2021-R-008 Website Development.pdf

SECTION A – SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM

SOLICITATION, OFFER AND AWARD

1. CONTRACT NO.

SOLICITATION NO.

2021-R-008

2. TYPE OF SOLICITATION

Competitive

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

See Block 21

4. REQUISITION/

PURCHASE NO.

5. ISSUED BY CODE 6. ADDRESS THE OFFER TO (if other than Item 5)

Office of the Sergeant at Arms United States Senate Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-7207

Attn: Contracts Department Office of the Sergeant at Arms United States Senate 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002

SOLICITATION

7. FOR INFORMATION

CALL OR E-MAIL

A. NAME: Connie Kemper

B. TELEPHONE NO: 202 228-3253 NO COLLECT CALLS) or EMAIL: Acquisitions@saa.senate.gov

8. TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEC DESCRIPTION PAGE(S) SEC DESCRIPTION PAGE(S)

PART I – THE SCHEDULE

X A SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM 1

X I CONTRACT CLAUSES 34-39

X B SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND

PRICE/COSTS

2-4

X C STATEMENT OF WORK 4-19 X J LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 39

X D PACKAGING AND MARKING 19 X K REPRESENTATIONS AND

CERTIFICATIONS

40-44

X E INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE 19-21 L INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND

NOTICES TO OFFERORS

45-50

X F DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE 21-22

X G CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA 22-25 M EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD 50-53

X H SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS 25-34 X N CONTRACTOR PROPOSAL

OFFER (Must be fully completed by Offeror)

9. In compliance with the above, the undersigned agrees, if this offer is accepted within ____ calendar days (90 calendar days unless a different period is inserted by the Offeror) from the date of receipt of offers specified above, to furnish any of the items upon which prices are offered at the price set opposite each item, delivered at the designated point(s), within the specified schedule.

10. ACKNOWLEDEMENT OF AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT NO. DATE AMENDMENT NO. DATE

(The Offeror acknowledges receipt of amendments to the SOLICITATION for Offerors and related documents numbered and dated:

11A. NAME TIN NO Dunn & Bradstreet - 12. NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON AUTHORIZED TO SIGN

AND

ADDRESS OF

OFFEROR

OFFER (Type or Print)

11B. TELEPHONE NO.

11C. CHECK IF REMITTANCE ADDRESS IS

DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE - ENTER SUCH

ADDRESS IN SCHEDULE

13. SIGNATURE 14. DATE SIGNED

AWARD (To be completed by Senate)

15. ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS

NUMBERED

16. AMOUNT In accordance with purchase orders issued under this contract

16. SUBMIT INVOICES in accordance with G.4 ITEM

18. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 5) CODE 19. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY CODE

Office of the Sergeant at Arms United States Senate Financial Department Washington, DC 20510-7205

20. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

David W. Baker

UNITED STATES SENATE (signature of Contracting Officer) 21.DATE SIGNED

IMPORTANT — Award will be made on this Form, or other authorized official written notice mailto:Acquisitions2012@saa.senate.gov

SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 SCOPE

The United States Senate (hereinafter referred to as the “Senate”) Sergeant at Arms (“SAA”) is responsible for the delivery of Senate Office web presence on the Senate’s public internet network, www.senate.gov.

In order to provide Senate Offices with services and software that meet their technical and functional requirements, the SAA will enter into contracts with web development companies to design, develop, and/or maintain the Senate Offices’ public websites in part or in whole for United States Senator and Committee Offices (“Senate Office” or “Office”). The web developer(s) shall hereinafter be referred to as the “Contractor”.

B.2 DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

The Contractor shall assist Senate Offices with the design, development and, if requested, ongoing website maintenance and end-user support of their public senate.gov websites. Any products or services to be furnished under this Contract shall be ordered by issuance of Task Order(s) by the Contracting Officer (see Section G.1). The Contractor will be provided with a base WordPress or Drupal build that is configured with the tools, features, content types, and plugins that are most common to Senate Office websites. The Senate reserves the right to further define and/or change requirements in the future.

Management rights to the site and its content, in whatever stage of completion, shall be the sole property of the Senate Office.

B.3 CONTRACT TYPE

The SAA anticipates award of hybrid Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts utilizing both Firm-Fixed-Price and Labor-Hour Task Orders for custom-developed products and services. Under a Labor-Hour Task Order, the Contractor shall not exceed the existing funding and originally proposed labor hours on the Task Order without written approval from the Contracting Officer.

In addition, under a Labor-Hour Task Order, if the actual number of hours required to complete the task is lower than the number proposed, the Contractor shall invoice for the actual number of hours to complete the work. All services shall be provided at fixed labor rates that will comprise either a Firm-Fixed-Price or Labor-Hour estimate per Task Order.

The SAA may elect to award multiple IDIQ contracts for the same or similar services to three (3) or more sources under this Solicitation. However, the SAA retains the right to award fewer than three (3) awards should it be determined in its best interest. In addition, the Senate reserves the right to resolicit and award additional IDIQ Contracts at a later date, as the SAA determines necessary in its sole discretion.

