The verdict in three sentences
For a private school in Neuchâtel, and even more for a boarding school, a website redesign rarely stalls on code: it stalls on photos and videos of pupils, their consents and their weight on mobile. The Kolonell grid runs from CHF 2,700 (Starter) to CHF 8,200 (Premium), against a 2026 ballpark of CHF 15,000 to 40,000 with a local agency, with the photographer as a third-party cost. Plan the consent register and the shoot first, then 3 to 4 weeks of build, with a summer go-live away from open days.
Why do images drive the timeline?
Families looking at a Neuchâtel school, whether from watchmaking, microtechnology, the university or abroad, first judge daily life: classrooms, the lakeside, the boarding house, activities. Images raise four questions the redesign must settle before any design work:
- Consent: every recognisable pupil must be covered by documented, dated parental consent stating the intended use (website, social media, brochure).
- Takedown: a family can ask for a photo to be removed; you need a written procedure and a handling time.
- Art direction: atmosphere shots, wide angles, pupils seen from behind or blurred where consent is missing, with no misleading staging.
- Weight: photos of 4 to 6 MB each ruin loading on a travelling parent's 4G.
The revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nLPD/revFADP, in force since 1 September 2023) governs this processing, supervised by the FDPIC, and the GDPR may apply if you target families living in the EU. This is not legal advice.
What does the redesign cost, photos included?
2026 ballpark based on typical quotes and public rate pages of agencies in the Jura arc and French-speaking Switzerland.
| Item | Freelancer | Local agency | Kolonell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site redesign | CHF 5,000 to 12,000 | CHF 15,000 to 40,000 | CHF 2,700, 4,500 or 8,200 |
| Copywriting | Often left to the school | Included or optional | Native FR or EN copywriting included |
| Photographer (third-party cost) | CHF 1,200 to 1,800 per day | Often subcontracted, same range | Independent local photographer, third-party cost |
| Image optimisation | Varies | Included | Included (modern formats, sized images) |
| Timeline | 6 to 12 weeks | 10 to 18 weeks | 3 to 4 weeks, content ready |
| Post-launch support | Varies | Separate contract | 3 months included, then on quote |
These stay on quote, as separate lines: secure admissions portal, fee payment, school management system (SIS/MIS), parent app and calendar feeds. They are kept and linked, never rebuilt. Tier details are on the international offer page.
How heavy is a school page on a parent's 4G?
A simple calculation, assuming a real-world speed of 10 Mbit/s, about 1.25 MB per second.
| Home page content | Typical weight | Estimated download time |
|---|---|---|
| 6 unoptimised JPEG photos | 9.6 MB | about 7.7 s |
| 6 resized JPEG photos | 3.0 MB | about 2.4 s |
| 6 WebP or AVIF photos, sized to the layout | 1.2 MB | about 1 s |
| Autoplay background video | 8 to 15 MB | 6 to 12 s |
| Video replaced by an image and a play button | 0.3 MB | about 0.2 s |
Published videos need captions (WCAG 2.2 AA), and policy PDFs must be accessible.
What other risks, and how do you phase the work?
- SEO: boarding, admissions, curriculum, transport and term date pages are often the ones that rank. URL inventory, 301 redirect map and Search Console monitoring for 6 weeks.
- Migration: old photo galleries are the classic trap; only images covered by valid consent are migrated.
- Claims: cantonal authorisation, curricula (Swiss Maturité, IB, French Baccalauréat) and accreditations appear only if the school actually holds them.
- Safeguarding: child protection pages and policies remain the school's own approved documents, never rewritten as marketing copy.
- Forms: minimal enquiry form, no health, special needs, school report or passport data; documents through the secure portal, on quote.
Typical phasing: consent and photo audit (1 to 2 weeks), photo shoot (1 to 2 days, outside exam periods), Kolonell build (3 to 4 weeks), compliance review (2 to 3 days), go-live in July or during a quiet holiday.
Questions to ask: who checks that every photo is covered by consent? How is an image removed within 48 hours? Who updates the calendar and news after go-live?
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
When is a local agency the better choice?
If the school wants a corporate film shot over several days, a seasonal photo campaign coordinated on site and regular workshops with the leadership and the boarding team, a Neuchâtel or Romandy agency with an in-house studio has a real logistical edge. For a well-built public site with an independent photographer booked by the school, the fixed grid is enough.
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Lycée du Haut-Rivage, a fictional day and boarding school of about 400 pupils above Neuchâtel. Its communications officer, Léa, finds that 62 pupils have no valid photo consent, 15.5% of the roll.
Budget: Premium at CHF 8,200 (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote) + an independent local photographer, a third-party cost of 2 days x CHF 1,400 = CHF 2,800, so CHF 11,000. The home page drops from 9.6 MB to 1.2 MB, from roughly 7.7 s to 1 s on 4G. The shoot takes place in June, go-live in early July.
FAQ
Do we need fresh consent for the new site?
If existing consent does not cover website use, yes. Allow 2 to 3 weeks to collect family replies before the shoot.
What about photos without consent?
Leave them out, or keep only shots where no pupil is recognisable. In the fictional case above, that concerns 15.5% of pupils.
Is the photographer included in the Kolonell price?
No. It is a third-party cost, usually CHF 1,200 to 1,800 per day in Neuchâtel depending on the photographer.
How long does the redesign take?
3 to 4 weeks of build once content and photos are ready, preceded by 1 to 2 weeks of audit.
Is the admissions portal rebuilt?
No, it stays on quote and the new site links to it. The same goes for the SIS and fee payment.
To price your case, request a free quote with your page count and the state of your consents.
Let's scope your project. Pages, languages, photos to redo and tools to link: we scope a CHF 4,500 to 8,200 redesign with a summer go-live. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
