Automated Accessibility Assessment Tool

1. *** NEW – May 26, 2023

An attachment has been added. The document contains an extension to the closing date and questions and answers related to the Challenge.

*Please note the ISC Website will be available on April 18, 2023 at 14:00 EDT

This Challenge Notice is issued under the Innovative Solutions Canada Program (ISC) Call for Proposals 003 (EN578-20ISC3). For general ISC information, Bidders can visit the ISC website.

Please refer to the Solicitation Documents which contain the process for submitting a proposal.

Steps to apply:

Step 1: read this challenge

Step 2: read the Call for Proposals

Step 3: propose your solution here

Challenge title: Automated Accessibility Assessment Tool

Challenge sponsor: Shared Services Canada (SSC)

Funding Mechanism: Contract

MAXIMUM CONTRACT VALUE:

Multiple contracts could result from this Challenge.

Phase 1:

• The maximum funding available for any Phase 1 contract resulting from this Challenge is : $150,000.00 CAD excluding applicable taxes, shipping, travel and living expenses, as required.
• The maximum duration for any Phase 1 contract resulting from this Challenge is up to 6 months (excluding submission of the final report).
• Estimated number of Phase 1 contracts: 5

Phase 2:

Note: Only eligible businesses that have successfully completed Phase 1 will be invited to submit a proposal for Phase 2.

• The maximum funding available for any Phase 2 contract resulting from this Challenge is : $1,000,000.00 CAD excluding applicable taxes, shipping, travel and living expenses, as required.
• The maximum duration for any Phase 2 contract resulting from this Challenge is up to 18 months (excluding submission of the final report).
• Estimated number of Phase 2 contracts: 2

This disclosure is made in good faith and does not commit Canada to award any contract for the total approximate funding. Final decisions on the number of Phase 1 and Phase 2 awards will be made by Canada on the basis of factors such as evaluation results, departmental priorities and availability of funds. Canada reserves the right to make partial awards and to negotiate project scope changes.

Note: Selected companies are eligible to receive one contract per phase per challenge.

Travel

No travel required

Kick-off meeting

Virtually using Microsoft Teams

Progress review meeting(s)

Virtually using Microsoft Teams

Final review meeting

Virtually using Microsoft Teams.

All other communication can take place by telephone or virtually using Microsoft Teams

Challenge Statement Summary

Shared Services Canada (SSC) is seeking a bilingual automated software solution that will assess and report on a desktop application’s accessibility compliance based on "Clause 11: Software" of the EN 301 549 v2.1.2 (2018-08) Standard - Accessibility requirements for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) products and services.

Challenge Statement

On June 21, 2019, the Government of Canada (GC) adopted the Accessible Canada Act (ACT). The ACT introduced regulations that set out requirements for organizations to follow in order to identify, remove, and prevent barriers for persons with disabilities in areas such as information technology, banking, telecommunications, transportation industries.

Ensuring information is accessible to all Canadians is an important goal of the Government of Canada. Canada has developed the Guideline on Making Information Technology Usable by All (the Usability Guideline), which references the Harmonised European Standard EN 301 549 v2.1.2 (Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services).

Canada uses thousands of desktop applications to support its operations. Currently, the process for reviewing, testing and assessing procured desktop applications in order to determine their accessibility compliance with the Harmonised European Standard EN 301 549 v2.1.2 (Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services) is an intensive manual process. This process requires significant manual interactions that are costly in efforts for GC accessibility assessors in terms of time and funding.

SSC is therefore seeking a bilingual automated software solution to more efficiently determine the accessibility status of desktop applications.

Desired outcomes and considerations

Essential (mandatory) Outcomes

The solution must:

1. Automatically evaluate desktop applications accessibility compliance using Clause 11: Software accessibility requirements of the EN 301 549 V2.1.2 (2018-08) (PDF, 1.9 MB) Standard

2. Perform automated testing on English only, French only, or bilingual (French and English UIs) desktop applications

3. Generate the automatic assessment results in a bilingual (English and French) accessible format – the dashboard results and exported reports must be accessible to all users

4. Generate assessment results that specify and describe the accessibility issues which can then be exported, saved, and shared. These reports must be generated in an accessible digital format

5. Be compatible with mainstream industry Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, Apple IOS, Google’s Android IOS, and/or Linux Operating System

Additional Outcomes

The solution should:

1. Provide an audit trail

2. Assess desktop-based learning, development, and training programs and content delivery platforms (e.g. determine the level of accessibility of interfaces and the content they deliver)

Background and Context

Ensuring information is accessible to all Canadians, both employees and citizens, is an important goal for the Government of Canada (GC). Canada has developed the Guideline on Making Information Technology Usable by All. Because accessibility guidelines vary by countries and regions, Canada has developed the Guideline on Making Information Technology Usable by All (the Usability Guideline), which references the Harmonised European Standard EN 301 549 v2.1.2 (Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services).

ENQUIRIES

All enquiries must be submitted in writing to TPSGC.SIC-ISC.PWGSC@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca no later than ten calendar days before the Challenge Notice closing date. Enquiries received after that time may not be answered.

How to Prepare a Bid