B.4 PRICING

The schedule at B.7.1 shall provide the firm-fixed labor-hour rates for the services offered herein under this Contract. All pricing shall be fully burdened with all administrative costs and other direct costs (ODCs), unless specifically otherwise identified or agreed upon by the SAA. Travel costs are not expected under this Contract, however in the event that travel outside of the Metropolitan Washington Area is required, the Contractor shall provide a Firm-Fixed-Price for the required long-distance travel and the SAA shall approve the travel by issuance of a written Task Order or Task Order modification prior to the Contractor incurring any such costs.

The Contractor shall provide Website Design and Development, Website Maintenance and End-user Support, and Training services on an hourly basis.

All pricing submissions shall be rounded to the nearest whole dollar, i.e., $250.46 is $250.00, $250.73 is $251.00.

The Contractor’s goal shall be to deliver the Senate Office’s requested Website Design and Development and/or Website Maintenance and End-user Support within the approved budget and schedule in accordance with industry best practices.

B.5 TERM

This Contract is effective for a one-year base period, which shall commence on or about January 1, 2021.

The Contract will have five (5) one-year option periods. The SAA may exercise option(s) in accordance with Section H.8, Exercise of Options.

B.6 PRICE RE-DETERMINATION AND ADJUSTMENT

The Contractor may offer a price reduction at any time effective upon the date offered by the Contractor and shall apply to all services performed on or after the effective date of price change. Price increases shall be mutually agreed. Any pricing changes shall be incorporated into the Contract through a modification hereto.

B.7 PRICING SCHEDULE

The Schedule at B.7.1 contains the rates for the Contractor, which the SAA shall use and issue either Firm- Fixed-Price or Labor-Hour Task Orders to the Contractor as a part of this Contract.

On those occasions when a Senate Office may request Website Design and Development and/or Training services, the Contractor’s price proposal shall be provided to the Office using the rates in CLIN 001 or CLIN 003 (and successors for the appropriate Contract term).

On those occasions when an Office may request an Extended Website Maintenance Request (see Sec. C.3.7) under CLIN 002 (and successors), the Contractor’s price proposal shall be provided to the Office using the rates in CLIN 002 (and successors for the appropriate Contract term).

B.7.1 Schedule for Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs)

Base Period - January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 CLIN Description of Products, Supplies, or Service Unit of Measure Quantity Firm-Fixed-Rate 001 Website Design and Development Hour 1 $

002 Website Maintenance and End-User Support Hour 1 $

003 Training Hour 1 $

Option Period 1 - January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022

101 Website Design and Development Hour 1 $

102 Website Maintenance and End-User Support Hour 1 $

103 Training Hour 1 $

Option Period 2 - January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023

201 Website Design and Development Hour 1 $

202 Website Maintenance and End-User Support Hour 1 $

203 Training Hour 1 $

Option Period 3 - January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024

301 Website Design and Development Hour 1 $

302 Website Maintenance and End-User Support Hour 1 $

303 Training Hour 1 $

Option Period 4 - January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025

401 Website Design and Development Hour 1 $

402 Website Maintenance and End-User Support Hour 1 $

403 Training Hour 1 $

Option Period 5 - January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026

501 Website Design and Development Hour 1 $

502 Website Maintenance and End-User Support Hour 1 $

503 Training Hour 1 $

B.8 CONTRACT CEILING AND GUARANTEED MINIMUM

The maximum ceiling of each IDIQ contract is $5,637,600. There is no guaranteed minimum on this IDIQ Contract. The Senate does not guarantee any work from this Multiple Award IDIQ Contract, as individual Task Orders will be competed between multiple awarded IDIQ Contract holders.

SECTION C - TASK ORDERS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 INDEFINITE DELIVERY-INDEFINITE QUANTITY ("IDIQ")

This is an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity ("IDIQ") Contract.

(a) Delivery or performance shall be made only as authorized by Task Orders issued in accordance with this Contract. Senate Offices shall purchase services by issuing a written Task Order executed by the Contracting Officer.

(b) Any Task Order issued during the effective period of this Contract and not completed within that period shall be completed by the Contractor within the time specified in the Task Order, including any extension agreed to in writing by the SAA. The Contract shall govern the parties' rights and obligations with respect to that Task Order to the same extent as if the Task Order was completed during the Contract term.

(c) The Contractor shall use SAA-provided resources solely and exclusively for providing and supporting websites in accordance with Task Orders issued under this Contract. Any and all other applications, functionality, utilization, or data are strictly prohibited on, or from, interacting with SAA-provided resources. Unauthorized use of SAA-provided resources may result in contract termination.

C.2 ORDERING

(a) Any services to be furnished under this Contract shall be ordered by issuance of Task Order(s) by the Contracting Officer (See G.1 below). Orders shall be addressed to the Contractor at the address in Section A, Block 11A of the Contract.

(b) All delivery orders or Task Orders are subject to the terms and conditions of this Contract. In the event of conflict between a delivery order or Task Order and this Contract, the Contract shall control in accordance with Section H.1, Order of Precedence. The parties shall not use Task Orders to modify the Contract.

(c) Task orders will be issued electronically by the SAA to the Contractor.

(d) All Contractor price proposals must use the rates in B.7.1 and be submitted to the SAA for distribution to the Senate Office(s) for proposal evaluation. Each Task Order Proposal Request (TOPR) will specify the contract type (Firm Fixed Price or Labor-Hour) for the specific Task Order.

