22Q0024_DRAFT PWS_042822.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Department of Defense Education Activity

4800 Mark Center Drive

Alexandria, VA 22350

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PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Assistive Technology Accessibility Software

1. General Information and Scope of Work

1.1 Agency

1.1.1 The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) provides PK-12 instruction to active-duty military and civilian employees. In the Americas, DoDEA operates 50 schools located in seven states, Puerto

Rico, and Cuba. In Europe and the Middle East, DoDEA operates 64 schools located in Germany, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Bahrain. In the Pacific, DoDEA operates 45 schools located in Korea, Japan (mainland and Okinawa), and Guam. DoDEA also operates a full time K-

12 virtual school option with teaching hubs in each DoDEA region: Americas, Europe, and Pacific.

DoDEA's curriculum, resources and student achievement scores on standardized assessments compare favorably to those of high-performing US public school systems.

1.1.2 Military-connected students experience high mobility rates across the nation and throughout the world.

Therefore, DoDEA makes a concerted effort to mitigate transitional barriers to military-connected students’ success, working toward a worldwide systemic education network.

1.1.3 DoDEA has adopted College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) in mathematics, literacy, the arts, social studies, and science, which are rigorous, research-based, and reflect the knowledge, skills and dispositions students need for success in college and/or careers and are aligned with the Common Core State Standards

(CCSS); National Core Art Standards (NCAS); Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS); College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards; Society for Health Education and

Physical Education Standards (SHAPE America); and the International Society for Technology in Education

(ISTE) Standards for Students.

1.2 Background: DoDEA has been using assistive technology accessibility or literacy accommodation (text-to-speech) software for about 15 years. However, the advances in technology have increased its effectiveness and broadened the number of students who can benefit from its use. This resource primarily meets the needs of a subgroup of our students with disabilities; however, some of the newer features are expected to benefit some students who do not have an individualized education program (IEP).

1.3 Scope of Work: DoDEA requires off-the-shelf assistive technology accessibility software that includes text-to-speech and mathematics features primarily as support for a subgroup of grades 3-12 students with disabilities, i.e., primarily for students whose IEP requires this accommodation. Systemwide there are about 600 special educators and 2,000 students, most of whom have IEPs, who require this accommodation. That group of students includes fewer than 50 students in grades 1-2. DoDEA expects to award one contract for a base and four option years.

2 Requirements

2.1 Assistive Technology Accessibility Software: The contractor shall provide the required technology and related support. The tasks below are provided to help the Contractor gain a better understanding of the requirements.

The tasks are not all inclusive. The Contractor is expected to develop the total solution to meet all the requirements in accordance with a performance-based approach.

Supporting Tasks

Task 1, Assistive/Accessibility Features—The Contractor shall provide technology that includes the following:

A. Required Features—Not listed in order of importance:

1) Worldwide vendor training & support

2) Cross-platform and browser compatibility (OS: WIN, Chrome, iOS. Browser: Edge, Chrome, Safari)

3) Flexible licensing to allow school and home use to include Bookshare compatibility (EPUB)

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4) Bimodal color highlighting with simultaneous Text to Speech (TTS) for websites, word processing (WP) documents, and PDFs

5) TTS compatible with Mathematical Markup Language to access complex math & scientific equations

6) Advanced grammar/spell check within WP documents and PDF annotations

7) Word prediction with phonetic and grammatical corrections within WP and PDF documents

8) Digital dictionary with read-aloud definitions

9) Ability to remove visual stimuli/simplify a webpage

10) Ability to digitally annotate by adding text within a PDF

B. Preferred Features—Provide at least ten of the 18 features listed below:

1) Automatic text leveling and summarizing

2) Editable graphic organizers/concept maps

3) LMS integration (Google Classroom, Schoology)

4) Google apps and M365 integration

5) Student usage analytics

6) Adjustable lockdown settings for assessments

7) Symbol supported dictionaries

8) Integrated study skills tools which may include digital highlighting, voice notes, annotations (for PDF and WP Documents)

9) Integration with online graphing calculators and digital math manipulatives

10) Ability to highlight and extract highlighted text (website, PDF, Word Doc/Google Doc into a new WP document

11) Translator tool for at least the following languages: Spanish, German, Korean, Arabic, and Japanese

12) Integrated speech recognition

13) Custom word and phrase banks within WP documents

14) Customizable toolbars and features

15) Keyboard shortcuts

16) Color contrast/zoom options

17) Cloud-based Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities for images, inaccessible websites, and locked/image file PDFs

18) Insertion of math equations via speech, drawing, or typing within WP and PDF documents

Task 2, Product Training: Provide asynchronous webinars and/or digital modules that demonstrate the use of the software and its features.

