Website Redesign
ctuir.org

Executive
summary

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Mox is a full-service creative agency dedicated to creating digital experiences that are visually engaging, accessible, and easy to maintain.

As a collaborative studio, we stay closely involved at every stage, from initial planning through launch and post-launch support. We use modern tools such as Figma for design collaboration and ClickUp for project tracking, and every programming deliverable on this project ships through GitHub pull requests into your review-and-deploy workflow, as your RFP requires — which is how we already work.

At Mox, we focus on three priorities that matter most to our clients:

• Creating products that are intuitive and meaningful for the people who use them.
• Clear communication that leads to staying under budget and on time.
• Driving results through evidence-based data and user research.

We propose a seven-person team with proven collaboration across multiple creative projects, bringing deep experience in every stage of production — from planning and design to development, WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, and post-launch support. The full team is presented in Section E below.

Mox carries comprehensive business liability and professional services insurance suitable for the scope of work described in this proposal. Certificates of insurance naming the CTUIR as additional insured, in an amount not less than $1,000,000, will be provided before the commencement of any contract work.

Bigger than
the bottom line

Founded in Boise, Idaho, by Jeff Barker and Nathan Zanders in May 2021, Mox was built around the guiding principle “Bigger Than The Bottom Line.” The firm is dedicated to being a creative changemaker, focusing on authentic, purpose-driven solutions that enrich the lives of our clients, their audiences, and our team.

While the bottom line is important, we ensure that every project is conducted with integrity and humanity, delivering high-impact results without sacrificing our core ethical principles.

Scope of
service

This section is organized around the tasks in your scope of work. The Scope Response Matrix at the end of the section maps each one, in your RFP's own order, to how and when it is delivered — so your evaluation team can score against a checklist without hunting.

A platform your staff can run

The CTUIR's current site has run on Umbraco since it was designed, and your RFP is candid that the platform has proven difficult for staff to manage and maintain. We recommend rebuilding on a WordPress core with the Elementor Pro framework, extended with custom code, for three specific reasons that map to what the CTUIR has said it needs.

Your staff can run it. A drag-and-drop editing environment with role-based permissions means designated staff publish news, post events, upload documents, and update department pages with no coding knowledge and no ticket to a vendor. With roughly 2,500 employees across many departments and programs, not everyone should hold the same publishing authority — and WordPress handles that natively:

Editorial workflow is straightforward: contributors submit, an editor reviews, and content is published or scheduled. Scheduling, full revision history, and archiving are built in, which is what keeps a large site from accumulating the stale and redundant content your RFP describes.

Updates from a phone. Your RFP asks for methods for staff to make minor updates from a mobile device or an app. The WordPress mobile app for iOS and Android supports posting news, editing pages, and managing media directly, and the admin itself is mobile-responsive — so a Communications staff member can publish an announcement from wherever they are.

You are not renting your website. On a WordPress foundation, the CTUIR owns the code, the templates, and the content outright — consistent with your requirement that all templates, designs, and deliverables be owned by CTUIR — and can change hosts or agencies without starting over. For a sovereign government planning in decades, that difference compounds.

Migration from Umbraco. We migrate, audit, and systematically reorganize applicable pages, news, documents, and media from the current Umbraco site into the new framework, and build a full 301 redirect map so existing links, bookmarks, and search rankings survive the transition.

While our recommendation is a WordPress foundation — the platform your RFP names as preferred — we are platform-agnostic by conviction. If Phase 1 discovery reveals that another platform would better serve the CTUIR's administrative workflows or OIT environment, we will make that recommendation on evidence, not on what is convenient for us to build.

Information architecture and content review

Most government websites are organized the way the government is organized. That is convenient internally and unhelpful externally. A tribal member arriving at ctuir.org is almost always trying to do one of a small number of things: find a job posting, check a calendar or news item, reach a department, download a form, or sign in to Laserfiche Weblink. Everything else is secondary and can be structured accordingly.

In discovery we validate that task list rather than assume it — through stakeholder interviews with the staff who answer the phones, through your website analytics and user behavior data, and through user-path modeling. The resulting hierarchy drives the homepage, the navigation, and how many clicks stand between a visitor and the information they came for. Your RFP asks that key information take fewer clicks to reach; that is a measurable commitment, and we will measure it.

The content review. Your RFP describes a large amount of content on ctuir.org that is not well structured and perhaps redundant. We conduct a full content audit in Phase 1: only content that earns its place carries over; outdated, duplicate, and orphaned pages are candidates for retirement or consolidation, settled with your team during content review and recorded in a written decision log. Text-heavy sections are restructured and rewritten in plain language by our Copywriter, so the action a visitor needs to take is visible in the first sentence.

