The state Employment Development Department is looking for a firm to complete an assessment of its pubic site's accessibility standards and training for employees on how to maintain those standards.
EDD's request for offer (RFO), which closes Dec. 21, is in response to the California Department of Technology's (CDT) Technology Letter (TL) 18-05.
"The RFO is for consultant services to perform an accessibility assessment on EDD websites to assist EDD in ensuring that that EDD’s public-facing Web content is in compliance with the specified accessibility standards and in accordance with TL 18-05," EDD Media Services Chief Aubrey Henry wrote in an email to Techwire.
TL 18-05 was a response to AB 434 of 2017, which requires each state entity's director and CIO to post a signed certification on all their public sites certifying that they meet accessibility requirements, according to Henry.
"TL 18-05 announced new sections in the State Administrative Manual (SAM) and the Statewide Information Management Manual (SIMM) requiring agencies/state entities to comply with the Website Accessibility Certification Policy," Henry told Techwire.
The contract will not exceed $750,000 for a year, with an option for a one-year extension. While the contract will be in effect after the July deadline for accessibility certification, it will include training and recommendations to EDD. Those recommendations could include new assessment processes, protocols, tools and staffing needs.
"The consultant will also provide technical knowledge transfer to EDD staff on the planning, preparation, execution and the use of test tools such as (but not limited to) common assistive technologies, including screen readers and magnifiers and employ in-browser accessibility tools, such as JAWS, WAVE, Dragon, ZoomText, and Axe," Henry noted.