(e) The SAA shall provide the Senate Office with a Website Annual Support Order Form, Attachment J- 006, for the Office’s use to initiate creation of Purchase Order(s)/Task Order(s) to fund payments for the Contractor’s Training, and/or Website Maintenance and End-user Support that is not included in a previously issued Task Order.

C.3 STATEMENT OF WORK

The Contractor shall assist the Senate Offices with the design and development, training, and, if requested, ongoing website maintenance and end-user support of their public websites within the senate.gov domain.

Senate Offices’ website content shall be stored and managed through the use of an SAA-provided WordPress or Drupal build. These base Content Management System (CMS) builds are preconfigured with the tools, features, content types, forms, and plugins most commonly used on Senate websites. For additional information and technical requirements, refer to Senate Web Development Guide (Attachment J- 001).

General requirements are stated below:

1. All of the website content shall reside on and be downloaded from senate.gov, or from other Senate-sanctioned public social media sites, e.g., YouTube and Facebook.

2. The application download shall be at no cost to the site user.

3. There shall be no passive data collection.

4. Personal data/smartphone resources can only be activated/used with the express permission of the site user.

C.3.1 Pre-Award Procedures

Unless otherwise provided in the Task Order Proposal Request (TOPR), the SAA will follow the below procedures for gathering Senate Offices’ website requirements and awarding Task Orders:

• Offices will notify the SAA expressing an interest in creating or substantially revising their websites.

• Using the Senate Requirements Questionnaire, the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), or designee, shall meet with Office staff to identify and document the Office’s website requirements.

See Sec. C.3.4 below.

• The SAA will issue a TOPR on a Firm-Fixed-Price or Labor-Hour basis to the IDIQ contract holders that contains the Office’s list of needs and requirements.

• The IDIQ contract holders will submit proposals for the requirements in the TOPR.

• Based upon the Office’s evaluation of all proposals submitted, the Office will select the proposal that best meets the requirements of the TOPR and will recommend to the SAA a Contractor for award.

• The SAA will notify the Contractor of the award and issue a Task Order (TO).

C.3.1.1. All IDIQ contract holders will be entitled to submit a proposal for all competed TOPRs issued by the SAA. The SAA issuing a TOPR does not constitute an authorization to start work.

C.3.1.2 Task Order Proposal Requirements

The Contractor shall provide a response to the Statement of Work requirements in the TOPR. The proposal shall not exceed twenty (20) pages. Unless otherwise directed within the TOPR, the proposal shall:

a. address all Task Order requirements, tasks and deliverables;

b. describe the design approach that shall be used, including a discussion of issues to be considered and provide examples;

c. describe the project management process to be employed;

d. describe the Contractor’s support plan for tracking and escalating problems;

e. provide references and examples of website graphic design work previously completed (this work shall be available to view in a web browser);

f. contain a staffing plan;

g. provide resumes of proposed personnel;

h. contain a Firm-Fixed-Price (or Labor-Hour if indicated in the TOPR) proposal providing:

1. itemized Feature Set Task costs, based on the rates for Website Design and Development (CLIN 001 and successors) in B.7.1 for the applicable Contract period;

2. the Contractor’s hourly rate for Website Maintenance and End-user Support (CLIN 002 and successors) for the current Contract year and all option years;

3. itemized Training charges, based on the rates in CLIN 003 (and successors); and

i. complete the Deliverable Schedule to represent the Contractor's proposed timeline for this project.

With the award of a Task Order, the SAA shall assign a Task Order number, identified as a suffix to the Contract number, for use as reference for the duration of the Task Order term. The SAA may modify Task Orders throughout the term of the Contract, as needed.

C.3.2 Project Management

The Contractor shall utilize best practices in website development project management to assist Senate Offices through the process in a timely manner. These best practices include, but are not restricted to:

• Taking responsibility for managing staff and tasks/activities;

• Assigning sufficient, qualified technical and support resources;

• Measuring and evaluating progress against the approved project plan;

• Collaborating and communicating with the Senate Office;

• Scheduling and implementing testing procedures and quality assurance testing in accordance with the Web Development Guide (Attachment J-001) and the Quality Assurance Checklist (J-002 Quality Requirements);

• Identifying risks and making recommendations to the Senate Office on creative and management directions;

• Resolving deviations from the project plan; and,

• Alerting the Senate Office when a new request falls outside of the projected scope of work.

The Contractor may be asked to communicate with all levels of the Senate Office and must have a thorough understanding of the project scope, budget, schedule, and resources. The Contractor must deliver the Office’s requested web design, programming, training, and/or website maintenance and end-user support within the approved budget and schedule in accordance with industry best practices, Office-initiated or caused delays notwithstanding.

C.3.3 Task Order Administration

C.3.3.1 The Senate Office will designate an Office Point-of-Contact (“Office POC”) who will be responsible for oversight of the Contractor’s performance for any Task Order for that Office (see Sec. G.3).

The SAA shall provide the Contractor access to all available Senate-furnished information and system access as required to accomplish each Task Order. Contract surveillance duties shall be defined and accomplished in accordance with each Task Order Quality Requirements defined in J-002.

