Rules for
great city websites

Choose SaaS

Software-as-a-service (SaaS)
“Software as a service (SaaS; pronounced /sæs/) is a software
licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a
subscription basis and is centrally hosted.”
- Wikipedia

Software-as-a-service (SaaS)
● Web-based
● Frequent and/or recurring updates across one platform
● Subscription-based pricing (monthly/yearly)
● Centralized hosting (“the cloud”)
● Service/support

SaaS (pros/cons)
Pros
● Scalable
● Frequent/recurring product updates
● Pricing transparency (+ freemium, ‘try before buy’)
● Faster deployment
● Built-in hosting/development
Cons
● Less customized than Service

Service (pros/cons)
Pros
● Highly customizable
Cons
● Budgeting/pricing instability
● Must have a great internal product owner/manager

Questions to ask
● Do you need customized development?
● Do you have budget for recurring/ongoing customized
development?
● If yes to above question, will this be maintained internally
or by a third party?
● If internally, do you have great developers/designers/IT
managers that can maintain AND continually upgrade? (If
no to this question, you should probably use SaaS.)

Simplify procurement

Decision-making traps
● Traditional RFP process
● Over-specifying
● Copying another city’s requirements
● Buying before trying
● Closed communication
● Unproductive criteria for valuing a vendor (like each team
member’s resume)
● Large group of uninvolved stakeholders

Productive procurement
● Be flexible
● Ask to try before you buy
● Consider monthly/annual ‘subscription’ options
● Consider staff time invested in decision process to your
bottomline
● SaaS eliminates need for RFP, large/one-time purchase
● Forced into a more traditional procurement process?
Consider RFI to see alternative options.

Go ‘beta’

‘Beta’
“The objective of this phase is to build a fully working
prototype which you test with users. You’ll continuously
improve on the prototype until it’s ready to go live, replacing or
integrating with any existing services.”
-GOV.UK

‘Beta’
● ‘alpha,’ ‘beta,’ ‘pilot,’ ‘test’
● Lets you incrementalize (start small and evolve)
● Allows government to engage with public, get feedback
● Is more transparent
● Limits surprise factor for residents
● Lower stress on staff updating their processes
● Encourages experimentation

‘Beta’ tips
● Promote and educate to foster a productive feedback loop.
● Have fun and try things (be open to new ideas).
● Set a deadline for launching to live.

Examples
alpha.phila.gov
pilot.boston.gov
alpha.nyc.gov

Think mobile-first

Responsive design

Why mobile
● Mobile usage is increasing
● Build once (saves time, money)
● No need for stand-alone app
● Search engine friendly

State of city mobile

Be service-oriented

Service-focused
● Emphasize what
you do (payments,
jobs, issue
reporting)
● De-emphasize
personality/agency-
focused approach

Focus on the user

User-focused
● Follow a common look and feel (pattern library)
● Use feedback mechanisms (polls, surveys)
● Employ and monitor analytics
● Be empathetic

Analytics tools

Have a content strategy

Content strategy
● Make this a priority
● Write user stories (“I am a resident/visitor/business ...”)
● Identify content goals
● Follow a style guide (AP, Chicago, Conscious - age/gender)
● Use a content management system (WordPress, Drupal,
etc.)

State of city CMS

Prioritize accessibility

Accessibility
● Goal: “build sites that are usable by everyone, not to meet
minimum standards” (18F)
● Law: Section 508 - requires that government provides
equal access to information to disabled employees
● Standard: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Accessibility tips
● Ensure keyboard access
● Use semantic headings (h1, h2, h3, etc.)
● Label form elements
● Use alt/img tags
● Use multimedia captioning (audio/video)
● Take into account color contrast

Leverage integrations

Integration
● Avoid watered down catch-all solutions
● Take advantage of the ‘internet of things’
● Data and application programming interfaces (APIs)

Integrations tips
● Make sure third-party vendors are appropriate for your city
● Always asks third-party vendors to verify their API is open.
● Get verification of third-party API usage.

Be secure

Security
● Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)
● Password management
● Two-factor authentication (2FA)
● Back-ups

HTTPS

HTTPS
Guarantees:
● Confidentiality. The visitor’s connection is encrypted,
obscuring URLs, cookies, and other sensitive metadata.
● Authenticity. The visitor is talking to the “real” website, and
not to an impersonator or through a “man-in-the-middle”.
● Integrity. The data sent between the visitor and the website
has not been tampered with or modified.
Source: https.cio.gov

Password management
● Easily create strong passwords
● Can safely share passwords
● Major tools have freemium plans

Password management tools

State of federal HTTPS

State of city HTTPS

Security (tips)
● Limit users, permissions
● Use strong passwords
● Be diligent about updating your CMS software
● Subscribe to your CMS security announcements
● Back-up regularly (daily)

Q&A

More questions?
Email
● info@proudcity.com
● luke@proudcity.com
Twitter
● @getProudCity
● @lukefretwell