Request for Proposals for Website Design Services

Soliciation No. HATC-01-2026

The Housing Authority of Travis County ("HATC") is requesting submissions from professional Web Designers (Offerors) to provide UI/UX and web design services as specified in this Request for Proposals ("RFP").

This RFP contains submission requirements, scope of services, period of services, terms and conditions, and other pertinent information for submitting a proper and responsive proposal. RFP #01-2026 will be posted in the week of February 23, 2026, and can be downloaded from HATC’s website.

Prospective Offerors desiring any explanation or interpretation of the solicitation must request it in writing no later than March 2, 2026. The request must be emailed to Cora Thomas at [email protected]

Proposals must be emailed to Cora Thomas at [email protected]  as follows: Website Design Services RFP# 01-2026, Due Date and Time: March 13, 2026, 5:00 P.M.(CST), Name of Offeror: , and must reach HATC no later than 5:00 P.M. on March 13, 2026.

Proposals will be evaluated on the criteria stated in the RFP. Negotiations may be conducted with Offerors who have a reasonable chance of being selected for the award. After evaluation of the proposal's revision(s), if any, the contract will be awarded to the Offeror(s) whose qualifications, project proposal, and other factors considered are the most advantageous to HATC.

HATC reserves the right to reject any and all proposals.

Profile Of The Housing Authority Of Travis County (HATC)

HATC is a unit of government, and its functions are essential governmental functions. It operates and manages its housing developments to provide decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing to low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled, and implements various programs designed and funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HATC is a Public Housing Agency.

The property of HATC is used for essential public and governmental purposes. HATC and its property are exempt from all taxes, including sales tax on all its purchases of supplies and services.

HATC enters and executes contracts and other necessary instruments as is convenient for the exercise of its powers.

HATC maintains contractual arrangements with HUD to manage and operate its low rent public housing program and administers the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Programs. HATC programs are federally funded along with development grants and rental income.

Introduction

The Housing Authority of Travis County (HATC) was created in 1975 by Resolution of the Travis County Commissioners’ Court and governed under the guise of Chapter 392 of the Texas Local Government Code. Our mission is to advance the creation of sustainable, equitable, and affordable housing for all. The organization achieves this by administering a range of programs and services designed to support families in their pursuit of stable housing and self-sufficiently

One of the organization’s key initiatives is the management and maintenance of HUD Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) units, as well as affordable family and senior developments (non-PBRA) - Carson Creek Homes, Manor Town, and Manor Town II Apartments, respectively. These units offer eligible families access to quality housing options that are within their financial means, thereby promoting stability and well-being. In addition to working closely with property owners and landlords, the organization ensures that each housing unit meets strict quality standards, ultimately providing residents with a comfortable and secure living environment.

Another critical aspect of HATC’s mission is the issuance of Housing Choice Vouchers. This program offers qualifying families the flexibility to choose rental units in the private market while receiving financial assistance from HATC. By collaborating with property owners and addressing potential barriers to housing access, HATC helps facilitate a smooth transition for voucher holders into their new homes.

Beyond simply providing housing options, HATC is committed to empowering our clients through various supportive services. The organization works in partnership with other community organizations to offer job training, educational programs, and access to essential resources. By fostering self-sufficiency among HATC residents, the organization contributes to building stronger communities and enhancing the overall quality of life for those it serves.

Currently, HATC provides services to its clients through:

• Affordable Housing - HATC maintains multiple affordable housing developments throughout Travis County. Specifically, this includes 6 separate developments with 174 total units, including 53 senior units within two adjacent developments.
• Rental Assistance – HATC administers 691 federally funded Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), providing rental assistance to low-income individuals and families, in addition to special purpose vouchers and program assistance for disabled and homeless individuals.
• Supportive Services - The HATC Foundation 501(c)3 provides support to HATC residents and program participants. Services include, but are not limited to, financial literacy, digital literacy, career development, youth and senior programming, health screening and education, and scholarship programs.
• Multifamily Residential Development Partnerships - Travis County Facilities Corporation (TCFC) was formed, in accordance with the Public Facility Corporation Act, Chapter 303, Texas Local Government Code on January 10, 2001, to assist the Housing Authority of Travis County "in financing , re-financing, or otherwise assisting in the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, renovation, repair, equipping, furnishing, and placement in service of public facilities on behalf of the Authority. TCFC partners with mission-focused development entities to specially expand affordable housing options for current and future Travis County residents.

Procurement Schedule

Schedule

• Post to HATC Website Week of February 23, 2026
• Receipt of Written Questions March 2,2026
• Response to Written Questions March 4, 2026
• Submission Date March 13, at 5 P.M.

