CONTRACT NOTICE – NATIONAL

1 Authority Details

1.1

Authority Name and Address

1.2

Address from which documentation may be obtained

1.3

Completed documents must be returned to:

2 Contract Details

2.1

Title

Careers Wales Accessibility Tender

2.2

Description of the goods or services required

Careers Wales (CW) is looking to procure the services of an experienced website accessibility assessment provider to complete the following work over the course of the contracted period

1. Complete accessibility assessments for several applications which sit on the Careers Wales website

2. Complete an accessibility assessment of several content pages across the Careers Wales and Working Wales websites

3. Provide support to Careers Wales on a range of accessibility queries and requested work tasks

1. Tenders for this work can be submitted in Welsh

2. Tenders submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than those submitted in English.

3. The closing dates for the Tender will be the same for those submitted in Welsh and English

4. The timetable for responding to the bids in Welsh will be the same as those submitted in English

NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=144978.

The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.

Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.

2.3

Notice Coding and Classification

2.4

Total quantity or scope of tender

1. Applications

Several react applications are part of the Careerswales.gov.wales website. These are uniquely designed and developed to offer a specific service to our customers using the website. Many of the applications have been assessed by various providers over the last few years. Since then, they have also been enhanced with new features and functions and need a new assessment. Some applications, including any new ones we release in the next couple of years, will be assessed for the first time. We estimate that around 18 applications will be assessed during the contract period; some of these will be a reassessment.

2. Content pages

Our content pages are produced through our Content Management System (CMS), Drupal and comprise different components. These components form part of our digital style guide. Not every page on both websites (Careerswales.gov.wales and Workingwales.gov.wales) will need to be assessed; only those detailed in the user journeys we provide for assessment, along with headers, footers and other items listed on the user journeys. We estimate that around 50 content pages containing nearly 100 components will be assessed during the contract period.

Each accessibility assessment will be completed against the WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standard in line with the accessibility regulations.

The successful organisation will provide a detailed report for each accessibility assessment completed, detailing the part of the site assessed against each relevant criterion from WCAG 2.2. The report will identify each pass / fail and provide details on the reason for the fail with corrective action needed by Careers Wales to fix the issue.

The successful organisation will be available for further consultation on any identified issue within the report so that CW staff or their developers can fully understand the issue and take the appropriate corrective action.

3. Accessibility support for Careers Wales

As part of our commitment to providing a fully accessible website, we also require support for various other services.

The support required will cover tasks including:

• Remedial work to documents (mainly PDF) hosted on the website so they meet accessibility standards

• Ad hoc support and general inquiries eg checking the accessibility of new videos produced, providing advice for CW staff on meeting accessibility requirements

• Assessing internal developments and 3rd party software we make available to our staff and through our website

Careers Wales will request the specific work task required when needed and agree on a timeline for completion with the successful organisation. All work requested is to be calculated using a time-based quote.

3 Conditions for Participation

3.1

Minimum standards and qualification required

Accessibility regulations

The accessibility regulations were enacted for public sector bodies on 23 September 2018. They say you must make your website or mobile app more accessible by making it ‘perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’. You need to include and update an accessibility statement on your website (Careers Wales accessibility statement and Working Wales accessibility statement).

The full name of the accessibility regulations is the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

The accessibility regulations build on existing obligations to people who have a disability under the Equality Act 2010.

Accessibility regulations cover public sector mobile apps developed for public use. These regulations cover areas such as public sector bodies using bespoke app choices of functionality or branding.

Our websites will meet the legal requirements if we:

• meet the WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standard - although there may be valid legal reasons for not meeting accessibility standards

• publish an accessibility statement that explains how accessible our website is

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is working on how to assess the new success criteria in WCAG 2.2 and will start monitoring for the extra criteria in October 2024.

To meet the accessibility standards we need to know how well our websites currently meets WCAG 2.2, and where there are problems.

Accessibility testing

We want our services to be as accessible as possible to all our customers, no matter what device or browser they use.

The gov. UK website provides guidance on the different browsers and devices to be used in an accessibility assessment. We want our website services tested using the browsers listed, but we don’t require testing using Internet Explorer 11.