Task 3, Meetings: The Contractor shall provide the medium through which each meeting occurs, record each meeting’s minutes. Submit the draft minutes to the COR within two business days of the event. Finalize the minutes two business days after receipt of written feedback from the COR.

1) Post-Award Conference: Participate in a video- or teleconference with the COR five business days after award

IAW FAR Subpart 42.5.

2) IT Meeting: Convene a video- or teleconference with DoDEA Information Technology staff ten business days after award, per Technical Exhibit #1.

3) Other Post-Award Meetings: Meet with the Contracting Officer (KO), COR, and/or other Agency personnel, as appropriate, to review Contractor performance, as required by DoDEA. The KO may discuss the Agency’s view of Contractor performance, and the Contractor shall apprise the Agency of any problems being experienced. The

Contractor shall take appropriate action to resolve any outstanding issues the Agency raises.

Task 4, Delivery of Digital Resources—The Contractor shall deliver web-based materials (such as access codes) three days after receipt of delivery order.

Task 5, Technical Support: The Contractor shall provide industry-standard technical support for its digital resources for the life of the contract via telephone or by email within one business day or less from the initial contact to include but not limited to assisting with service problems, product setup, upgrades, and troubleshooting. The contractor shall acknowledge all inquiries within ten minutes of receipt.

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2.2 Performance Standard and Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)

2.2.1 Performance Standard: Tasks shall be completed 100% of the time in accordance with the PWS.

2.2.2 AQL: All tasks shall be accomplished in accordance with the PWS. Any minor exception to the performance standard is outlined in the Performance Requirement Summary (PRS) table at 7.1.

3 Constraints

3.1 Place of Performance: Work shall be performed at the Contractor’s facilities.

3.2 Liaison and Alternate Liaison—The Contractor shall:

1) Provide a liaison and alternate to be responsible for the performance of work. Their names shall be designated in writing to the Contracting Officer. They shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all contract matters relating to the daily operation of this contract. Each of them shall have at least one year of experience working in a similar role.

2) Notify the COR in writing regarding any change in either liaison’s role ten business days in advance of the change. If the liaison is changed post-award, the replacement shall meet or exceed the qualifications and experience of the person assigned upon contract award.

3.3 Holidays and Hours of Operation

1) The liaison or alternate shall be available during the hours of 9AM to 3PM Eastern Standard Time (EST), except for Federal holidays and Federal government closures/shutdowns. The following list shows recognized Federal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Presidents Day, Memorial

Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

2) Although there are different time zones within Europe and the Pacific and different hours for specific schools throughout DoDEA, the normal business hours for the regions roughly correspond to the following: Americas, 0700-1500 EST; Europe, 1300-2100 EST; and Pacific, 2000-0400 EST.

3.4 Availability: The Contractor shall make all resources available for the life of the contract.

3.5 Anti-Bias, Diversity, and Inclusion—The Contractor shall provide resources free of age, racial, color, national origin, disabling conditions, sexual, gender, religious, and ethnic bias and present balanced coverage of multi-cultural contributions and representation, where appropriate.

3.6 Privacy—The Contractor shall:

1) User Accounts: Require, wherever applicable, that individual accounts possess unique usernames and passwords that do not require personally identifiable information (PII) to access online content, i.e., first & last name and any other unique personal information.

2) Contractor Personnel: Ensure personnel assigned to this contract take proper precautions to protect information from disclosure. Collect and/or store all agency-owned or agency-controlled PII IAW the relevant requirements of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C, per http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/privacy-act-1974.html.