C.3.3.2 Upon request from the Senate Office, the Contractor will submit an Initial Project Plan to the Office POC that shall include a Website Wireframe (see Sec. C.4.2), production schedules, task priorities, and assignment of Key Personnel (see H.3). The Office POC will review the Initial Project Plan and provide comments regarding the proposed schedule and course of action within five (5) business days. The Contractor shall review the Project Plan weekly, revise, and submit the updated plan via traceable electronic means, to the Office POC for written approval of any changes.

The Contractor shall receive approval from the Office POC in writing, prior to proceeding to the next project phase, and will send a copy of that approval to the COR.

C.3.3.3 The Contractor shall submit a Weekly Status Report via email to the Office POC (and copy the COR) that contains, at a minimum, goals for the upcoming week, accomplishments during the previous week, and a work plan and resource allocation for the upcoming week.

C.3.3.4 The Contractor shall submit the deliverables to the Office POC in draft for review and comment, and in final form for Office POC acceptance. The Office POC will review each draft deliverable and provide comments and requests for changes within five (5) business days. Upon receipt of the Office POC’s comments and request for changes, the Contractor shall promptly incorporate the Office POC’s changes and deliver the final document no later than two (2) business days after receipt of the changes, unless otherwise mutually agreed or specified in the Task Order. The Contractor shall copy the COR on all deliverables to the POC.

During the Senate Office review process the Contractor may be required to meet with the Office’s staff to address comments, questions, and revisions to the deliverable. Unless otherwise specified or agreed, all written deliverables shall be provided via remote access, electronic mail, or on portable media.

The SAA reserves the right to request copies of any/all documentation and communications between the Senate Office and the Contractor, in advance or in arrears of those communications.

C.3.4 Website Design and Development

The Contractor shall develop websites that conform to the design principles established for the United States Senate public website, www.senate.gov as defined in the Senate Web Development Guide, Attachment J- 001.

The website shall provide a custom layout that meets the Senate Office’s needs and preferences, and allows site visitors to easily navigate the website. The website design shall be intuitive, and portray a consistent visual theme that conveys relevant information effectively through images, multimedia, and the concise use of text. The site features shall be displayed prominently, and presented in a way that maximizes accessibility and flexibility for site visitors.

Any and all data elements gathered by the website, whether via webform or other method, shall be able to be tagged and formatted for subsequent delivery to a destination application/system of the Office’s choosing. The Office will provide the required tag sets/specifications. Samples of frequently used tag sets shall be made available by the Office to the Contractor upon request.

Offices’ website designs must incorporate the principles of responsive design using CSS media queries, such that websites include the following capabilities:

1) Rescale, resize, or otherwise dynamically adapt to fit the screen size of the user's device;

2) Provide touch-friendly alternatives to such elements as rollover menus;

3) Device-based content selection;

4) Enhance accessibility for users with visual, motor, or other impairments;

5) Structure such that the website is not flagged as duplicate content by search engines or web crawlers;

and,

6) Contractor-verified performance as expected with all common browser/device orientations.

C.3.4.1 The Contractor shall comply with all regulations governing sites hosted on the Senate web servers.

See also the Senate Web Development Guide, found in Attachment J-001.

The Senate Web Development Guide will be reviewed quarterly, and revised as needed, to reflect changes in the Senate’s web development environment and protocols. The SAA will promptly notify the Contractor if there are any updates or revisions to this document and provide it to the Contractor.

C.3.4.2 Appendix A of Sample Requirements Questionnaire (J-007), is intended to present the type of information to be gathered for the TOPR to assist Senate Offices in identifying and documenting their desired website’s content and features. The questionnaire also shows the types of elements that are being incorporated into many Senate websites. However, it is not an exhaustive list, and can be modified per individual Office requirements, as general requirements change and technology evolves.

C.3.4.3 The Contractor shall develop the website in accordance with the Senate Office’s requirements, as well as assist the Office with getting its message to site visitors or “branding” their website. As a source of reference on important elements of congressional websites, the Contractor shall look to the work of the http://www.senate.gov/

Congressional Management Foundation (http://www.cmfweb.org/) (Gold Mouse Project) as a point of reference to the current state of website development and use in the Senate.

C.3.4.4 Website Design and Development documents/tasks may include, but are not limited to:

• Site graphical design and style mock-up/composition. Typically, this includes images of the home page, inner content pages, form processing, and any special pages that require unique formatting or layout;

• A clickable HTML mockup addressing all elements of the approved project “wireframe” document;

• Applying the HTML/CSS template for use in development of the web pages;

• Browser and HTML/CSS testing;

• Form processing, search, links, and service testing;

• Rollout timeline and site launch; and,

• Site documentation and training.

The Contractor shall copy the COR on all Design and Development documents upon submission to the Office POC.

C.3.4.5 Content developed by the Contractor that is not manageable by Senate Office administrators (e.g.

downloadable PDFs) shall be written in plain language (http://www.plainlanguage.gov/) which ensures effective and clear communication with site users.

C.3.4.6 Senate Offices’ websites shall comply with regulatory notices mandated by Committee on Rules and Administration during election moratorium periods and other periods, as may be dictated by the Committee on Rules and Administration. See Attachment J-005, Committee on Rules and Administration Mandatory Notifications.