Scope Of Work

Purpose

HATC currently has a website presence that is somewhat outdated in structure and the presentation of content. The opportunity exists to re-design and restructure the website to reflect the mission of HATC better, to serve HATC's clients and landlords better. Upon completing the website redesign and redevelopment, HATC will assume full responsibility for website’s content, maintenance, and administration. All content, code, graphics, and materials will become the sole property of HATC.

Description

Design and build a flexible, informative website that is easy to maintain. Offeror must develop a user-friendly website that can display large amounts of constantly changing information to our key audiences. The website must be fully responsive, and able to adapt to all common screen sizes.

Technology

The website must be built on the Webflow [webflow.com] platform. Agencies with prior experience using Webflow are preferred.

The site must utilize Webflow CMS Collections for dynamic content, including but not limited to: Press Releases, Board Meeting Agendas/Minutes, Job Postings, and RFPs.

Localization

The site must utilize Webflow’s Localization features to create Spanish versions of all webpages and redirect users to their preferred locale based on browser settings.

Objective

The HATC's website's primary objective is to effectively and efficiently provide information to serve clients, landlords, and the citizens of Travis County and continue to build identity, awareness, and interest in the HATC and its services.

Website Design And Architecture

The Offeror shall be responsible for developing a new design for the HATC website that best captures the organization’s objectives.

Design

The Offeror shall be responsible for developing the website layouts and graphic design. The Offeror shall create original, attractive website graphics and page layouts for first-, second-and third-level pages for both English and Spanish pages with consistency in look and feel.

HATC will provide logos and a limited number of photographs and videos, but the Offeror will be responsible for all other graphic elements used in the pages' design. The Offeror will present to HATC at least two (2) unique design options, including at minimum:

1. details on typography, the color palette, and iconography,
2. high-fidelity mockups that provide an overview of the design across various pages and screen sizes.

The presented designs must be original and not based on existing templates.

Once a design has been selected, the following must be created:

1. a comprehensive style guide detailing typography, color palette, and iconography (detailed below)
2. a defined sitemap outlining the site structure and page organization
3. a library of reusable Webflow components based on the style guide and site structure that will be used to build the site and that can be used to create new pages

Design System / Style Guide

The design system and style guide must include at least the following definitions:

1. Color system
   a. Primary, secondary, and tertiary brand colors.
   b. Colors for success, warning, error, and information states.
   c. Text, backgrounds, and border colors.
2. Typography
   a. A responsive type scale defining font families, sizes, line heights, and letter spacing for all use cases (H1-H6, Body, Caption, etc.).
3. Layout
   a. Definition of margins/gutters for Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile breakpoints.
4. Spacing
   a. A standardized spacing scale to ensure consistent padding and margins.
5. Shadows and elevation
   a. Standardized drop-shadows and layering styles, if applicable to the design.

The website must be built to be fully compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. The Offeror must conduct an accessibility audit using WAVE prior to launch and provide a remediation report confirming zero critical errors.

Sitemap & Structure

The Offeror shall work with HATC staff to determine the optimal site structure and create a defined sitemap outlining this. This list is not exhaustive and is meant to provide Offerors with an idea of HATC's web priorities. The Offeror is expected to work with HATC points of contact to develop the home and primary pages as they apply to HATC.

Revision Rounds

After the design has been selected, and the site structure has been decided, once the initial site has been built and populated, there will be three additional rounds of revisions, which Offerors should include in the total quoted cost.

Expected Number Of Pages And Layout

The existing website structure is wide and shallow. Most content on the existing website will need to be on the new and improved website, but we also are seeking recommendations for additional content that should be added or new ways of organizing content on the site. HATC would like to narrow the navigation, so Offerors should include recommendations for grouping content.

Maintenance & Support

The Offeror shall work with HATC to identify and make provisions in the site designs for future enhancements, graphics, and navigation.  The Offeror shall assist HATC in continued application design, development, and implementation on a time and materials basis. The Offeror should also provide a plan providing guidance for review, enhancement, and maintenance of the HATC website for a period of one year.

Final Presentation

The Offeror shall schedule and provide a final test/review session for the points of contact and other designated HATC personnel. The test will fully demonstrate the visual features, functionality, and security of the website.

Timeline

Offerors shall submit a work schedule with expected completion dates and milestones for each area of work under this RFP. Completion of the HATC website is expected within 90 days of contract execution.

General Requirements

All submittals must conform to the requirements outlined herein. HATC reserves the option to require oral presentation by the Offeror(s) and request additional information during the proposal review period.