Design and storytelling

Your RFP asks the website to show what the CTUIR looks like, where you are located, and who you are — and to integrate historical and modern images to tell the story of the CTUIR. This is design work we take seriously and approach with humility.

Built from your brand. The visual system starts from the CTUIR's branding guidelines and is designed in Figma, where your team watches it take shape and comments in the live environment. We present initial design options — plural — by October 30, 2026, within the first two months of the contract as your RFP requires, so direction is chosen by the CTUIR, not defaulted to by a vendor.

Built to carry a story. The design system includes storytelling templates: timeline treatments that can hold historical and modern imagery side by side, full-bleed photography and drone footage of the land, maps that show where the CTUIR is located and what the Treaty of 1855 reserved, and infographic patterns for the data the Tribal government publishes.

Directed by the Tribes. We expect the CTUIR to be the authority on how its culture, history, and community are represented. Imagery and cultural content follow the CTUIR's protocols and approvals at every review gate; our job is to build a platform and a visual system worthy of that story, not to author it.

Accessibility

We treat accessibility as a core engineering requirement from day one, building strict WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance directly into our Figma designs and our WordPress code rather than retrofitting it before launch. Tribal members reach this site from every kind of device and connection — including older phones and rural connections — and accessibility and performance are the same problem there.

While Elementor and similar page builders make editing easy, they can generate cluttered code that interferes with screen readers. Mox solves this by manually refining the backend structure to guarantee:

Full screen-reader compatibility: semantic HTML tags, ARIA labels, and hidden navigational elements that allow visually impaired visitors to seamlessly digest information across the site.

Comprehensive keyboard navigation: logical focus states and bypass blocks so that individuals unable to use a mouse can traverse the entire website using standard keyboard commands.

Alt-text support and readable typography: clean, high-contrast style sheets, adjustable typography rules, and native image alt-text fields within WordPress to ensure legibility for low-vision users.

Testing, documentation, and ongoing conformance. Before launch we run automated scanning tools against every template, alongside manual screen-reader testing and full keyboard traversal, and deliver a written conformance report plus remediation log — the artifact the CTUIR keeps on file. Accessibility drifts the moment staff begin publishing, so our training covers accessible publishing directly: alt text, heading order, meaningful link text, contrast.

A note on precision: the ADA itself sets no fixed technical standard for websites, and conformance is measured against WCAG. We build and test to WCAG 2.1 AA, maintain that conformance over time, and document it. We would rather tell you exactly what we deliver than assert a legal compliance status that no vendor can guarantee on your behalf.

Integrations and Laserfiche Weblink

We natively integrate streamlined access to the CTUIR's existing tools, engineering the connections so the visitor experience stays cohesive across platform boundaries and staff never make duplicate entries. We recommend the approach per system — embedded module, API connection, or clean pass-through — based on what each vendor's platform actually supports, confirmed during discovery.

Performance, hosting, and security

Performance. We commit to measurable targets rather than adjectives. Every primary template will meet Google's “good” Core Web Vitals thresholds on both mobile and desktop at launch: Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint under 200 milliseconds, and Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1 — measured on a throttled mobile connection, not on office fiber, because that is closer to how many visitors will actually load the page. During discovery we capture a performance baseline of the current site so improvement is documented rather than asserted.

Hosting. Your deliverables workflow indicates that OIT deploys approved changes to a CTUIR test environment and rolls releases to production, and we build and deliver comfortably inside that model. If the CTUIR instead prefers vendor-managed hosting, we recommend a high-performance managed environment with server-level firewalls, continuous malware scanning, SSL encryption, automatic core updates, and automated daily backups of the full site and database, with restoration tested as part of pre-launch QA and documented in the maintenance guide.

Security. We have done this work under pressure. Sockeye Brewing came to us with a site that had been repeatedly compromised; we rebuilt it on a hardened WordPress foundation, closing the vulnerabilities that had plagued the previous build while overhauling the user experience. For the CTUIR we apply layered hardening, least-privilege access under the role structure above, and spam protection on public forms.

Personal information. The new site will collect limited personal information through contact and department forms and analytics. We will document, per form and per integration, what is collected, how it is routed and retained, and which third-party processors receive it. Data is protected in transit with SSL/TLS. Secure Tribal member content remains inside Laserfiche Weblink; the website does not store it. We are equally clear about what we do not hold: Mox does not carry SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, or StateRAMP certification. If the CTUIR requires a formally certified hosting environment, we will tell you that directly and work with a hosting partner that meets the requirement.

