Questions and Answers.docx

Questions and Answers

1. The webpage at SAM says questions are due "no later than 9/15/2023 at 2:00 PM CST," which is the same date/time offers are due. Is the questions-due date actually earlier than that? I meant questions should be asked before the RFQ closes. There is no definite date for completion of work but expected probably no later than 6 months – replied 8/19/2023

1. Are samples available of the documents that need remediation; could you email them to me? No, there are no samples – replied 8/23/2023

1. Can some of the work for this project be done offshore? No, replied 8/21/2023

1. Will the supplied MS Word pages have existing formatting and layout already applied? Yes – replied 8/23/20223

1. How will the pages be delivered to the contractor for processing? Electronic format replied 8/23/2023

1. Are any of the pages submitted combined into large documents? Or are the submitted pages lone single pages? Documents – replied 8/23/2023

1. If single pages are the only type of submittal, is it possible to have submitted the entire document and have pages requiring remediation marked for remediation? All pages needed remediation – replied 8/23/2023

1. Can you please explain how identifiers for figures, graphs, tables, photographs, figures, and images for alternate (alt) text will be supplied? Electronically – replied 8/23/23.

1. Will tables, figures, photographs, graphs, and images be supplied separately or will they be embedded within submitted pages (documents as a whole)? Embedded – replied 8/23/2023

1. Will family font styles be readily available fonts Microsoft Word provides or will there be specialty fonts (ex. Helvetica family font)? If specialty family fonts are required, will they be supplied by the USDA Forest Service Department or is that the contractor's responsibility? Microsoft – replied 8/23/2023

1. Of the 28,229 pages how many of those pages make up complete documents? Unknown – replied 8/23/2023

1. We test and validate pages (documents as a whole) for Section 508 compliance, will we be permitted to use other methods of testing and validation inclusive of Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat? As long as they pass Adobe testing and completed by hand – replied 8/23/2023

1. Will there be the need for the collection of testing and checking reports? Our process includes testing and validation within progress reports. No – replied 8/23/2023

1. Is there an incumbent and can you provide rates and their period of performance? No – replied 8/23/2023

1. What was the time frame and the number of pages provided to the previous incumbent? N/A – replied 8/23/2023

1. Of the 28,229 pages, what is the volume of requests do you anticipate sending? By day, By week, By month? By month – replied 8/23/2023

1. What is USDA Forest Service looking to improve or achieve with the new vendor and/or process? 508 compliance for web applications – replied 8/23/2023

1. What office location is the contractor to perform “Remediation of Documents for 508 Compliance”? Washington DC office – replied 8/23/2023

1. Will the contractor be allowed to perform “Remediation of Documents for 508 Compliance” from their office location remotely? Yes (can’t work in government office) – replied 8/23/2023

1. Will there be the option to extend the "Period of Performance" date. Our beginning process evaluates existing documents as a whole, not by pages? Our evaluations is a thorough check of non-working and/or unresponsive MS Word features structuring the document. Our evaluation gives us an indicator as to where we start and/or where we recreate the structure of the submitted pages (documents as a whole). Not unreasonably withheld – replied 8/23/2023

1. If changing period of performance dates is prohibited, can you give examples of areas within submitted pages (documents as a whole) considered problematic? Changing period of performance is not prohibited – current period of performance is estimated – It could be extended if needed - replied 8/23/2023

1. It appears that there are three Attachments. 1. Price, 2. Technical and 3. Reps & Certs. Can this be clarified? Reps & Certs are only necessary if not SAM registered- replied 8/21/2023

1. Can you please provide us with Section F? Not needed – replied 8/21/2023 25.Could the Government confirm if this is a new requirement? If not, could the Government tell us who the incumbent is and contract value? New requirement – replied 8/23/2023

26. Could the Government clarify if the contract will be awarded to Offeror with the Lowest Price Technical Acceptable or to the Offeror with the Best Value? It has been our experience that it is one or the other, not both. Lowest price and meets technical requirements – replied 8/23/2023

27. Does the Government expect the contractor to remediate the original file (i.e., Word document) and then convert and remediate the PDF version? Or does the Government just want the contractor to convert the document into a PDF and remediate the PDF? Contractor choice. The document pages will be in electronic format mostly word documents. We just want the final is PDF format - replied 8/23/2023

28. Could the Government clarify if all the documents are Word documents or if it’s a mix (i.e., Word, PowerPoint)? Mainly word documents – replied 8/23/2023

29. To provide the best price, we would need an estimate on the complexity of the remediation work. For example, documents that only contain text are easier to remediate than documents that contain graphic, charts and tables. Could the Government provide us with an estimate on the complexity (e.g., 10,000 pages of text, 15,000 pages with text and graphics, 3,229 pages with text, charts, and tables)? Most are texts and numbers – replied 8/23/2023

30. Can we get some samples of the pages to be remediated? The pages are standard PDFs and word document in standard reports – replied 8/18/2023

31. Please verify the posting of the remediated PDFs on the FS internal, external web site, and Share point site is NOT the responsibility of the contractor? Correct. FS will do all the posting – replied 8/18/2023

32. Are any of the documents to be remediated scanned images requiring OCR? Very possible but limited number – replied 8/18/2023

33. Can we assume the process for Word documents is we convert to PDF then remediate? Yes, replied 8/18/2023

34. Provide the formats of documents we will receive for remediation (Word, PDF etc.). Both – replied 8/18/2023