Some of our customers will use assistive technologies. The gov.uk website provides guidance on which assistive technologies to test with. We expect the assistive technologies listed by the UK government to be used as part of our website assessments.

The proposal asks that you outline what automated and manual testing will be carried out as part of the accessibility assessment and who will carry out these assessments.

Company experience and quality standards

Careers Wales is looking for an organisation that can demonstrate experience completing website accessibility assessments in accordance with accessibility regulations and guidance on accessibility testing.

The proposal must also include the support you make available to organisations, particularly regarding the accessibility requirements detailed in this specification.

Environment

Careers Wales embraces sustainable development principles in all aspects of procurement to ensure that environmental, social and economic factors are considered. The supplier should demonstrate a commitment to aligning with Careers Wales Environmental Policy and demonstrate their own organisational commitment to sustainability. Your response should include details of how you are minimising your carbon footprint.

Proposal

Interested organisations must complete the proposal template provided by Careers Wales and submit it on the Sell2Wales portal by Friday, October 25th, 2024.

We do not require the provider to have Welsh language skills or provide any assessment reports in Welsh.

All sections of the proposal template must be completed and not exceed the word limit where requested.

Only proposals submitted that use the template provided by Careers Wales will be considered.

4 Administrative Information

4.1

Type of Procedure

Single stage

4.2

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

N/a

4.3

Time Limits

4.5

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

4.6

Tender Submission Postbox

5 Other Information

5.1

Additional Information

Contract period and value

The successful organisation will be awarded a two-year contract, with an option to extend for a further one year. The contract value is between £0 and £60,000 (exc. VAT).

Payments

Careers Wales will raise a PO for each work activity requested. Payment will be made after the services requested are completed.

Tender marking scheme - Tender will be marked on quality and price. Please only submit the price and quality template, no other information is required.

Price

35% of the tender marks are awarded on price.

The provider must include detailed costs for a sample of work required as follows:

• Accessibility assessments for the applications listed in Appendix 1 (15%)

• Accessibility assessment of the content pages listed in Appendix 1 (10%)

• Cost of remedial work to make the example PDF fully accessible – Appendix 2 (5%)

• Daily charge rate for ad hoc queries (5%)

The costs for the applications and content pages assessment must be based on:

• Completing the assessment using the different browsers, devices, and assistive technologies listed in the tender specification under the heading ‘Accessibility testing’.

• Providing Careers Wales with a detailed report for each application, identifying each pass/fail against the relevant WCAG 2.2 criterion and corrective action needed to fix any identified issue.

• The time available to communicate the report findings back to Careers Wales and address any further queries on the report.

• All costs associated with the manual and automated methods used to complete the assessment

• Any additional costs, such as management fees and admin costs associated with each piece of work

Quality

Q1. Testing methods and practices (15%) (maximum 500 words)

• Details on how you will carry out a website accessibility assessment (5%)

• Details on your testing methods and practices (10%)

o Confirmation of the browsers and devices used as part of the assessment.

o Outline what automated and manual testing will be done as part of the accessibility assessment.

o Confirmation of the assistive technologies used as part of the assessment.

Q2. Reporting and feedback methods (20%) (maximum 500 words)

• Details of what will be included in the assessment report and how this information will be provided to Careers Wales (10%). (If a report example is provided, it won’t be included in the word count limit)

• The support available to CW following the report, so we can understand each issue fully and implement corrective action. (10%)

Q3. Experience (10%). Please provide evidence of the following: (maximum 400 words)

• Company experience of completing accessibility assessments, including any testimonials (5%)

• Details of the team who will carry out the assessment, including relevant experience and whether this work is contracted out or completed in-house. (5%).

Q4. Meeting CW wider accessibility needs (10%) (max 400 words)

• Outline your expertise and experience in the company to support Careers Wales across the different areas of accessibility requirements. (5%)

• Provide examples of different accessibility support provided to existing/previous clients (5%)

Sustainability

Environment (10%)

• Please describe how you will minimise the carbon footprint created in completing the tender specification works.

(WA Ref:144978)

5.2

Additional Documentation

5.3

Publication date of this notice