Scope response matrix

Each task and guideline from your scope of work is answered below in the RFP's own order. Phases correspond to the timeline in Section D.

Research first.
Live early March.

Our Creative Manifesto is built on the belief that a successful partnership is rooted in radical transparency and shared purpose. We don't just act as a vendor; we act as an extension of your team — working collaboratively with your internal project lead and technical teams, providing strategic guidance throughout, and holding ourselves to realistic milestones and firm deliverable deadlines.

The kickoff. We believe the strongest partnerships start with deep alignment. To kick off this project, we will travel to Pendleton to conduct an intensive, in-person discovery session at no cost to the CTUIR. Beyond the sitemaps and spreadsheets, we want to understand what this website means to the community it serves — so that when we return to our desks, we are building with your goals, staff workflows, and community relationships top-of-mind.

How we work together. Matthew McMorrow is your primary point of contact, managing day-to-day coordination and scheduling. We use Figma for all design work, so instead of static files your team is invited into the live design environment — leave comments, watch adjustments happen, and see the site take shape. A dedicated Client Portal gives your team a single source of truth, available 24/7, for approving designs and copy, tracking milestones, and accessing contracts and invoices. For task-level visibility we use ClickUp and can provide CTUIR access to our workspace.

This plan follows our research-first approach — we don't build until we understand — and works forward from contractor selection on August 21, 2026, with a contract start in early September. These dates flex with the actual signing date. Contract to public launch is approximately twenty-five weeks, landing the new ctuir.org live in early March 2027 — inside your stated end-of-2026-to-Q1-2027 goal window.

Your project team

We propose a seven-person team with proven collaboration across multiple creative projects, bringing deep experience in every stage of production — from planning and design to development, WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, and post-launch support.

Mox is committed to keeping this core team intact through launch. Should a team member leave the company or become unavailable, we will immediately provide a replacement of equal or greater expertise at no disruption to the project timeline or budget, subject to the CTUIR's final approval.

Jeff Barker Co-Owner, Mox
Project Lead + Development Director Read bio Nathan Zanders Co-Owner, Mox
Research Director Read bio Matthew McMorrow Mox
Project Manager · Your Contact Read bio JM Jonathan Marshall Mox
Creative Director / UX Read bio Einar Schelin Mox
Copywriter Read bio Forrest Tindall Mox
UI Designer Read bio Ally Miller-Buck Mox
Production Designer Read bio

Proof, not
promises

Four engagements, chosen because each maps directly to a requirement of this project: a complex, fragmented organization delivered as a clean one-stop resource; an integration challenge that keeps visitors cohesive across a platform boundary; institutional information made legible for a broad, non-specialist audience over uneven connectivity; and instrumented evidence of how user behavior data should inform information architecture.

Website Redesign · Learning Hub

National Carwash Solutions

Mox partnered with NCS to redesign their website with a focus on visual impact, clear messaging, and stronger user engagement. We set the key objectives for the redesign and rebuilt the site from the ground up. More than 60 pages of content were migrated into the new platform, including photos and core pages, with custom design templates created for each asset. The redesign also ensured full WCAG and ADA compliance, working directly with the client's compliance staff and supported by ongoing compliance checks built into our design process.

This project demonstrates our ability to take a complex, fragmented organization and deliver a clean, one-stop resource — directly relevant to the CTUIR, whose single website serves tribal members, employees, elected leadership, partner organizations, government agencies, media, researchers, businesses, and the public.

ncswash.com

Nonprofit Rebrand + Integrations

Glocal Community Partners

A comprehensive digital rebrand and modern website redesign for a non-profit dedicated to community mobilization. Built from the ground up on the flexible WordPress CMS, we engineered an intuitive information architecture that allows non-technical internal staff to effortlessly update resources, manage media assets, and publish news announcements. A central focus was integrating fragmented third-party systems directly into the user experience — automated newsletter marketing and a secure digital donation platform — so the visitor never felt handed between systems.

+40%

immediate increase in year-end giving from that barrier-free flow. This is our clearest precedent for the integration challenge in this RFP: keeping the visitor experience cohesive across the boundary between the CTUIR's website and an outside platform like Laserfiche Weblink.

glocalboise.org

Education Portal · Current Work in Oregon

Oregon Tilth · NW TOPP

We are partnering with Oregon Tilth to design and develop a high-impact digital learning platform for the Northwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program. The platform serves crop and livestock producers across the Northwest region, transforming dense, bureaucratic regulations into plain, approachable language for diverse rural communities on both desktop and mobile devices, with English and Spanish captioning and low-bandwidth constraints designed in. Launching September 2026.