3) Privacy Training: Ensure Contractor staff who have access to DoDEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information take the DoD Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information (PA/PII) training before gaining access to the data and yearly thereafter. Provide copies of the certificates of completion to the COR which can be audited at any time by the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or his/her designee.

3.7 Section 508 Compliance—Ensure Contractor resources, wherever applicable, meet the following requirements:

1) IT Requirement: Ensure all electronic hardware and software that is procured under this contract/purchase order comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (29 U.S.C. 794d) and the

Architectural & Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Electronic Information Technology (EIT)

Accessibility Standards (36 CFR part 1194). More information may be found at http://www.section508.gov.

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2) Deliverable Requirement: Ensure the following occur:

▪ Outputs/deliverables do not adversely affect accessibility features of existing EIT technologies.

▪ EIT related to the requirements of the contract are accessible to people with disabilities, per 29 U.S.C 794(d).

▪ Outputs/deliverables including functional performance, information, documentation, and support requirements are considered. Standards from 36 CFR Part 1194 Subpart B, C, and D apply to this acquisition.

3.8 Optical Character Resolution (OCR): The Contractor shall provide, upon request, two digital OCR copies of print materials in one or more of the following formats:

▪ Digital Accessible Information System/National Instructional Materials

▪ Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) with cascading style sheet

▪ HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

▪ Portable Document Format (PDF), (unlocked, embedded fonts, single page)

▪ Rich Text Format (RTF)/Word document

3.9 Upgrades: The Contractor shall (1) submit detailed information of system requirements for subsequent software upgrades for each option year to DoDEA HQ and (2) provide DoDEA HQ with complete copies of any upgrades for testing prior to dissemination to schools.

3.10 Data: All data developed as a result of any work awarded under this contract is and shall remain the property of the Government.

3.11 Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI): The Contractor (including any subcontractor) personnel performing work under this contract may receive, have access to, or participate in the development of, proprietary or Privacy Act information (e.g., personal information, education, etc.) may create a current or subsequent OCI as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5. Whenever the Contractor becomes aware that such access or participation may result in actual or potential OCI, the Contractor shall (1) immediately notify the Contracting

Officer (KO) in writing and (2) promptly submit a plan to the KO to avoid or mitigate any such OCI. Note: The

KO will unilaterally determine if the Contractor’s plan is acceptable. If the KO determines the plan cannot satisfactorily avoid or mitigate an OCI, s/he may implement other remedies to include prohibi ting the

Contractor’s further participation in contracted requirements.

4 Government-Furnished Information / Resources

None

5 Contract Deliverables

Milestone/Deliverable Word

/ Excel

Digital

Copies

Task /

PWS

Planned

Frequency

Assistive Technology

Accessibility Software Yes Yes Task 1 Ongoing after receipt of initial delivery order

Product Training Yes Yes Task 2 Ongoing after receipt of initial delivery order

Meetings Yes Yes Task 3

Post-award conference:Five business days after award.

IT Meeting: Ten business days after award

Other Meetings: Scheduled post-award

Access Yes Yes Task 4 Available three business days after receipt of initial delivery order

Technical Support Yes Yes Task 5 Ongoing after receipt of initial delivery order

6 Acronyms and Definitions

CCRS College and Career Ready Standards

DoD/DOD Department of Defense

DFARS Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement

EIT Electronic Information Technology

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FAR Federal Acquisition Regulations

IAW In Accordance With

PA/PII Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information

QASP Quality Assessment Surveillance Plan

Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) – Basic structural element in a procurement instrument describing and organizing the required product or service for pricing, delivery, inspection, acceptance, invoicing, and payment.

The use of the term “line item” includes “subcontract line number”, (SLIN), as applicable.

Contracting Officer (KO) – The only individual with expressed authority to obligate (bind) the Government by means of entering, administering, and terminating contracts within the limits of the authority delegated via a

Contracting Officer’s warrant.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) – Qualified and trained Government employee, nominated by the requiring activity (RA) and appointed in writing by a KO primarily to perform specific technical or administrative functions on a specific contract(s); serves as the ‘eyes and ears’ of a KO to assure the Government’s best interests are protected via the terms and conditions of the contract(s) appointed. COR’s do not have authority to obligate

(i.e., bind) the Government.

