Website Accessibility Audit

Tender description

Summary of the work The scope of the audit should cover: 1. Testing a sample of our most used content on our website including some third party systems. 2. Producing a report identifying any accessibility issues and providing guidance and support for prioritising and fixing these issues. 3. Completing a re-audit. Expected Contract Length 6 months Latest start date Friday 23 August 2019 Why the Work is Being Done We wish to engage an external supplier to carry out a detailed check on the most important content of our council websites to enable us to meet the accessibility standards outlined in the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. This detailed check would form part of a combination of methods to check our web services for accessibility problems. The initial audit, report and support meeting should be completed by 9 September 2019. The re-audit to be completed at an agreed time after fixes for identified issues have been applied. Problem to Be Solved Meeting the accessibility standards outlined in the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. As part of this we require our website to be audited against the WCAG 2.1 AA and AAA accessibility standards, and any issues using the most common assistive technology identified. We require an accessibility audit report to be produced which we will share with both our non-technical staff and third party developers. We will then write an accessibility statement and plan addressing any issues identified in the audit report. Who Are the Users As a resident of the borough (with or without a disability) I need to access council services online so that I can apply for things such as council tax discounts, social housing or resident parking permits. I need to be able to make payments, report issues such as missed bin collections or housing repairs, and view information on things such as planning applications and bin collections. As a local business owner (with or without a disability) I need to access council services online so that I can do things like make pay my business rates or apply for a license. Work Already Done In order to write our website accessibility audit we have reviewed our web analytics and website structures to identify a representative sample of the essential services which will need to be included in the audit. The main websites we wish to audit are: https://welhat,gov.uk https://one.welhat.gov.uk/ depending on costs we may also wish to audit: https://hatfield.welhat.gov.uk/ https://careers.welhat.gov.uk/ https://www.inwelwynhatfieldbusinessmatters.org.uk/ Our websites link to third party supplier systems such as Capita payment forms and council tax accounts, DEF planning register, modern.gov, NSL parking permits, Locata Housing Needs Register and Quince Associates tenant portal, parts of which should also be included in the audit. Existing Team The web team includes: Website Development and Intranet Manager Digital Services Manager Policy and Communications Manager Current Phase Live Skills & Experience • Have experience conducting Accessibility Audits on large websites • Have exprience of writing Accessibility Audit Reports which can be understood by technical and non-technical colleagues • Have experience of providing guidance and support to technical and non-technical staff to help address any issues identified in an Accessbility Audit • Have a detailed knowledge of the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 and what they require from an Accessibility Audit • Have detailed knowledge of the most common assistive technology and browser combinations and how to test with them • Have experience of conducting web acessibility testing with disabled users Nice to Haves Have experience of working with local authorities Work Location We are based in Welwyn Garden City. The work can be carried out remotely but we require a minimum of two face to face meetings, one to review the initial audit findings and one to cover any issues arising from the re-audit. Working Arrangments The work can be carried out remotely but we require a minimum of two face to face meetings, one to review the initial audit findings and one to cover any issues arising from the re-audit. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Technical solution • Approach and methodology • How the approach or solution meets user needs • How the approach or solution meets your organisation’s policy or goal • Estimated timeframes for the work • How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them • Team structure • Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • Take responsibility for their work • Can work with clients with low technical expertise Payment Approach Fixed price Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 10% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers 1. Do you have a budget range for the audit? Our estimated budget range is between £5,000 and £10,000. 2. Please can you confirm the name of the content management systems you use, if any? The content management system used for both the https://welhat.gov.uk and https://one.welhat.gov.uk/ websites is the Goss Interactive platform. 3. Please can you confirm the positions of the individuals evaluating the responses? The responses will be evaluated by the Web Team which includes the Website Development and Intranet Manager, the Digital Services Manager and the Policy and Communications Manager. 4. Please can you confirm the number of pages when you refer to 'Testing a sample of our most used content on our website including some third party systems'? We estimate that 'Testing a sample of our most used content on our website including some third party systems' will involve between 50-60 pages. Some of these pages are simple content pages whilst others are more complex pages such as forms. 5. We have experience of conducting web accessibility testing with a range of users with disabilities. Is such testing a requirement of this opportunity? It is not a specific requirement of the brief if you can ensure the testing will sufficiently audit our websites against the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards (including AA and AAA) in other ways. 6. Please can you confirm the number of representative sample pages for the essential services which will need to be included in the audit for each of the following websites: https://welhat,gov.uk, https://one.welhat.gov.uk/, https://hatfield.welhat.gov.uk/, https://careers.welhat.gov.uk/ and https://www.inwelwynhatfieldbusinessmatters.org.uk/? We estimate that the number of representative sample pages for the essential services across these websites, which will need to be included in the audit is between 50 and 60.