We include it because the core problem — making institutional information legible to a broad, non-specialist audience over uneven connectivity — is the same one ctuir.org faces with its department content, forms, and postings.

tilth.org

Behavioral Research · Eye-Tracking

7-Eleven Eye-Tracking Project

We conducted a specialized user-experience study for 7-Eleven using RealEye webcam eye-tracking to measure how people actually read complex, tiered information — identifying where cluttered text and hierarchy failures caused readers to stop, and rebuilding the design around information blocking and natural reading flows until participants began reading almost immediately upon viewing the screen.

We include it because your RFP asks that user behavior data and best practices inform this site's information architecture: this project is instrumented evidence of how we do that, and we intend to apply the same methodology to ctuir.org's text-heavy pages and wayfinding.

Portfolio

Trusted by great
organizations

We have notified each of the references below that the CTUIR may contact them. Each represents a program of similar type implemented within the last five years.

Every dollar
accounted for

Our financial approach is rooted in transparency, predictability, and fiscal responsibility. We are conscious that every dollar in this proposal is a public dollar the Tribal government will be asked to account for, and we have structured our pricing accordingly.

As your RFP requests, pricing follows an hourly-rate scheme with a total not to exceed $90,750 for the complete scope of work. Rates applied follow our standard card: $250.00 per hour for strategy, research, creative direction, design, development, and copywriting; $150.00 per hour for production design; and $100.00 per hour for meetings and project coordination. The itemization below shows the hours allocated to each task and the rate applied. Every dollar is tied directly to a defined project phase and milestone, and final pricing will be negotiated as your RFP contemplates.

On GSA pricing. Your RFP notes that GSA pricing rates would be appropriate. Mox does not hold a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract; the rates above are our standard commercial card, and we welcome negotiating final pricing with reference to prevailing GSA schedule rates for comparable services.

A research-first investment. A deliberate share of this budget goes to discovery before a single page is designed. By investing in stakeholder mapping, task analysis, and the content audit up front, we eliminate the risk of building a platform tribal members find difficult to navigate — and reduce the need for extensive post-launch rework. A commitment to post-launch success. The post-launch reserve funds real-world data tracking, follow-up interviews, and refinements based on how the community actually interacts with the live site. Every agency's design is a hypothesis until real people touch it. This reserve is scalable: if the data shows fewer refinements are needed, that portion is simply not spent.

Milestone billing. The fee is distributed across milestone-based payments tied to deliverables, invoiced electronically and subject to Net 30 terms or the CTUIR's standard payment schedule: 25% upon contract signing and project initiation; 25% upon formal approval of the Phase 2 designs; 25% upon deployment of the Phase 4 staging beta; and 25% immediately following live site launch.

Third-party software and licensing assumptions. Our quote covers our agency's design, development, and implementation labor. Mox covers all of our own internal tool costs (corporate seats for Figma, ClickUp, Elementor, Google Analytics, Clarity) during the active build cycle. If we discover during Phase 1 that a highly specialized, premium third-party WordPress plugin is required for an advanced feature, we will present it transparently, explain why it's needed, and pass the subscription through at cost with zero agency markup. Ongoing subscription, user licensing, or API access fees charged by the CTUIR's existing software providers, including Laserfiche, remain the CTUIR's direct responsibility.

Excluded services. Large-scale custom photography, videography, and drone capture — this proposal's design fee covers integrating the CTUIR's existing, archival, and licensed media, including any drone footage the CTUIR holds; custom shoots are available under separate scope. Comprehensive drafting of every sub-page — the fee includes dedicated plain-language copywriting for core pages and primary pathways, not original authorship of every historical document. Out-of-scope structural changes after design approval are handled through a written change order at the hourly rates above; we will never perform or bill out-of-scope work without the CTUIR's signed approval. All travel costs associated with visiting Pendleton for the kickoff and for on-site work throughout the engagement will be incurred by Mox Collective — we view this in-person collaboration as a vital investment in our partnership, so these costs are not passed on to the CTUIR.

Contract
requirements

Insurance. Before the commencement of any contract work, Mox will provide the CTUIR with a certificate of insurance for General/Professional Liability insurance showing the CTUIR as additional insured in an amount not less than $1,000,000 for the term of the contract.

Security clearance. All Mox staff requiring access to personal information will complete the CTUIR's required security clearance process before any such access is granted, and we will cooperate fully with background screening requirements.

Contract commitment. By submission of this proposal, Mox agrees, if selected, to enter into a contract with the CTUIR Communications Department to complete all work as specified in this proposal, for the proposed costs, and within the contract time indicated in the RFP.