
Ashlyn, the city staff member leading the project, told the Financial Affairs Committee the city’s site currently sees a high share of mobile visitors (roughly 50–70% of traffic) and that the Department of Justice’s guidance means the city should be ready to meet WCAG AA standards by April 2027. Staff said compliance steps include improving page-structure hierarchy and contrast and ensuring content is accessible to screen readers and other assistive technologies.
Staff presented preliminary five-year total-cost-of-ownership estimates from three options: the city’s incumbent vendor (Granicus/OpenCities) with a five-year estimate around $153,000; a GovStack-like platform at roughly $92,000 over five years; and a local agency option with an uncertain front-end cost but potentially lower ongoing hosting fees. Staff said the current Granicus product “Vision” will be retired and that any Granicus redesign would move to the vendor’s OpenCities platform.
Public commenters and commissioners emphasized usability, particularly for commissions and residents who depend on the site for meeting agendas, minutes, recordings and service information. BJ, representing the Commission for People with Disabilities, said the commission wants to be a partner in the project to ensure pages are easy to edit and accessible. Alders who spoke urged staff to include robust discovery and user research, consider integration with meeting portals and calendaring, and weigh the trade-offs between upfront cost and longer-term maintenance fees.
Staff said the redesign would be part of the 2026 budget request and that a competitive RFP would be used to select a vendor. The presentation covered internal staff training processes (city web editors receive onboarding and follow-up training) and plans for internal focus groups and department engagement during vendor selection.
Ending: Staff will return with a formal budget request and procurement plan for the 2026 budget cycle; the committee provided feedback but did not take action Tuesday.
