24-80 RFI.docx

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Extensible Markup Language Enhancement- Taxpayer Services Request for Information (RFI) January 7, 2025

Extensible Markup Language Enhancement RFI | ii Introduction This is a Request for Information (RFI) -- hereinafter Notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, request for bids or quotations, nor a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. The purpose of this RFI is for the Government to obtain knowledge and information for project planning purposes only.

This Notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. All costs associated with responding to this Notice are solely at the responding party's expense. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Further, the Government may contact the vendor for additional information regarding the information submitted as part of this market research effort. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The Government will not be obligated to pursue any acquisition alternative because of this notice. Responses to the notice will not be returned. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation if one is issued.

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in responses to this Notice, unless otherwise appropriately marked by the Respondent. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information received in response to this Notice in any resultant solicitation(s). Do Not Submit any Proposals / Offers / Quotes in response to this Notice.

Request for Information Number: 24802025 Project Title / Short Description: IRA Extensible Markup Language Enhancement PSC or FSC Code: DB10

NAICS Codes: 541512, computer systems design services Release Date: 01/07/2024 Response Date: 1/16/2025 1:00 PM EST

Extensible Markup Language Enhancement The Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) looking to determine the availability and technical capability of Commercial off-the Shelf (COTS) eXensible Mark-up Language (XML) software or plug-in to provide a simple user interface and authoring tool for use by Non-technical IRS authors located throughout the country to create and maintain Tax Instructions and Publications, Notices, and Internal Revenue Manuals.

Description of Contemplated Services The IRS authoring community relies on XML software for creating tax instructions and publications to be distributed to print vendors, IRS.gov, etc. The incumbent software is a robust COTS product that is customized for the IRS to be used by authors that have little to no experience with writing the XML language. The software provides the IRS the ability to create a single source file that can be utilized to generate industry standard print and internet files such as PDF, Docbook XML, HTML, and ePub. Currently the software can be difficult to use and requires extensive training. There is significant turnover in the IRS authoring community, and it has become difficult and time-consuming for new authors to learn the software.

The IRS is seeking COTS XML software to assist in authoring tax instructions and publications in XML format that includes the following features and is customizable to future needs.

Technical Requirements

1. Compatible with existing IRS DTD

1. Requires minimal retraining < 2 hours

1. Standardized linking to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Internal Revenue Code (IRC), Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB), and Revenue Procedures and Revenue Rulings.

1. Ability to link to specific locations within the XML file. Ability to add anchors within XML file to link to the specific location.

1. Customizable Metadata. Who the owner business unit(s) is, user business unit(s) and author(s). Also need to identify if there is Official Use Only (OUO) within the document, the catalog number, and if active or obsolete.

1. When the software starts up, checking for the values of the respective part title and chapter title of the file in a centralized XML file stored on a web server and update the value within the user’s file. If no value is present on the server, inform the user of such.

1. When user completes the partno attribute on the <part> tag, pulling the respective part title from a centralized XML file stored on a web server. If no value is present on the server, inform the user of such.

1. When user completes the chapno attribute on the <chapter> tag, pulling the respective chaptertitle from a centralized XML file stored on a web server. If no value is present on the server, inform the user of such.

1. Locking <partitle> and <chaptertitle> tags from end user editing. Only the authoring software can alter the content of the tags.

1. Context Rules always on. If there are rules we need all XML files to follow, why would we allow someone to ever complete actions/edits outside of the rules?

1. Providing the ability to turn off the display of software features that our users will never use.

1. plain language error messages for explaining context errors in completeness check

1. plain language text for all menu items, warnings, tooltips and settings within the software

1. Ability to insert tables.

1. Locate controls for features all together--i.e Table editing is in one menu not 4 menus/views.

1. Tables must have a header row. This row is read before all the body rows. This is required for 508 compliance (visually impaired employees who use screen readers).

1. Tables to have a summary (508 compliance).

1. Ability to edit table widths. Currently we have 3 inch, 4.5in, 6.625in and 8.5in.

1. Portrait or landscape tables.

1. Table templates. Can save a table as a template and then insert it anywhere in the IRM.

1. Default table templates already created. Such as if/then table and if/and/then tables.

1. Templates named with plain-language, not abbreviations.

1. For tables: Ability to edit lines between columns, rows and outside border.

1. Ability to copy/paste tables from other sources/software. (Ex. Excel, Word, HTML, PDF).

1. Ability to insert graphics.

1. Graphics must have descriptors, such as paragraphs, lists, etc. This is required for 508 compliance.

1. Ability to view graphics within XML file.

1. A check to resolve any errors. Currently it is called Check Completeness. Such as, if an element or tag has no content within it (empty tag).

