0812 Digital accessibility partner to capability build across Essex County Council

Tender description

Summary of the work Act as our accessibility ‘partner’ offering support, guidance and recommendations to enable us to meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements across our significant web estate. Build understanding and capability across the organisation enabling us to independently test products with our users and assure our content and code accessibility compliance going forward. Expected Contract Length 1 year Latest start date Friday 1 November 2019 Budget Range The budget is capped at £60k Why the Work is Being Done We are a large and complex organisation with a significant web estate with a range of legacy sites and apps. In addition to the main www.essex.gov.uk site there are over 80 microsites that will need to be assessed and made compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA by September 2020. There are a handful of staff who understand digital accessibility from a code and content perspective and we need to build our capability and capacity quickly to enable us to comply with the legislation and ensure our web estate remains accessible going forward. Problem to Be Solved Content Designers, Developers and Graphic Designers do not have a clear understanding of what WCAG 2.1 compliance means for their profession or the best tools or techniques to check and assure their work. User Researchers do not understand what tools, techniques, facilities or approaches they may need to create a test panel of users with disabilities and impairments that can test our digital products on an ongoing basis. Senior leaders and commissioners do not have a clear understanding of the importance of delivering inclusive digital services to support self-service and channel shift. Who Are the Users As a Content Designer, Developer or Graphic Designer, I need to understand what constitutes WCAG2.1AA compliance for my profession so that I can meet the need of all users. As a User Researcher I want to create a panel of residents with a range of disabilities and impairments so that I can test websites, apps and systems on an ongoing basis to understand if they are compliant. As Head of Product I want to support senior leaders and commissioners to understand the importance of inclusive digital services so that they are commissioning digital products that are accessible from go live. Work Already Done We have done an audit of our web estate and now hold a list of: • Website names and URLs (approx. 80) • Some platform information • Identified content editors Work is already underway to ensure content and code on essex.gov.uk is accessible and we are just completing fixes based on recommendations from a Shaw Trust assessment. We already have the SiteImprove tool but it has never been used for accessibility checking purposes. We are working with SiteImprove to train developers and Content editors on the system. Existing Team Service Design Team: • Product Manager x 2 • Delivery Manager x 1 • Content Designer x 6 • Front End Developer x 1 • User Researchers x 3 Graphic Design Team: • Designers x 4 Technical Services Team: • SAAS Team x 6 • Technical testers x 6 Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Experience of successfully implementing WCAG2.1 standards • Demonstrate experience of working as a joint team with a public sector body and operating within its governance and culture. • A detailed understanding of the key accessibility priorities for content designers • A detailed understanding of the key accessibility priorities for user researchers • A detailed understanding of the key accessibility priorities for developers • A detailed understanding of the key accessibility priorities for designers • Ability to tailor training to specific teams/services to best fit their needs • Ability to conduct high quality handover and training sessions to ensure effective long-term support and further development of capability • Capacity to mobilise a skilled and experienced team, responding flexibly to peaks and troughs in demand and able to substitute similar resources without any implication to the project. Nice to Haves • Share the profiles of the team that will be working with us • Experience of working in a large and complex organisation • A short case study that illustrates your work against a similar set of requirements. Work Location Main site - County Hall, Chelmsford, plus other ECC locations as needed. You will have to be available at these locations when required but we also accept that this can be balanced with work being progressed or delivered remotely if deemed suitable. Working Arrangments Day to day delivery will be governed by standard agile delivery techniques. This will involve daily stand ups and fortnightly sprint planning sessions which include a retrospective of the previous sprint and prioritisation by the Product Owner for the following sprint. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Approach to upskilling Content Designers, Developers and Designers to enable them to deliver WCAG 2.1 compliant outputs including guidance and tools. • Approach to enabling the organisation to manage it’s own end to end accessibility testing including setting up and managing a test panel of residents with disabilities or impairments • Approach to engaging with senior leaders to support and enable them to commission and manage accessible digital services • Detail the cost of each requirement and how supplied resource will be broken down and flexed as needed Cultural Fit Criteria Describe previous work where you have established a trusted advisory relationship within a public sector body Payment Approach Fixed price Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. 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