Submittals must be open and not subject to unilateral withdrawal or modification for ninety (90) days after the due date.

All costs incurred, directly or indirectly, in preparing a response to this request for proposals shall be the sole responsibility of and shall be borne by the successful Offeror.

The successful Offeror shall:

• Complete written documentation of materials in a manner suitable for use by HATC.
• Meet with HATC and third-party software and internet services providers, and equipment vendors as may be necessary.
• Coordinate all services with HATC.
• Coordinate all services with other parties as determined necessary by HATC.
• Provide the basis, source, and methodology for arriving at conclusions in all materials and reports.
• List the Offerors' name, contact person, telephone number, and provide resumes and profiles of expected participants in this service's performance. The submittal must provide an execution plan, including schedules with tasks on how this work will be accomplished. There may be subsequent instructions issued to the successful candidate in connection with the final process. The submittal must make provisions to meet and comply with all applicable laws and regulatory criteria.

Deliverables

Proposal Due Date/Time

Proposals must be executed and submitted via email as a PDF attachment on or before 5:00P.M. on March 13, 2026, to [email protected] as follows: Website Design Services RFP# 01-2026, Due Date and Time: March 13, 2026, 5:00 P.M.(CST), Name of Offeror: .

Offerors are solely responsible for ensuring that their proposals are actually received by the time and date stated. Receipt at HATC after the due date and time specified will cause rejection.

Electronic submission of the proposal shall be considered signed by a principal or authorized representative of the Offeror. Electronic submissions must be received by the due date and time for consideration and must not exceed 25MB

Offerors shall bear all costs incurred in preparing and submitting proposals and supplying supplementary information. HATC will not defray any costs incurred in connection therewith.

HATC will not accept offers by telegram, telephone, facsimile, mail, and handwritten proposals.

Modifications or Withdrawals

Proposals may not be changed, modified, or withdrawn after the time and date specified for proposal submission. All requests to change, modify or withdraw a proposal prior to the proposal due date must be in writing and bear the same Offeror name appearing on the proposal already submitted.

Requests for additional information related to this RFP must be submitted by email directed to Cora Thomas at [email protected]  no later than 4 P.M. on March 2, 2026. This will allow time for the issuance of any necessary amendment to the RFP.

An amendment may be issued prior to the opening of proposals to change or clarify this RFP's intent. All amendments shall be binding in the same way as if originally written in this RFP.

Any interpretation affecting all Offerors made prior to the proposal due date will be issued in the form of an amendment. HATC will not be bound by or responsible for any other explanations or interpretations of this RFP package other than those given in writing as outlined in this paragraph. Oral instructions, interpretations, or representations will not be binding upon HATC or HATC representatives.

Subcontractor(s) and others who have been requested by the Offeror to assist in preparing a proposal shall obtain the necessary information from the Offeror. They shall not directly contact HATC or HATC representatives for this information.

Proposals will not be publicly opened and read.

Proposal Requirements

Document Requirements

The following is a description of the minimum information which must be supplied by Offerors in their proposals. It is open to all Offerors to give such supplementary facts or materials that they consider may help evaluate the proposal submitted. Proposals that omit critical elements may be considered non-responsive. Each proposal shall include a Table of Contents listing the proposal contents. Proposal packages must contain, at a minimum, the following information and materials:

• Letter of Transmittal
  Proposals must be signed by an officer of the company authorized to commit to the organization to perform the proposal's services. If the proposal includes an agent's name, the agent must sign the proposal.
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
  Provide a summary of your Offeror's approach to the work associated with the requested services, to include an understanding of the scope of services required and unique or innovative approaches to be utilized in performing these services.

Resume, References, and Examples of Prior Work
A resume of the Offeror and three (3) references must be submitted with each proposal.

For each reference, include:

• The term (beginning and ending dates) of your contract agreement(s).
• A brief description of the proposed scope of work.
• The name, address, and telephone number of the individual that administered your contract (s).

Examples of work should include three (3) websites the Offeror has produced, showcasing your best work and relevancy to this project.

List of project lead and all key members of the Offeror's firm and any consultant committed to this project.
‍Indicate the level of effort and function of each member of the project. Prepare an organizational structure to show how the key members will be involved. Include resumes of these individuals. The resumes should include the following minimum information:

• Name
  
• An explanation of the function they will perform and their title by classification.
• Relevant educational background.
• Relevant work experience.
• Work experience with governmental clients.
• Any specialized skills, training, and/or credentials relevant to the required services.

Schedule of Performance/Timeliness/Deliverables
Offerors shall submit a work schedule with expected completion dates and milestones for each work area under this RFP.