Contractor - Supplier or vendor having a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the Government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

Deliverable – Usually physically delivered items but may include such items as digital documents/reports.

Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) – Tabular listing of performance objectives and standards that provides the basis for a meaningful QASP.

Performance Work Statement (PWS) - A statement of work for performance-based acquisitions describing the required results in clear, specific and objective terms with measurable outcomes.

7 Performance Requirement Summary (PRS) and Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)

7.1 Performance Requirement Summary (PRS)

Performance

Objective

Performance

Standard AQL Inspection Method

Assistive Technology

Accessibility Software

100% compliance with the PWS

Technology available 365/24/7 except for scheduled downtimes

COR inspection and stakeholder feedback

Product Training 100% compliance with the PWS

Training webinars/modules available except for scheduled downtimes COR inspection and stakeholder feedback

Meetings

100% compliance with the PWS

No more than one meeting per year will need to be rescheduled due to

Contractor issues

COR inspection

Technical Support

100% compliance with the PWS

Resolution of 90% of issues in one business day. Resolution of the remaining 10% shall occur within five business days.

COR inspection and stakeholder feedback

7.2 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP): The Government will utilize a QASP to monitor the contractor’s performance on the contract. The QASP is a living document and can change at any time during the life of the contract. As such, the Government reserves the right to unilaterally edit the QASP at the Government’s discretion.

Technical Exhibit #1 - TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall comply with the applicable technical requirements detailed below.

1.1 Software and Cloud Security Requirements—The Contractor shall:

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1.1.1 Ensure all online resources, cloud-based services and instructional software meet the Department of

Defense (DoD) and DoDEA Cybersecurity requirements as defined below. Note: Software, cloud services and associated websites are rigorously tested to ensure no security risks are posed to DoDEA infrastructure and its users.

1.1.2 Complete the Cloud Services questionnaire that was submitted as part of the proposal submission and provide copies of and/or access to any software listed in the proposed solution.

1.1.3 Ensure on-premises software support post-installation integration of the necessary Security Technical

Implementation Guides (STIG) for applicable systems and applications, including Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Microsoft Windows IIS, Apache, Oracle databases, and Microsoft SQL Server databases. Note: The application to obtain the STIG Viewer is found at https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/srg-stig-tools/, and the STIGs themselves may be downloaded from https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/downloads/.

1.1.4 Ensure its content accessible from the web is compatible with the following browser platforms: Internet

Explorer 11, Google Chrome and Edge. Ensure that any applicable STIGs are implemented.

1.1.5 Ensure on-premises software, which is subject to static and dynamic analysis testing, imposes no risk to DoDEA systems, users and/or data. Note: DoDEA assesses software products to ensure compatibility with existing system configurations and software, testing may also include reverse engineering analysis.

1.1.6 Provide a plan of actions and milestones (POA&M) to mitigate any cybersecurity findings resulting from non-compliant and/or vulnerable components within 30 calendar days of written notification from DoDEA.

1.1.7 Participate, as needed, in interviews and deep system architecture inspections. Note: Per DoD policy for cloud-based services, DoDEA conducts a supplemental series of validations, which closely mirror the

Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Internet Cloud vetting processes.

Contractor participation/cooperation is normally required to complete this process.

1.2 System Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.2.1 Ensure, per Section 1.1 (above), any software installed and/or accessed in or by a DoDEA system, network whether stand-alone or web-based, is compatible with standards cited herein.

1.2.2 Provide minimum desktop/server system technical specifications, available reference architectures, networking specifications and diagrams, and applicable systems configuration documentation for the proposed product solution.

1.2.3 Ensure all software is compatible with the following minimum baseline:

Specifications Minimum

Memory 4 GB

Hard Drive 100 GB

Processor Intel® Core™ i5-8365U Processor 8th Generation (up to 4.1GHz, 6MB cache) equivalent or better (Must show benchmark/passmark scores)

Video Graphics Integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 (1920x1080) equivalent or better

Operating System Windows 10

Browser Environment Chrome; Edge; Edge Chromium, IE 11 or higher

1.2.4 Ensure software is completely functional on a standard DoDEA desktop without the need / requirement for administrative-level user rights and/or permissions or the requirement to use or insert external media to execute the software.