C.3.4.7 The website shall include a site-wide search function supplied by the SAA. Search results shall be cleanly formatted, presenting the site visitor with results that are distinctly separated and/or grouped by content type. Search ranking and relevancy will be determined by the Senate Office, and search results shall provide the capability for site users to further refine their initial search by date, content type, taxonomy, or by other criteria specified by the Office.

C.3.4.8 The site shall be designed using usability standards (http://www.usability.gov), which measure the quality of users’ experience when interacting with the site. The Contractor shall design and develop websites that are compatible with Akamai’s Content Delivery Network. For additional information, refer to the Senate Web Development Guide, found in Section J, Attachment J-001.

C.3.4.9 The Contractor shall provide other features required to meet Section 508 accessibility and compliance standards. Section 508 refers to a statutory section in the Rehabilitation act of 1973 (found at 29 U.S. 794d) and is available at http://section508.gov/.

C.3.4.10 The content areas that cannot be managed by the Senate Office, if any, shall be clearly identified in the Contractor’s response to the TOPR.

C.3.4.11 Design elements such as color palettes, button shapes, curves, shadows, fonts, etc. shall be developed in close coordination with the Senate Office during the project design phase.

C.3.4.12 The Contractor shall develop a basic sitemap representing all of the website sections and features that shall serve as the official project content scope and present it for Senate Office approval.

http://www.cmfweb.org/ http://www.plainlanguage.gov/ http://www.usability.gov/ http://section508.gov/

C.3.4.13 A functional, responsive, mockup of the home page and other all major elements/landings should be presented to the Senate Office for review, revision, and approval.

C.3.4.14 Dimensions of the content elements are left to the discretion of the Senate Office.

C.3.5 Website and Quality Assurance Testing

The Contractor shall perform Website and Quality Assurance Testing to evaluate the performance of the website and its components to ensure that a Senate Office’s website functions as desired. The Contractor must adhere to the testing and reporting requirements specified in the Quality Requirements (J-002) and shall encourage the Office to actively participate in all phases of testing through the Post-Production Monitoring Period (see Sec. C.3.5.7). The Contractor shall present test plans prior to execution, and communicate test results after execution, to the Office POC and the COR. See Performance Requirements listed in J-002, Quality Requirements).

C.3.5.1 Defect Review

The Contractor shall implement a defect assessment process to use for all defects reported during the test periods. At a minimum, the Contractor shall classify defects as one of the following:

• Critical – impacts the operation of the website beyond the operation causing the defect;

• Serious, with workaround – required functionality cannot be performed, but there are other methods an appropriate user can use to achieve the desired functionality; or,

• Other – any other type of defect (e.g., cosmetic anomalies, misspellings, etc.).

The Contractor shall document not only the cause of the defect(s), but also the proposed solution. The Contractor shall submit this information to the Office POC (and copy the COR), who must approve the proposed solution in writing, before proceeding to install the remediation of the defect.

C.3.5.2 Beta Testing

The Contractor shall develop a set of Beta Tests to evaluate whether the necessary website components have been installed correctly and are functioning properly. These Beta Tests will also ensure that the website design reflects the Senate Office’s requested feature set.

At a minimum, the Beta Testing suite shall evaluate:

• the appearance and behavior of the home page, inner content page(s), and any special pages that require unique formatting or layout;

• the appearance and behavior of the HTML/CSS template that was created from the approved design; and,

• the Browser and HTML/CSS integration and interactions.

The Contractor shall execute its test plan and upon completion, promptly prepare and present to the Office POC (and copy the COR) a test report based upon the results of the execution of the Beta Test plan. Upon Office POC’s written approval of those results, including descriptions of successful defect remediation identified through the conclusion of the Beta Testing phase, the Contractor and Office POC may consider the system ready for Integration Testing (C.3.5.3).

C.3.5.3 Integration Testing

The Contractor shall develop and perform a set of Integration Tests. The purpose of the Integration Tests is to ensure that all of the site’s various components function together successfully after they have been installed and are operational.

The Integration Tests shall evaluate:

• the accuracy of the data output from form(s) processing;

• the successful delivery of forms-based email to its intended destination;

• verify that web forms only interact with approved constituent correspondence services;

• the accuracy and reliability of searches;

• the accuracy and reliability of links;

• the behavior of any graphics files used to generate web graphics;

• the website’s correct interaction with any necessary external components, i.e., databases and systems;

• the accuracy and completeness of Content Migration (if any) performed by the SAA;

• that the website meets the requirements as specified in Section C.3.4 above, and in the individual

TOPR; and

• the website otherwise functions as expected.

Upon execution of the Integration Test plan, the Contractor shall report and review all test results with the Office POC and submit those items that require SAA assistance for resolution to the SAA, as directed by the Senate Website Development Guide (J-001).

The Contractor shall prepare and present to the Office POC a test report (and copy the COR) based upon the results of the execution of the Integration Test plan. Upon Office POC’s written approval of those results, including successful remediation of all defects identified through the Integration Test phase, the system shall be considered ready for the Readiness Review (C.3.5.4).