1. Ability to find/replace text and tags.

1. Ability to cut/copy/paste text and tags.

1. Ability to copy directly from Microsoft Word and other kinds editing programs. EG, a bullet list from .docx to .xml is recognized and tagged as a bulletlist.

1. Ability to select the entire tag(s) and the content within it.

1. Ability to track changes. Accept/reject one change at a time or accept/reject all at once. Ability to view tracked changes, original document, or new document without tracked changes highlighted. Display who made the change at exactly what time.

32. Show disposition of all changes (accept / reject, defer, description, ID, date, time stamp).

1. Ability to create a compare file. This would compare two different versions open, two different saved files, or compare from the last saved version of the same document.

1. Ability to merge a document from a compare.

1. Ability to bold, italicize, underline and, use quotes for text.

1. Ability to add a Note, Exception, Reminder, Example, and Caution indented within a paragraph.

1. Ability to insert comments.

1. Ability to add bookmarks.

1. Ability to add quickmarks and collapse/expand elements.

1. Insert Symbols.

1. Page setup - modify headers/footers and margins.

1. Print to Adobe PDF.

1. Ability to View tags or no tags.

1. Tool to resolve double-spacing.

1. Tool to verify cross-references within XML document.

1. Ability to add a “link” to an email address (and it opens Outlook when you click on it).

1. To keep the structure of our IRMs. Part – Chapter – Section – Subsection (it nests 5 subsections deep).

1. Display the titles of the part, chapter, section, and all the subsections.

1. Ability to add paragraphs.

1. Ability to add lists. Step list, alpha list and bullet list.

1. balanced selections for text highlighting

1. ability to remove irrelevant tags from being options

1. ability to update SELECT boxes (such as current IRS business units) units without a software update.

1. Date input with optional calendar tool.

1. Providing a feature that allows the user to delete all <change> tags from the file in a single click.

1. Allowing users to open a sample file prepopulated with data for training purposes provided by IRS- “Sample IRM”, “Sample Obsolete IRM”, “Sample CCDM”, “Sample Obsolete CCDM”

1. Ensuring the text of all <mtdate>s follows the format Month DD, YYYY, whether it be the actual month, day, and year, or the text “Month DD, YYYY”

1. Ensuring the text of all <date>s follows the format (MM-DD-YYYY), whether it be the actual month, day, and year, or the text “(MM-DD-YYYY)”

1. Displaying generated text in a different color than user-entered text

1. Providing a “symbol key” that shows a symbol (character), its name, and its definition

1. Providing a “tag key” that shows a tag name, its definition, and example of its use, and the tag’s attributes and respective definitions

1. Adjustment of text font independent of tag size

1. Allow symbols typed from qwerty keyboard instead of Insert symbol function.

1. Allow tags for EFOIA and other new privacy designations in addition to restrict/norestrict for OUO.

1. The solution shall capture and track text changes directly in the file along with reason, reference, user ID, date and time stamp.

65. (38,39,50, 85,86)

1. The solution shall embed technical authorities (TA’s) and reasons for change. Reflects current gallery solution through use of “U” notes

1. The solution shall cite references to technical authorities with corresponding links. Currently Arbortext highlights TA tags but doesn’t give a list.

1. The solution shall generate a list of technical authority tags.

1. The solution shall have visual editing features to hide tags for a clean paragraph review with the option to turn on or off throughout the editing process.

69. Stopped here 3/18/2022

69. Need to write “accept / reject from compare (merge)”

1. The solution shall allow accepted changes to be integrated automatically into the main document.

1. The solution shall be able to display a print preview.

1. The solution shall have the ability to create tables within tables (example: keeping text right justified and the column header centered).

1. The solution shall allow for a table or picture to be depicted across either one, two, or three columns (To be able to span tables across columns)

1. The solution shall be able to provide a copy and pasting feature that retains the proper characters. (such as when coping content from Microsoft Word or web browsers)

1. The solution shall support authoring documents in two and three column format.

1. The solution shall provide commonly used word processing / publishing features (Critical) To include: • Grammar Check • • Spelling Check • Completeness Check (parser) Thesaurus

1. The solution shall perform comparison to identify differences between similar content in more than one product.

1. The solution shall provide index generation.

78. Allow elements to be selected (words and phrases) for indexing. If automated then there has to be a default to override.

1. The solution shall identify automatically when elements need to show in the table of contents, and provide a way to override.

1. The solution shall have the ability to identify other tax products containing similar language / topics as the product is being modified, and be able to pull commonly used text from a central storage. Reusable content

1. The solution shall handle Unicode format or multi-byte character sets to support multiple languages.

1. The solution shall support right to left languages.

1. The solution shall provide easily retrievable catalogue of templates, tables and standard language.

1. The solution shall integrate with existing publication processes and tools. (Guarantee the integrity of the file so as not to disrupt downstream processing)

1. The solution shall provide constant, continuous, real-time XML validation during the authoring and editing process. Describe whether during the process, when saving the document or upon completion of document.