• Offeror's fee
  
  • Proposals must include a firm fixed price for the Scope of Work defined. HATC reserves the right to negotiate the final scope and fee with the selected Offeror prior to contract execution. Offeror should provide a schedule of progress payments.
  • If the Offeror intends to use subcontractors in the work's performance, the subcontractor’s name(s) and description of the work to be subcontracted must be provided with the Offeror's Proposal. The percentage of work to be performed by each should also be listed.
    Statement that the Offeror is financially sound and has financial resources sufficient to successfully execute this prospective HATC agreement in the time frame outlined. Provide a financial statement of the Offeror's firm upon request of HATC
• Evidence of all appropriate and applicable insurance coverage carried by the Offeror's firm, including policy coverage periods. Offerors shall furnish HATC with insurance certificates showing that the following insurance is in force and will ensure all operations under this RFP, and name HATC as an additional insured.

Execution Plan

Offerors must supply a proposed project execution plan for the delivery of services. This plan shall be updated, as necessary, in the event of contract award and maintained throughout the project as deemed necessary. This plan shall include but not be limited to the following:

A general description of the Offeror's anticipated services and timeframe will be required to complete the project described in this RFP.

A detailed schedule of tasks and associated costs by phase. The costs associated with each task should be itemized and based on the Offeror's best estimate of the estimated number of hours required to complete each task and fee for each task. A total contract price must also be indicated and a standard fee for unidentified tasks.

Basis of Proposal

The successful Offeror (s) will be expected to carry out a standard professional service contract with HATC.

Offerors are advised to check that all parts of this RFP package have been received. Offerors shall be responsible for informing themselves with respect to all conditions which might, in any way, affect the cost or performance of any of the work. Failure to do so shall be at the Offeror's sole risk, and no relief shall be given for errors or omissions by the Offeror.

Partial or incomplete proposals will be unacceptable.

An authorized representative of the Offeror must sign proposals.

Proposals

Proposals must be open and not subject to unilateral withdrawal or modification for ninety (90) days after the proposal’s due date.

Offerors are requested to submit proposals based on the exact requirements specified in this RFP. Offerors shall bear all costs incurred in preparing and submitting proposals and supplying supplementary information. The HATC will not defray any costs incurred in connection therewith.

Fee Structure

Proposals shall describe the Web Services Consultant's proposed compensation structure, including fee and payment schedule.

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All travel, postage, telephone, living and miscellaneous expenses will be borne by the successful Offeror and included in the total fixed price. There will be no reimbursable expenses allowed under the purchase order/contract.

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

Selection of the successful Offeror will be at the sole discretion of HATC. If a contract is awarded, it will be awarded to the Offeror responsible or individual whose qualifications, price, and other factors are deemed most advantageous to HATC. Additionally, HATC shall have the right to reject any and all proposals at its discretion.

An HATC evaluation team will be established to review Offeror's responses to this RFP. Proposals will be evaluated by the following criteria:

Availability Of Funds

If funds necessary to finance this Professional Services Contract become unavailable, HATC may cancel the contract by giving seven (7) days' notice in writing, and the contract will thereafter be null and void. HATC shall be the final authority to determine whether funds are not available.

Minority/Women Business Participation

The Offeror(s) awarded the contract agrees to utilize its good faith and best efforts to subcontract with minority business enterprises and women business enterprises (herein called M/WBE) certified as such or recognized by HATC as such. The Offeror shall attempt to subcontract a sufficient dollar amount with M/WBEs to meet the HATC goal of a minimum of 30 percent of the final contract dollars are expended on one or more M/WBEs. All adjustments that cause the contract price to increase will also increase the total amount the Offeror must expend on M/WBEs.

Using Best Efforts To Fulfill Mbe/Wbe Requirements

In the event, HATC has a reasonable belief that the Offeror will not use their best efforts to meet the 30 percent M/WBE participation goal, HATC reserves the right to pull work from the contract. Best efforts may be established by showing the Offeror has contacted and solicited bids/quotes from subcontractors and worked with the Housing Authority to seek assistance in identifying M/WBEs.

Pertinent Federal Regulations With Regard To Nondiscrimination And Equal Opportunity

The requirements of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, relating to prohibitions against discrimination in housing and the benefits of federally funded programs because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin must be met by the Offeror.

The Offeror must adhere to federal regulations prohibiting discrimination based on age under the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities individuals under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The requirements of Executive Order 11246, relating to equal employment opportunity in connection with federally funded programs, must be met by the Offeror.

The Offeror must also meet the requirements of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, relating to the training and employment of individuals, and contracting business opportunities in metropolitan areas in which federally funded programs are being operated.

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