Questions Answered-May 15.docx

Answers to the Questions that Have Been Emailed for 508 Remediation Services The Department of Veterans Affairs answers are in RED

1. The RFP states the technical section must include documentation demonstrating the contractor possesses a DHS certified Trusted Tester and two examples of past remediation experience. Is a more comprehensive technical response required as well?

No. Providing a DHS certificate for each proposed Trusted Tester is adequate.

2. Does VA require any resume be submitted as part of the response?

No resumes are required but you are welcome to submit them if you feel they would augment your submission.

3. The RFP calls for the development of a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) in section 9.1. Is the outline of the contractor's QASP a response requirement?

Please include a preliminary Quality Assurance Plan, the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) is how the Government plans to provide surveillance to your Quality Assurance Plan. The final QASP will be a collaborative effort.

4. For the two examples of documents we have remediated that demonstrate an understanding of the PWS with varying levels of complexity, is there a page limit for the examples?

There is no specific page limit. However, there is no need to submit massive documents unless you decide longer documents demonstrate your abilities better.

5. Regarding the EST # column (Column E) in the Pricing Schedule, the number in that column multiplies the price per minute or pages in Column B to arrive at a total. For example, Live Captioning, item 14 in Pricing Schedule, is priced per minute in column D and then multiplied by the EST #, 25, in column E. The calculated total in Column F (Total) is the total price for 25 minutes of Live Captioning. Is this the amount the Government is seeking in the Total column? If not, would the Government consider updating the Pricing Schedule to ensure that all prospective vendors supply you with appropriate totals? Any such update would apply to items 3-20, including item 14 (the example above) on the worksheet.

The PWS and Price Schedule are updated and changes have been highlighted.

6. Is the DHS certified Trusted Tester for testing and certification processes required for the Prime contractor to possess or can this certification come from a subcontractor or team member?

DHS Certified Trusted Tester can be part of the prime contractor or be associated with a sub so long as this person is planned to be a consistent part of the team that works on submissions that come from this contract.

7. The PWS details the various types of 508 remediation services required. Is there historical data available on the typical volume of work for each type of deliverable (document remediation, captioning, audio description, etc.) that the VA anticipates needing annually?

Please see revised Price Schedule for annual quantity projections. All quantities listed in the solicitation are estimated quantities. Actual quantities are need based and awarded when task orders are placed against this Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract.

8. Under Section E Evaluation Factors for Award, Factor II Past Performance specifies that offerors should provide "recent and relevant past performance information on a maximum of 3 contracts. Would the VA consider the past performance of our proposed Key Personnel (e.g., Project Manager, 508 Testing Lead) as responsive information for this factor, in addition to our corporate past performance?

Past performance shall demonstrate the capabilities and knowledge of your company’s current and anticipated.

9. The “B.2 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE” in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) should reflect the same quantities used in the provided spreadsheet. Otherwise, it will be the total for the CLIN times 1 equals the same total.

PWS and Price Schedule are updated, and changes have been highlighted.

10. The quantities provided in the pricing spreadsheet (S02_ATTACHMENT 1 PRICE SCHEDULE - FINAL.xlsx) are not based on a figure that can be calculated to provide a quote. For example, the Professional Voice Narration is based on a quantity of 75 tasks but the cost is actually calculated per word. The size of each task will vary based on the number of words being narrated. Of the 75 task orders, it could be 2,000 words each order or it could be 200 words each order. We need the estimated quantities in the form of a total anticipated amount of work to be produced in order to accurately quote the project and to provide accurate invoicing. Based on our experience, the following is what we recommend.

The PWS and Price Schedule are updated and changes have been highlighted.

11. Documents Remediation The spreadsheet shows 10,000 pages for each of the four levels (40,000 pages total) of complexity but the PWS indicates the total number of pages anticipated across all four levels to be 10,000. If that is the case, the breakdown for 10,000 pages total might be as suggested below. Note, there are typically more lower level rated pages than higher.

Complexity Level 1: 4,000 pages per year Complexity Level 2: 3,000 pages per year Complexity Level 3: 2,000 pages per year Complexity Level 4: 1,000 pages per year The breakdown for 40,000 pages might be as follows. This would be a significant increase over previous years.

