FAQs Consultancy on Accessibility and Usability
Why was the deadline for applications extended?
We have not received enough proposals, so we extended the deadline until 17 February 2023.
Regarding user testing, how many users are there expected to be? What type of diversity (visual, cognitive, motor) should we address?
Nielsen Norman suggests five as a good number of participants, but we are open to your proposal as long as they are technically sound.
Auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual motor diversity should be considered.
What type of assistive technologies do you expect to cover?
It might include but not be limited to Screen magnifiers, Screen readers, Speech recognition software, Braille displays, Automatic transcription software, Joysticks, and Head pointers. Again, we are open to discussing this.
Where are these users selected from? Are they provided by you or we should find these users? Are they being rewarded in any way for their participation in the testing?
The consultants are responsible for finding the users; any reward should be included in your proposed quote.
Also, what is the expectation regarding the work outside normal office hours? Does it follow any specific time zone?
Communication and meetings will happen during office hours in UTC time.
Please could you provide more clarity on the levels of work expected outside of normal office hours?
The contract requires us to let providers know that working outside office hours is a possibility, but we can ensure that this is not the rule. If it happens it would be really exceptional. The team managing the project work during regular office hours, and they are based in the UK.
Are international non-US-based consultants eligible for this consultancy?
Yes, applications from all nationalities are welcome. As the host organization for this contract, Action Against Hunger, a US-based organization, is required to follow US tax laws. This means that should the selected consultant or company be based outside the US, they will need to fill out US-based tax forms, but it does not commit them to paying taxes in the US, rather they will need to follow the tax laws in their own country of residence. Just bear in mind, if selected, you would be asked to fill out that paperwork.
We are a full-service agency and have a number of specialist partners that we often work with on requirements such as these. Are you open to working in this way?
Yes, no problem as long as the applicant agency is responsible for and in charge of the contract.
Who will be implementing the outputs/recommendations of this project? Will it be a separate team?
Yes, it will be a separate team who implements the recommendations, however, we are expecting you to provide them with the requirements and technical advice.
Will the main project team on your side be based out of the US?
We are a global team based in different countries (US, Canada, Kenya, Jordan, UK). The project manager is based in the UK, and the team is used to working with colleagues in many countries.
In addition to WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines, are there any US compliances that will need to be met as part of this project?
No.
Is there any flexibility in the timeline and key dates that you have outlined in the brief?
We can discuss the key dates for the deliverables if needed.
Can we submit a proposal for only the portion related to web accessibility?
We expect an agency, consultant, or group of consultants able to manage and lead the whole project and contract, regardless of whether they work with other partners or specialists.
Can we meet with you before the deadline?
Unfortunately, we cannot meet with candidates before the deadline as it would not be a fair process. However, you can send your questions to andrea.buccioni@calpnetwork.org, and they will be answered and published here.
Deliverable 1: Any standardized timeline and topics for the talk? So we can ensure we are estimating effort as other vendors would?
We are thinking of a 1-2 hours session targeting a non-expert audience, to raise awareness about digital accessibility. Please feel free to propose the topics.
Deliverable 3: Have you identified the list of unique pages that we would consider as a representative sample of the calpnetwork.org website?
We don’t have the list, but we should include at least these pages:
- https://www.calpnetwork.org/library/
- https://www.calpnetwork.org/capacity-building/facilitated-training/
- https://www.calpnetwork.org/blog/
- https://www.calpnetwork.org/jobs/
- https://www.calpnetwork.org/news-events/
- https://www.calpnetwork.org/community/
Confirm if we are looking at multi-browser and technology compatibility – like web browser, mobile browser and tablet browser testing?
Yes, we are looking at multi-browser compatibility.
How many people were invited to bid?
The job post is online and was advertised on LinkedIn. In addition, we sent the job to approximately 20-30 consultants and/or agencies.
What is the maximum budget?
$30,000. This is a competitive tender, and evaluators will assess the value for money and the technical robustness of the proposal.
Would you embrace receiving our 6-page response as a Google Doc?
No problem
Is there a deadline for questions?
Yes, this Friday, 27/02
What accessibility related work have they undertaken at all in the recent past? Is this entirely new to them or do they have experience?
We do not have much formal experience, and this is our first formal assessment of accessibility.
How many communication pieces need to be audited, and by this we assume these are accessibility audits? What are the different formats to be audited?
A sample of about 8-10 pieces of content would be OK (this might include infographics, PDFs, videos, podcasts, social media posts, email newsletters, etc.)
Who are the staff (in terms of roles/functions) to be trained and what is their current accessibility knowledge? Will they need an overview of accessibility or a detailed understanding of how to design and code to ensure interfaces are accessible? How many people do you want to include in the training sessions?