C.3.5.4 Readiness Review

In preparation for moving the website into production and prior to the Senate Office’s acceptance of the final website, the Contractor shall perform a Readiness Review to ensure that any and all previously identified website deficiencies and/or anomalies have been rectified, and that all of the Office’s concerns have been addressed and remedied.

The Readiness Review shall also:

• confirm that Content Migration (if any) has been successfully completed;

• confirm that the site functions properly with a fully loaded and current database;

• confirm the successful correction of all defects identified;

• confirm that the Senate Office has been successfully trained to maintain their site (see Sec. C.3.9);

• confirm that documentation has been provided to the Senate Office (see Sec. C.3.9); and,

• confirm that the website is operating correctly on the test environment authoring backend servers.

Following the successful completion of all facets of the Readiness Review, the Contractor shall submit a Readiness Review Report to the Office POC (and copy the COR). Upon Office POC’s approval of the Readiness Review Report, the Contractor shall coordinate with the Senate Office and the SAA to move the website from the test environment to the production environment.

Once the Readiness Review is complete, the website shall be considered ready to move to production.

C.3.5.4.1 The Contractor acknowledges the process for setting up the website in the production environment can take up to five (5) business days. When scheduling a website’s move to production, the Contractor should ensure that all support resources are available to quickly resolve any post-production problems.

C.3.5.5 Pre-Launch Production Testing

Following the website’s move to the production environment, but prior to the site being added to the external Domain Name System (DNS), the Contractor shall test the website and confirm that:

• all the site components have been properly installed;

• all site component parameters, permissions, and links have been configured correctly in the production environment; and,

• the site is fully functional and working as designed.

The Contractor shall confirm that the website is operating correctly on the production environment public-facing frontend servers.

Contractors designing Drupal or WordPress sites shall also confirm that sites are operating correctly on the production environment authoring backend servers.

C.3.5.5.1 The Contractor shall take into consideration that addressing will not permit two production sites for a single Office to exist simultaneously on the same set of servers. As a result, when necessary, the Contractor shall be prepared to allocate additional time and staff resources during testing to expedite problem identification and resolution (e.g., when there is no change in a website’s programming environment or both old and new sites are using Drupal).

C.3.5.5.2 The Contractor shall document and report problems, defects, anomalies, and proposed solutions to the Office POC (and copy the COR). Upon the Office POC’s written approval, the Contractor will apply the remediated code to the testing tier, and re-test the site. If no additional problems are noted, the website can be moved to the production environment once again and shall then be considered ready for Post-Launch Production Verification (C.3.5.6).

If no problems are detected, the Contractor shall provide written notification to the Office POC that the site has been successfully tested, and is now ready to go live.

C.3.5.6 Post-Launch Production Verification

Once Website and Quality Assurance Testing has been successfully completed and the website has been added to the external DNS, the Contractor shall confirm that the site is fully operational, working as designed as well as accessible to and completely functional for external visitors.

The Contractor shall notify the Office POC (and copy the COR) in writing when the website goes live, indicating that the Post-Launch Production Verification has been performed, and that the Post-Production Monitoring Period (C.3.5.7) has started.

C.3.5.7 Post-Production Monitoring Period

During this period, the Contractor shall monitor the website to ensure that the website:

• Properly handles a wide range of input conditions;

• Functions properly under heavy load conditions (“performance” testing);

• Meets stated usability and accessibility criteria;

• Is tolerant of normal fault conditions; and,

• Behaves identically for users on the Senate network and those on the Internet.

C.3.5.7.1 Exit from Post-Production Monitoring Period and Acceptance

The Post-Production Monitoring Period shall end when all defects identified during the Post-Production Monitoring Period have been remediated and the website has performed as required for a period of fourteen

(14) consecutive days.

In accordance with the Acceptance provisions in Section E.4, at the end of the Post-Production Monitoring Period, the Contractor shall promptly prepare and present to the Office POC a report of the website’s behavior during the Post-Production Monitoring Period, noting any failures, deficiencies, defects and/or anomalies (Website Failure Downtime). If the Monitoring Period has to be restarted (see C.3.5.7.2 below), then the Contractor shall report only the results of the latest Monitoring Period.

In accordance with the provisions in Sec. E.4, if there are no outstanding failures, deficiencies, defects or anomalies, the Contractor may present the website to the Office POC for written Acceptance, which shall constitute the Office’s final acceptance of the website as an operational, production website, as specified in the Task Order.

C.3.5.7.2 Re-invocation of Post-Production Monitoring Period

If Website Failure Downtime occurs, the Post-Production Monitoring Period shall be re-started, and shall continue until the standard of performance has been achieved (fourteen (14) consecutive days without Failure Downtime) and all defects identified during the Post-Production Monitoring Period have been remediated.

If a Website Failure Downtime occurrence or website defect causes the Senate Office to fall back to the old website, the Contractor shall, at its own expense, re-convert any new and updated data created in the old website to the new website prior to re-establishing the new website for continued Post-Production Monitoring.

The Post-Production Monitoring Period shall begin again after the replacement of the designated parts, restoration of data from the old website, and notice from Contractor to the Senate Office POC (with a copy sent to the COR) that the website is again ready for the Post-Production Monitoring Period.