Complexity Level 1: 16,000 pages per year Complexity Level 2: 12,000 pages per year Complexity Level 3: 8,000 pages per year Complexity Level 4: 4,000 pages per year

Price schedule has been updated to reflect a total of 10,000 units per year. The PWS and Price Schedule are updated, and changes have been highlighted.

12. Please provide volume and frequency estimates to assist with price estimation:

What is the expected daily/weekly/monthly volume of document remediation requests per PWS Task? The volume varies month to month, week to week, day to day throughout the year. At most, we can anticipate two tasks per day. At least, we can anticipate some days with zero tasks.

What is the expected frequency of requests per PWS Task? Frequency varies. There will be some days with no requests.

What is the expected frequency of expedited requests per PWS Task? Expedited requests are not frequent and are not likely to occur with any regularity. Typically, we handle expedited requests in-house. This CLIN is for overflow of expedited tasks.

13. Please clarify if part-time resources may be engaged to support any aspect of this project.

It is the contractor’s choice to use full or part time resources so long as the work gets done within the prescribed turnaround time found in the PWS.

14. Please clarify if VA requires specific software for any aspect of this scope (e.g., close captioning services, document remediation services, etc.).

VA Section 508 Office requires use of JAWS. Other software as needed to complete the work described in the PWS such as: CommonLook, Acrobat Pro, MS Office programs, ANDI. We do not have a requirement for any specific captioning tool.

15. Are the scripts currently available for the upcoming work that needs Professional Voice Narration?

Scripts will be made available upon task request. We do not receive and cannot share scripts for tasks that do not yet exist.

16. Please provide additional details regarding the requirement for “diverse voice actors” for narration.

We require a variety of different voice profiles including (but not limited to):

Tone:

upbeat, somber, excited, angry, intoxicated, direct, assertive, conversational;

Gender:

male, female, andro/nonbinary;

Age:

Elderly, nonspecific age We understand that some of these options would require additional lead time, as voice actors with these attributes are not easy to locate. We do not anticipate frequent usage of these but would like to have these options available with ample notice.

17. What is the frequency of Adobe Connect virtual conferencing (webinar) sessions and are they regularly scheduled in advance to allow the Contractor requisite time to set up and provide real -time closed captioning services for the Adobe Connect Virtual conferencing?

We do not anticipate frequent live captioning sessions. We will provide at least (typically more than) 48 hours of notice prior to any live captioning event. If available, presentation materials and pronunciation guides for difficult terms or names will be provided at least 24 hours prior to live captioning event.

18. Do any of the real time captioning service for the Adobe Connect Virtual meetings include American Sign Language (ASL)?

No.

19. Factor I: Technical Capability: “ii. Provide two examples of documents that demonstrate the contractors understanding with the PWS with varying levels of complexity (1-4), that your company has remediated to reach full accessibility/ conformance with Section 508.”

Please clarify whether redacted examples are acceptable. Documents with redacted information are allowable as long as the structure of the document demonstrates understanding of successful remediation and a fully accessible end result.

20. Is this a new requirement or a re-compete of an existing contract? If a re-compete, could you please provide the incumbent's name and contract number?

This is a new requirement.

21. The PWS details the various types of 508 remediation services required. Is there historical data available on the typical volume of work for each type of deliverable (document remediation, captioning, audio description, etc.) that the VA anticipates needing annually?

The PWS and Price Schedule are updated and changes have been highlighted.

22. Amendment 0001 changed the NAICS code from 541690 to 541511 - we just wanted to verify that the size standard is $30 million for 541511. Can you also confirm if there are any other evaluation factor or PWS changes that will be forthcoming as a result of the NAICS update?

There are no changes to the PWS or the evaluation factors. The NAICS code 541511 is $30 million size.

23. The RFP states that the maximum for the IDIQ is $3,000,000.00. Is this total for the full 5 years or for the base year?

This is an IDIQ and the $3,000,000.00 is the cap for the entire contract.

24. In the Instructions to Offeror, item 4 states that, "adherence to page limitations established in each area of consideration is imperative, as pages which exceed the limit will not be reviewed by the evaluators." Will the government provide a page count for each volume, please?

The page count is set at a maximum of 25 pages per Volume.

25. Would the VA consider raising the IDIQ amount due to current labor markets?

This is not something that the VA is able to do.