OCR Website Accessibility Review

STATEMENT OF WORK

Project Overview:

Contractor will perform a comprehensive and thorough accessibility review of all content and functionality of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) public facing internet website pursuant to the terms of a Resolution Agreement that PDE entered into with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Included as part of the accessibility review, the auditor must manually check PDE’s website to determine any barriers to access in addition to utilizing accessibility auditing tools. Following the accessibility review and the identification of any barriers to access, the contractor will develop and finalize, through consultation with PDE, a proposed Corrective Action Plan to address all inaccessible content and functionality identified and barriers to access during the accessibility review. Once PDE selects the contractor, OCR must first review the contractor’s bona fides and approve PDE’s selection before a purchase order will be executed for the delivery of services to PDE.

Specific Activities:

  1. Review the accessibility of all content and functionality of PDE’s public facing internet website to identify any online content or functionality that is inaccessible to persons with disabilities, including online content and functionality developed by, maintained by, or offered through a third party vendor or an open source.
  1. The accessibility review of PDE’s public facing website will include (but is not limited to): the home page, all subordinate pages, and sites, to identify any online content or functionality that is inaccessible to persons with disabilities, including online content and functionality developed by, maintained by, or offered through a third party vendor or an open source.
  1. The accessibility review will use the Benchmarks for Measuring Accessibility as measured according to the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A and AA and the Web Accessibility Initiative Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (WAI-ARIA) 1.0 for web content.
  1. In addition to utilizing website accessibility auditing tools, the contractor must manually check PDE’s website to ensure keyboard access to all content, overall functionality and color contrast.
  1. During the accessibility review, the contractor shouldseek input from members of the public with disabilities, including parents, students, employees, and others associated with PDE, and other persons knowledgeable about website accessibility, regarding the accessibility of PDE’s online content and functionality and the identification of any barriers to access.
  1. The contractor will create a document which outlines the specific steps taken by the contractor during the accessibility review, a description of the outreach undertaken and the input received, and a detailed accounting of the results of the accessibility review.
  1. At the conclusion of the accessibility review, the contractor will develop and finalize, through consultation with PDE, a proposed Corrective Action Plan to address all inaccessible content and functionality and the barriers to access identified during theaccessibility review.
  1. The Corrective Action Plan will set out a detailed schedule for: addressing problems, taking into account identified priorities, setting up systems of accountability and verifying claims of accessibility by vendors or open sources; and setting up a system of testing and accountability to maintain the accessibility of all online content and functionality on an ongoing basis.
  1. The Corrective Action Plan must be drafted in a manner such that all corrective actions must be completed within eighteen (18) months of the plan’s implementation.
  1. Once PDE selects the contractor, OCR must first review the contractor’s bona fides and approve PDE’s selection before a purchase order will be executed for the delivery of services to PDE. The contractor must be able to demonstrate to OCR’s satisfaction, that it possesses sufficient knowledge and experience in website accessibility. OCR could review the contractor’s own website and the website of the entities for which the contractor has conducted accessibility reviews to determine if any of these websites contains any barriers to access. In addition, OCR could also check to ensure that all of the websites provide information regarding website accessibility.
  1. The accessibility review and the completion of the PDE approved Corrective Action Plan must be finished within 150 days of the start date of the accessibility review as outlined above.

Contractor Qualifications:

The contractor must have conducted three or more website accessibility reviews, and can demonstrate that it has the sufficient knowledge and experience in website accessibility for people with disabilities to carry out all related tasks, including the development of a Corrective Action Plan. PDE must be given references that can be contacted regarding the outcome of those reviews.

Contractor Requirements:

The contractor must submit a current resume and curriculum vitae with the

bid proposal for all individuals who will conduct the accessibility review and

develop the Corrective Action Plan. In addition, the contractor must submit

a list of the entities for which it conducted website accessibility reviews. The contractor can also submit any additional documentation to demonstrate that it maintains sufficient knowledge and experiences in website accessibility.

Please note: This accessibility review and the development of a Proposed Corrective Action Plan as outlined above specifically excludes PDE’s complex web-based applications, which are not accessible by the public on PDE’s public website.

1