C.3.5.8 Website Exception Period

Following the Senate Office’s Acceptance of the website, there shall be an Exception Period of thirty (30) calendar days during which the Contractor shall provide Website Maintenance and End-user Support at no cost to the Office. The Contractor shall notify the Office in writing (and copy the COR) when the Website Exception Period has begun, when the Website Exception Period ends, and confirm in writing that Website Maintenance and End-user Support shall be provided at no cost to the Office. The Contractor shall also present to the Office POC and the COR, a single electronic report of all required documentation, for the record. The Exception Period does not include development of new capabilities or new content items.

Charges for Website Maintenance and End-user Support (when purchased by the Senate Office) shall begin the day after the last day of the Exception Period.

C.3.6 Website Maintenance and End-User Support

C.3.6.1 The Contractor shall offer Website Maintenance and End-user Support to its Senate customers, as specified in B.7.1, CLIN 002 (and successors). Senate Offices may decline to purchase these services. The SAA recommends Offices commit to a nominal number of Support hours to cover Website exigencies.

C.3.6.2 In those instances where the Senate Office wishes to fund additional hours of Website Maintenance and End-user Support, the Contractor shall provide the Office POC with a completed Website Annual Support Order Form (Attachment J-006) for signature to fund the number of hours requested by the Senate Office. Please refer to Sec. C.2 (e).

C.3.6.3 The Contractor shall provide Website Maintenance and End-user Support services during normal business hours 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays.

Website Maintenance and End-user Support shall include a human acknowledgement of any service request within a minimum fifteen (15) minute response time.

C.3.6.4 All defects identified by the Senate Office as recurring problems shall automatically be escalated internally by the Contractor for resolution, in accordance with the Contractor’s established Support procedures, per Sec. C.3.1.2.

C.3.6.5 Requests for Website Maintenance and End-user Support will be initiated by the Senate Office and may include, but are not limited to:

• Responding to Office inquiries;

• Resolving problems reported by Office;

• Changes to the structure of the website design and layout;

• Adding, editing, or deleting website content;

• Adding, editing, or deleting website graphics including, but not limited to, photographs and navigation buttons;

• Editing the website navigation;

• Adding, editing, or deleting website forms and ensuring compatibility with the Office’s CSS;

• Adding, editing, or deleting hyperlinks to Senate-approved social networking websites;

• Search engine optimization; and,

• Updates to website accessibility.

C.3.6.6 The Contractor shall provide a Monthly Report to the Office POC (and copy the COR) that details the Office’s utilization of Website Maintenance and End-user Support hours; the Report shall be submitted by the 10th of the following month (Sec. C.4.9.2).

C.3.7 Extended Website Maintenance Requests

C.3.7.1 In the event that the Senate Office requests the Contractor to provide additional Website Maintenance and End-user Support task(s) that, in their entirety, require more than five (5) hours, but fewer than thirty (30) cumulative hours, the Contractor shall prepare and submit a written proposal to the Office POC (and copy the COR) that details the Office’s request and uses the rates in B.7.1, CLIN 002 (and successors), and the Contractor’s best estimate of the total number of hours required to complete the task(s) under the Firm-Fixed Price or Labor-Hour Task Order. The proposal shall contain:

(1) an itemized description of the requested maintenance task(s);

(2) the Contractor’s best estimate of the hours necessary to complete each of the associated tasks;

(3) the cost for each of the tasks(s);

(4) the total number of hours required to complete the work;

(5) the total cost for the requested work; and,

(6) the proposed completion date.

C.3.7.2 The Senate Office POC will review the proposal, and if the Office chooses to proceed, will sign and return the proposal to the Contractor, who may then start work. Upon receipt of the signed proposal, the Contractor shall send a copy to the COR. Under no circumstances shall the Contractor begin work on the Extended Website Maintenance Request until they have received the Office POC’s written approval of the Contractor’s proposal, and have confirmed with the Office POC that the Task Order funding the request has a balance of unused Support hours sufficient to cover the hours estimated in the Contractor’s written proposal.

C.3.7.3 Any volume of Website Maintenance and End-user Support requests that, in their entirety, will require thirty (30) or more cumulative hours to complete, shall be considered a Substantive Website Revision (see Sec. C.3.10).

C.3.8 Defect Remediation

The Contractor shall repair defects in Senate Offices’ websites at no additional cost to the Senate, regardless of when the defects are identified, and shall confirm, in writing to the Office POC and the COR, when a defect has been repaired at no additional cost to the Senate. Acceptance (see Sec. E.4) does not waive the Senate's rights, nor is Acceptance conclusive, with regard to latent product defects or those defects that manifest only through the extended use of the product.

C.3.8.1 Defect Remediation Protocol

When defects are identified by the Contractor, or identified and reported by the Senate Office or the COR (or designee), the Contractor must supply a report to the COR and the Office within forty-eight (48) hours containing:

1. A description of the deficiency.

2. The remediation plan and schedule.

3. An explanation of how the Contractor’s quality control protocols failed in this instance.

4. The Contractor’s plan to prevent the same defect in the future.

5. A report from the Contractor confirming this was an isolated incident and none of their other Senate web clients have the same deficiency.

