RFP No. 743-2026-RFP-1515

Our approach to rebuilding ten Institute websites. One network, one standard, three phases.

This page is the Amplus proposal for the Valdez Institute for Economic Development, written as a working website rather than a document. Every section below describes part of how the project would run. Nothing on this page is a marketing homepage.

Read the approach See the finished sample site

The Multisite network
What we deliver
Accessibility standard
The three phases

The proposal in five numbers

10: Institute sites rebuilt on one network
1: Accessible base template every site inherits
3: Delivery phases, each with a written approval gate
AA: WCAG 2.1 conformance target, built in not retrofitted
0: Lines of code a program director has to touch

Prepared for the UTSA Office of Information Technology and the Valdez Institute for Economic Development.

Approach, part one: the network

One template. Ten sites. Zero rebuilds.

This is the centre of the proposal. Choose a center below to see the same base template carrying that program's name, colours, navigation and content. Accessibility fixes, security patches and layout components are published once at the network level and every site inherits them.

https://iedtexas.org Site 1 of 10

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Same template. Only the site name, palette accent, menu and content changed. Layout components, accessibility behaviour and the header pattern are inherited from the network base site.

Approach, part two: scope

Shared where it saves work. Separate where it matters.

The most common objection to a shared template is that every center ends up looking and sounding the same. The split below is how we avoid that. The network owns the plumbing and the accessibility standard. Each program director owns everything a visitor actually reads.

Network level Published once, inherited by all ten

The accessible base template and its layout components
WCAG 2.1 AA behaviour: reader controls, focus, landmarks, contrast
WordPress core, plugin and security updates
The header, footer, required university links and SBA statement
Hosting, backups, SSL and uptime monitoring
Global search and the cross center referral pattern

An accessibility fix is written once here and reaches all ten sites the same day.

Center level Owned by each program director

Site name, tagline and the accent colour drawn from the UTSA palette
Navigation, menu order and which sections exist at all
Homepage section order, chosen from the approved component set
All copy, imagery, staff profiles and success stories
Events, news and any center specific custom post types
Forms, calendars and the tools that center already relies on

All of it edited in WordPress by a staff member. No tickets, no developer, no code.

Content migration

Every legacy site is assessed first. Where the source allows it we migrate programmatically, carrying posts, custom post types, taxonomies, media and permalinks across intact. Where it does not, pages are rebuilt by hand against the approved template.

Redirects are mapped page by page so existing links and search rankings survive

Third party tools

The tools each center already depends on are reconnected rather than replaced: appointment scheduling, event registration, CRM handoffs, analytics and the SBDC reporting systems.

Nothing is retired without the program director agreeing to it first

Training and handover

Two sessions per center, recorded, plus a short written guide covering the components that center actually uses. Editors leave able to build a new page unaided.

Thirty days of post launch support, then an agreed maintenance arrangement

Governance after launch

A documented process for adding site eleven: who approves it, which template it starts from and what has to be true before it goes live.

The network is built to be extended, not frozen

Approach, part three: WCAG 2.1 Level AA

Accessible by default, not by remediation.

Accessibility is built into the base template, so every site created on the network inherits it on day one instead of being audited and patched afterwards. The list on the right is not a promise. It describes the page you are reading right now.

Try it: use the Text, Contrast and Reduce motion controls in the blue bar at the top of this page. Your choice is remembered across the whole network.

Reader controls in every header Text scaling to 125 percent, a high contrast mode and a motion switch ship with the template, not as a bolt on plugin. SC 1.4.4, 1.4.12, 2.3.3
Keyboard first navigation Menus, the center switcher and the tour all operate on Tab, arrow keys and Escape with a visible focus ring. SC 2.1.1, 2.4.7
Proper semantics and landmarks Real headings, skip links, ARIA tab patterns and live regions so screen readers announce changes correctly. SC 1.3.1, 4.1.2
Contrast checked, not guessed Every text and background pair in the palette is measured against the 4.5 to 1 threshold before it reaches production. SC 1.4.3
Alternative text as a workflow Editors cannot publish an image without alt text, so compliance survives staff turnover. SC 1.1.1
Respects the operating system Reduced motion and dark preferences set on the visitor's device are honoured without them touching a control. SC 2.3.3

How the ten sites get built

Three phases, each ending in written stakeholder approval before the next one starts.

Phase 1
Network and base template

Stand up the Multisite network, build one accessible base site aligned to the official UT San Antonio theme, configure plugins, security and the navigation framework, then validate it with the Web Accessibility and SEO Coordinator.
One approved template
Phase 2
Deploy the ten sites

Create each site on the network, apply the approved template, then work with every program director on branding, menus and homepage layout so each center still sounds like itself.
Ten live WCAG 2.1 AA sites
Phase 3
Migrate and validate content

Assess each legacy site, migrate programmatically where the source allows and by hand where it does not, carry across posts, custom post types and taxonomies, reconnect third party tools and QA every page.
Content verified page by page

Start with the Amplus bar This strip is added by us and is not part of the design. Three sample pages are listed here: this approach page, the Institute homepage, and a center site built from the same template. Use this bar to move between them.
Accessibility controls in the header, on every site Text scaling, high contrast and reduced motion ship inside the base template rather than as a third party overlay. Try them: the choice is stored and would follow the visitor across all ten sites on the network.
Everything below is the plan This page deliberately has no marketing sections. It opens with the proposal in five numbers and then works through the network, the scope, the accessibility standard and the phases in order.
Ten sites, one template, each still itself Every center gets its own homepage, menu and content while sharing one accessible template on a single WordPress Multisite network. The Amplus bar above has a working example: the San Antonio SBDC center site is this same widget set with the content changed.
What is shared, and what each center still owns The blue column is published once at network level and inherited by all ten. The orange column is everything a program director controls in WordPress without a developer. This split is what keeps ten sites consistent without making them identical.
Accessible by default, not by remediation Accessibility lives in the base template, so a new site inherits it on day one. Each item lists the success criterion it satisfies, ready for review with the Web Accessibility and SEO Coordinator.
Three phases, each with an approval gate Network and template, then ten sites, then content migration and QA. Nothing moves forward without written stakeholder sign off.
Required links and the SBA statement Required university links, the SBA cooperative agreement statement and the accommodation notice are part of the template footer, so no center site can ship without them.