1.2.5 Provide software that does not require modifications to folder permissions while executing.

1.2.6 Ensure, if applicable, that software packages support unattended installation methods used by enterprise software packaging and deployment systems. Notes: DoDEA currently distributes software packages via

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). Older 16-bit software are automatically denied.

1.3 Data Management Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.3.1 Provide a mechanism for batch administration and automation of routine data management tasks via flat file import, or representational state transfer (REST) based web service application programming interfaces

(APIs). The mechanism shall provision and manage data objects within the Contractor’s system, including but not limited to organizational structures, student accounts, staff accounts, courses, and class rosters.

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1.3.2 Provide all necessary documentation and assets to facilitate batch administration and automation of routine data management tasks, including but not limited to roster template files (i.e., comma separated value templates); data element/field definitions documentation; data interchange formats and schemas (XML/JSON); and/or data dictionaries for the purpose of mapping organizational student information system (SIS) data to the Contractor’s required input formats.

1.3.3 Provide a single point of contact to support DoDEA in performing the required data integration activities within the Contractor’s system.

1.3.4 Configure DoDEA enterprise within its system and/or databases as the appropriate organizational entity

(i.e., region, district, school) upon a request in writing from the contracting officer’s representative

(COR). Note: DoDEA’s organization hierarchy consists of the following: one system, three regions, eight districts, 62 communities, and 160 schools, including the K-12 virtual school programs.

1.3.5 Participate in a technical meeting with DoDEA within ten business days after award for the purposes of preparing for onboarding of new services and initial configuration of administrator-level accounts.

1.3.6 Ensure the transfer of any Sensitive, Confidential data including but not limited to PII data be transferred in a secure means meeting any requirements set by DoDEA’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

1.4 DoDEA Software License Keys: The Contractor shall provide (1) license keys and electronic downloads for software required under this Contract to the COR and (2) software directly to DoDEA schools, districts, or regions only if explicitly required to do so in the contract or in writing by the COR.

1.5 Cybersecurity Supporting Elements/Requirements and Scalability—The Contractor shall:

1.5.1 Comply with the same Federal law and DoD policies and guidance to which DoDEA is subject. These requirements include but are not limited to the cybersecurity requirements defined in the following documentation:

▪ DoD Directive (DoDD) 8500.01E, Information Assurance, which may be found at https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/850001_2014.pdf.

▪ DoD Security Technical Implementation Guidance (STIG), which may be found at the following

URL: https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/downloads/.

▪ DoD Risk Management Framework (DODRMF) per DoD Instruction 8510.01 found at https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/851001p.pdf?ver=2019-02-

26-101520-3004.5.2.

1.5.2 Provide security patches/upgrades to include third-party applications in response to public-released security vulnerabilities associated with its software solution. Provide a POA&M for any security vulnerabilities within five business days of discovery. Software upgrades/patches shall be included in the licensing cost and be performed at the least disruptive times as determined by DoDEA in writing. Note: Any exception to this requirement must be approved in advance and in writing by DoDEA’s Chief Information Officer

(CIO) or designated official.

1.5.3 Ensure any portion of its solution that involves Internet access by DoDEA students complies with the relevant requirements of the Children's Internet Protection Act, Pub.L. 106-554, § 1(a)(4) [Div. B, Title

XVII, § 1701], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-335.

1.5.4 Ensure its solution is robust enough to serve the needs of a large community of learners dispersed across the world using a variety of bandwidths and scalable to meet future growth, both in terms of instruction and the number of users.

1.5.5 Ensure Contractor staff who have access to DoDEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information take the DoD Privacy Act/ Personally Identifiable Information (PA and PPI/PII) training before gaining access to the data and yearly thereafter. Provide copies of the certificates of completion to the COR which can be audited at any time by the CISO or his/her designee.