If the Contractor discovers or learns a web design defect may or is likely to be present in the websites for other Senate Offices, the Contractor will inform the COR which sites have or may have the same defect.

The SAA will inform those Offices of the defect and the Contractor's plan to remediate the defective websites.

C.3.9 Documentation and Training

C.3.9.1 The Contractor shall develop electronic versions of all website documentation needed to use, implement, and maintain the website (Documentation) and present such Documentation to the Office POC and the COR prior to a production launch of the website.

C.3.9.2 The Contractor may be requested to provide training services (Training), as specified in Sec. B.7.1, CLIN 003 (and successors). The amount of training will be variable; specific training requirements, if any, will be detailed in the TOPR.

C.3.9.2.1 The Contractor shall develop and deliver Training to the Senate Office’s site administrator, (providing a written copy the COR), as well as to other Office staff identified by the Office POC for creating, updating and maintaining the Office’s website content, features and capabilities.

C.3.10 Substantive Website Revisions

Following a Senate Office’s Acceptance of a website, in the event that the Office requests the Contractor to perform revisions to the Office’s website that will require thirty (30) or more cumulative hours to complete, this request shall be considered a Substantive Website Revision. A request for a Substantive Website Revision shall follow the processes and procedures for websites in Section C.3.

C.3.10.1 When the Contractor determines that the request will require Substantive Website Revision, the Contractor shall notify the COR and the Office POC in writing that the request qualifies as a Substantive Website Revision, and prepare and submit a document that describes the Contractor’s understanding of the work to be performed.

The SAA will review the Contractor’s documentation and, if the requested modifications would result in an essentially new website, will issue a competitive TOPR. Otherwise, the SAA will issue a TOPR to the Contractor.

C.3.10.2 When responding to the TOPR, the Contractor’s price proposals shall be provided to the Senate Office using the rates in B.7.1, CLIN 001 (and successors), and the Contractor’s best estimate of the total number of hours required to complete the project.

The Contractor shall not begin work on the website revisions until the Task Order has been issued.

C.3.11 Technical Requirements and Programming Standards

C.3.11.1 General Technical Requirements

Senate Offices’ website content shall be stored and managed through the use of a SAA-provided browser-based CMS (WordPress or Drupal).

C.3.11.1.1 The Contractor shall adhere to all the requirements and guidelines in the Senate Web Development Guide, found in Attachment J-001.

C.3.11.1.2 The official Seal of the United States Senate cannot be used as a graphical element on the site, (per Public Law 105-55: Sec. 308. (a) Section 713(a) of title 18, United States Code).

C.3.11.2 CMS Requirements

The Contractor shall develop websites compliant with the Senate-provided CMS solutions referenced in J- 001, the Senate Web Development Guide. Requests for additional features or functionality of those CMS options must be submitted to the COR for SAA-written approval prior to inclusion of such functionality in any Task Order proposal.

C.3.11.3 Senate Supported Software List

C.3.11.3.1 Attachment J-011, Senate Software Supported List, contains the list of software that the SAA currently supports. Updates to the list are made approximately every six (6) weeks, and will be provided to the Contractor at least thirty (30) calendar days before being effective. All Contractor development software shall be operable with any additions or changes to these lists at the time that the changes or additions become effective.

C.3.11.3.2 The SAA shall provide the Contractor access to any necessary Senate resources on the Senate network in order to complete work on the Senate Office website(s). However, the SAA retains the right to determine applicability of the request and to deny access to the Senate network as necessary.

C.3.12 Contractor Promotional Materials

Any Contractor documents or other materials or media provided to Senate Offices containing product comparisons or relative merits between website development Contractors and related content is not permitted. The materials shall only reference the Contractor’s own offerings, and must not reference, refer to, compare, or contrast the Contractor’s offering with any other offerings.

C.4 TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall be required to provide the Senate Office (with a copy to the COR) of the following deliverables, which include, but are not limited to:

C.4.1 Project Plan and Weekly Status Reports

The Contractor shall provide the Office POC a Project Plan via email outlining the major milestones of the project. The level of detail in this plan shall be sufficient to make clear to the Office the deadlines of the Contractor, as well as those of the Office, and the tasks each are responsible for and deadlines for completion of those tasks. See Sec. C.3.3.2.

The Contractor shall submit a Weekly Status Report via email to the Office POC. (See C.3.3.3.)

C.4.2 Wireframe(s)

The Contractor shall provide a series of Wireframe(s), i.e. an illustrated, plain language depiction of the specified website features and services that shall serve as a project blueprint. The Contractor shall submit this document for the Office POC’s approval prior to initiating the development phase of the project. See Sec. C.3.1.2.

C.4.3 Site Design and Development Documents/Tasks

Specific details of a Senate Office’s desired website design shall be listed in an individual TOPR. Please refer to Appendix A and Appendix B of Attachment J-007, Sample Requirements Questionnaires, for an overview of the types of website features commonly considered by Senate Offices. Generally, the related development tasks may include, but are not limited to:

• Site graphical design and style mock-up/composition, which typically includes mockups of the home page, inner content pages, form processing, and any special pages that require unique formatting or layout (including responsive views).

• A template/theme created from the approved design;

• A clickable HTML mockup addressing all elements of the…