rfq: canhr logo and website skin

Summary

This is a Request for Quotation on the following elements of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform website. It consists of three main elements:

1. Organization logo and several "banner ad" treatments
   
2. Website navigation elements and color scheme (includes portlets)
   
3. Home and category page templates

The current CANHR site is handcrafted html. The new website will be powered by Plone, an open-source CMS. Website elements that need design are outlined in section 2.

All screenshots and visual elements will apply to the development (Plone-based) CANHR site. The standard layout is a three-column "flowing" layout (no fixed widths for the content area). Right- or left-column portlets can be turned off or added at any level of the site, so the design should be simple and flexible enough to accommodate a wide variety of screen sizes and content layouts.

Organization Logo

The first component of the website design is the organization logo. There is no expectation of continuing to use the existing flag graphic, nor any of its associated design elements. The logo is intended to be in the header graphic of the website and should blend seamlessly with the website.

CANHR is more than 20 years old and is a well-respected advocacy organization that focusses on the rights and support of elders, elder law, nursing homes, finances, residential care, and related issues. CANHR provides legal referral services, lobbies for or against legislation concerning the private and public institutions that provide services and/or oversight to elders.

Website Navigation Elements and Color Scheme (includes portlets)

The core website components are shown in the  screenshot at right, and consist of the following elements:

• Major site section tabs
• Personal navbarbar (shows login, user name, etc.)
• Portlets (in screenshot, the entity labelled "site resources")
• Breadcrumb trail

Outside of the logo, all elements are constructed from CSS-styled text to simplify updating and site management. Small helper graphics are allowed to enable "sliding doors" effects or rounded corners, etc., but should not be used for any text content

Home and Category Page Templates

The Home and Category page templates should extend the visual metaphor established in the major navigation elements.

Templates can include special icons/page sections and inline or box-level text formatting (heading, subheading, unordered lists, etc.)

Category page template

The Category pages are broken into two principal areas: a main section outlining the purpose of the area, and a second section that provides a detailed set of links and resources. They can be treated as two distinct sections ("Residential Care", where the top section sends the visitor to the Residential Care Guide in a new window), or as an intro to a resources list ("Find a Lawyer"), and the design should allow for both versions to co-exist (see reference sites for examples of special iconography, etc.)

Home Page Template

The Home Page will often be custom-built, but should enable content authors to follow either or both of two-column or single-column treatments within the "content well" (the center portion of the page within the portlets). Pages will be built with a web-based text editor, so elaborate styling is not encouraged, but simple formatting elements to break the page into separate sections would be welcome. It's okay to not do anything with this page

Reference sites

The following sites have been seen by the staff and reflect some ideas they have been receptive to:

• Shriver Center -- likes: home page layout, navigation tabs, and iconography (e.g., Poverty Law Library)