1. The solution shall provide desktop and network print functionality. (system requirement)

1. The solution shall adhere to Section 508 compliance.

If the solution is web based the solution will need to be able

1. to manage authorized users

2. connect to document repository’s such as SharePoint online, OneDrive for Business, and AEM Assists

3. work with JBoss EAP 7.4 or later.

4. work with RedHat OpenJRE/JDK Java Version 11 or later.

RFI Instructions The intent of this RFI is to obtain information that will assist the IRS / OCPO in determining the market for vendors with this capability. The IRS / OCPO requests information from IT providers with the capability of providing the equipment, materials, and services outlined in the attached draft Statement of Work (“SOW”) (Attachment 1).

The IRS / OCPO is seeking RFI responses from Interested Parties, which shall be provided in three (3) Parts: capabilities statement, technical capability, and industry feedback.

All responses to this RFI shall be sent via email to Contract Specialist Tujuannah Strickland (Tujuannah.S.Strickland@IRS.gov). Include Extensible Markup Language Enhancement in the subject line. Submissions must be received no later than 1:00pm Eastern Time (ET) on 16 January 2024. Questions or comments regarding this notice may be addressed to the email addresses above. No phone calls will be accepted; all correspondence shall be in writing at this time.

Responses shall not contain any brochures, advertising or any other type of extraneous, graphic literature or documents that have not been requested and are not relevant or essential in demonstrating the company’s ability to provide the required services.

Part I: Capability Statement Respondents shall provide a brief capabilities statement, not to exceed five (5) pages, as it relates to their approach, methodology, and ability to provide the equipment and services outlined in the attached draft SOW (RFI Attachment 1). The capabilities statement shall include, but is not limited to:

Responders to this Notice must provide the following company information:

Company Name and Address Company technical Point of Contact (POC) information to include name, title, telephone number, and email address.

Applicable NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) Code List active governmentwide contracts that your company has been awarded (GWACs, IDIQs, and BPAs – include applicable SIN) Business Classification / Socio-Economic Status (e.g., large, small, 8(a), women owned, hub-zone, SDB, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned) Subcontracting / partnering / teaming possibilities Part II: Technical Capability Responses to the following questions must be submitted using (Attachment 2) RFI Response Template.

What kind of IT support services can you provide after delivery of the software?

What labor categories do you think would be needed to support the IRS’ requirement, and why?

What level of expertise would those resources have?

Is it possible to customize the user interface and features to align with specific organizational requirements or XML schemas?

How does the software ensure that all edits comply with XML schemas (e.g., XSD, DTD, or Relax NG)?

Does the software include collaboration features, such as simultaneous editing or commenting, to facilitate teamwork?

Is the software available for web, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), or mobile platforms? Are there cloud-based or on-premise deployment options?

What are the minimum and recommended system requirements for deploying the software on various platforms (e.g., Windows, macOS, Linux, or web servers)?

For web-based deployments, what server configurations (e.g., web server, database, or operating system) are required?

What is the installation process, and does the company provide scripts or documentation for automating deployment?

Are there options for configuring default settings, templates, or schemas during the deployment process to align with organizational standards?

For web-based applications, what browsers and versions are supported? Are there any specific browser extensions or plugins required?

How are software updates delivered and managed? Is there a mechanism for deploying updates without disrupting ongoing work?

For web-based supplication, is there additional cost for staging, testing in addition to the production environment?

How does the software handle scalability as the number of users and documents grows?

What measures are in place to ensure system uptime and reliability?

Does the software support multi-factor authentication and integration with IRS security protocols?

How does the solution align with Section 508 compliance requirements?

Can the software integrate with existing IRS tools like SharePoint?

What kind of technical documentation and training materials are provided?

How does the software manage version control for XML documents?

Does the software offer a sandbox environment for testing features or updates?

How does the software address potential conflicts during simultaneous edits by multiple users?

Part III: Industry Feedback Respondents are strongly encouraged to provide feedback, using (Attachment 2) RFI Response Template.

What is your company’s prior experience with delivering web-based XML software to the Government?

What is a ballpark estimated price to successfully deliver these requirements?

Please provide any additional insights that would help us craft the requirement(s) to best meet our needs to provide the contemplated services.

Are there any concerns with the primary Product Service Code (PSC) selected? If so, which PSC would be a better fit?

Are there any concerns with the NAICS code selected? If so, which NAICS code would be a better fit?

Does the draft SOW (RFI Attachment 1) clearly describe the Government’s requirement?

Is there any specific language in the draft documents that may be unnecessarily driving cost, schedule, or performance?

Terms and Conditions regarding this Notice Do Not Submit any Proposals/Offers in response to this Notice.

Thank you for your response to this Request for Information.

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