About 10 people, including a web manager, editor, social media manager, copywriters, and non-comms related people such as technical advisors and senior team managers. We expect an overview of accessibility and some practical advice for the Communications team.
Reference is made to running usability tests – is this specifically with disabled participants? What audience profiles do you wish to be included and is there a geographical split to be considered?
We have not thought about that, and we expect you to advise.
You also reference testing with native speakers of Arabic, French & Spanish – are you wishing tests to be conducted in those languages with translation or in English? How many people are you wishing this testing to include and what are the audience profiles for this?
Some of the tests should be either entirely in the language or English (with bilingual participants), depending on your team’s language skills. Both options are acceptable.
Please could you provide more clarity on the training required? The noted areas are quite broad and we would welcome further details on the topics or specific knowledge gaps you have. Are you able to confirm potential numbers within each team?
a. CALP Team. 35 people. The idea is to deliver a talk about accessibility in general and its importance. We are particularly interested in how to make PDF documents, copywriting, presentations, and online events more accessible.
b. Comms team. 7 people. This session should be focused on the fundamentals of web accessibility, social media, copywriting, graphic design, and multimedia content.
Would the people involved in the awareness-raising session (deliverable 1) be the same people who would be contributing to the vision statement (deliverable 2)?
Either way would be OK. It could be a short talk and then a workshop to understand our current needs, status, and barriers to accessibility. If needed, this might be complemented with interviews or bilateral conversations. We are open to hearing your proposals.
Deliverable 3 – this is quite a broad deliverable. It would be helpful to understand the key objectives for this part in a bit more detail, who your audiences are and their different digital goals. We can then more accurately scope this work (i.e. number of testers, testing approach etc.)
It is broad, so we are open to your suggestions and proposals as long as it includes the three dimensions: 1) Automated accessibility testing, 2) Manual testing, and 3) Usability testing.
About our audiences:
- CALP’s member organizations, who submit content, events, and jobs to the website. Our goal is to promote their engagement and participation on digital channels.
- Participants in Communities of Practice promote and Cash Working Groups. These are discussion and coordination spaces around Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and we aim to make it easy for them to join these communities and keep them updated.
- Policymakers and academics who may be interested in bringing CVA into public policy or conducting research on the topic. They may want to find and read our research and publications.
- Leaders and decision-makers who can benefit from our resources.
Humanitarian practitioners, both technical and programmatic, who can benefit from our trainings in order to apply the knowledge in the field.
Deliverable 6 – do you anticipate this training being delivered remotely or in person?
Training needs to be remote
Are online courses in scope?
Not necessarily. This would be our first formal step towards a more accessible digital strategy. If you want to include an assessment of a course as a sample, that would be great but not mandatory.
Do you have other websites, web applications or mobile apps that will need to be audited following the website, that are not in this initial requirement?
We do not have any apps, but we have online courses that work on an external platform: e.g. https://kayaconnect.org/course/info.php?id=514. We also have a Podcast (CashCast) available on Spotify and other podcast platforms.
Are there any travel requirements for the consultants/agency selected for the work? If so, can you share the requirements?
No travel requirements at all. We expect to work 100% remotely with the consultants.
Thinking of awareness and training…How many total CALP team members are there and what are their roles?
We are about 35 people. You can see our roles here: https://www.calpnetwork.org/about/staff/
Thinking of training…How many total CALP Communications team members are there and what are their roles?
We are 7:
- Head of Communications and Digital Platforms
- Digital Platforms Manager
- Digital Content Officer
- Communications Officer – French Lead
- Communications Officer – Spanish Lead
- Communications Officer – Arabic Lead
- Library and Publications Officer
Concerning usability testing with AT users and others with disabilities:
CALP Network understands that usability testing is typically performed after WCAG conformance testing has identified all the WCAG accessibility barriers and remediation has been implemented to remove them. Otherwise, test usability participants may not be able to complete tasks. And usability test findings from non-WCAG conformant sites can be confusing, conflating accessibility and usability issues. We will, of course, conduct usability testing concurrently with conformance testing if you wish.
It is a good point. However, we would like to focus on usability testing not only on accessibility issues but also on general usability issues of some critical pages of the website. For example:
https://www.calpnetwork.org/library/
https://www.calpnetwork.org/capacity-building/facilitated-training/
https://www.calpnetwork.org/blog/
https://www.calpnetwork.org/jobs/
https://www.calpnetwork.org/news-events/
https://www.calpnetwork.org/community/
We know our database of over 800 users with disabilities, i.e. potential usability testers, includes native English and Spanish speakers. We are not certain about Arabic and French speakers. Are these latter necessary? If so we will have to screen for, and perhaps do outreach, to include these languages; this will, in turn, increase recruiting cost. Please let us know.
We can help with recruiting those users if needed. Otherwise, please include the recruiting cost.
