Appendix C - Digital Accessibility Requirement for Supplier-Built Websites or Apps.docx

Appendix C: Digital Accessibility Requirements Supplier-Built Websites and Applications The Commonwealth promotes equal access to employees and residents with disabilities as shown in:

· Executive Order 2016-03 - Establishing “Employment First” Policy and Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Pennsylvanians with a Disability

· Executive Order 2023-08 - Bolstering Service Delivery through a Digital Experience Strategy

· IT Policy ACC001 – Digital Accessibility Policy Equal access ensures that employees and residents who use assistive technologies (screen readers, magnifiers, speech-to-text, etc.) to access digital content and services, as defined in ITP-ACC001, that includes but is not limited to electronic content, software, hardware, and support documentation and services, are able to access the Commonwealth digital information and services.

To support these objectives, the supplier shall:

· Provide a completed Policy Driven Adoption for Accessibility (PDAA) Assessment, using the template Appendix D, PDAA Assessment, to detail the supplier’s strong accessibility program, capabilities and intention to continually improve the maturity of its accessibility program and services, reflected in the current culture, policies, processes, and procedures of the organization.

· Provide an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) using the current version of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) found on the Information Technology Industry (ITI) Council website for digital products (Example: Custom-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products, content management tools) included in this response.

· Staff the project with individuals who have accessibility skills and experience, including but not limited to project managers, designers, writers/editors, business analysts, developers, and testers.

· Include accessibility experience in Appendix E, Personnel Experience by Key Position.

· Within a year of being assigned the contract, at least one member of its staff is certified by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) for each of the following certifications:

· Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC)

· Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS)

· Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA)

· Accessible Document Specialist (ADS)

· Make all public- and employee-facing digital content and services accessible by meeting industry standards (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Revised Section 508 Standards, etc.) and supplier responsibilities outlined in the Commonwealth’s ITP-ACC001 – Digital Accessibility Policy.

· Ensure that any supplier created or generated:

· Supporting videos have captions, audio description, and transcripts.

· Audio-based material include text transcript of the content of the audio.

· Have a mature accessibility testing methodology, as reported in the PDAA Assessment, that:

· Uses automated, manual, and assistive technology (AT) testing tools and techniques.

· Includes human review to validate automated testing results, ensure clarity of language and ease of navigation as well as rule out dependence on color styles that cannot be recognized by some users.

· Tests with the most common screen reader/AT (screen reader, magnifier, voice-to-text) and browser combinations as listed in WebAim’s most recent Screen Reader Survey Results.

· Be required to use the Commonwealth’s enterprise testing toolkit if network logon credentials are provided or provide a list of the accessibility testing tools that the supplier plans to use for the Commonwealth to include as a part of the supplier’s maturity assessment.

· Meet applicable user specific requirements:

· Keyboard only navigation without a mouse and for use with stick pens, puff sticks, eye gaze technology, trackballs, and on-screen displays.

· Navigation, control, and interpretation by a screen reader. Validate:

· That the screen reader can identify and voice all content and form elements on the page.

· The ability to interpret complex data tables and reading order of content when voiced by the screen reader software.

· The active focus of the cursor can be ascertained by the screen reader software.

· That dynamically generated content is discernable by the screen reader software.

· Provide output that is accessible via a refreshable Braille display

· Integrate with Voice Recognition Software like Dragon Naturally Speaking

· Remediate all high and medium severity accessibility issues identified and reported via accessibility testing by the supplier or the Commonwealth prior to production and provide a plan to resolve low priority issues in the next release.

· Manage an Accessibility Roadmap outlining how and when they identify and remediate accessibility issues and provides regular reporting on accessibility issues, the timeline for issue resolution and other accessibility specific initiatives.

· Demonstrate that accessibility steps have been added throughout its Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). This includes but is not limited to:

· People with disabilities are included in research studies

· Accessibility information is included in design specifications

· Accessibility standards and conformance are applied to all digital content as it is developed

· Content is designed and written for diverse users

· Development standards include coding for accessibility (good syntax, ARIA, etc.)

· Accessibility Testing (manual, automated (30%) and assistive technologies) is completed prior to delivery and acceptance of any content or systems delivered to production

· Ongoing and regular monitoring in production (regression testing, automated testing, feedback)

· Processes to receive, respond to, and fix digital accessibility concerns identified during the use of the product.

· Provide project deliverables that detail how accessibility was incorporated. This list includes, but is not limited to:

· Project plans, timelines, and milestones

· Requirements or user stories

· Content and Design deliverables

· Accessibility test plans

· Accessibility issue reports

· Accessibility Roadmap

· Provide an overview of the accessibility monitoring that will be done if the solution is hosted by the supplier.

· Provide training and other support materials (employee websites/portals, documentation) that employees and residents must access in an accessible format.

· Agree that if the Commonwealth receives a complaint that the digital content and services provided under this contract are not accessible to an employee or resident with a disability, the Commonwealth will notify the selected offeror in writing and the selected offeror will have 30 days to correct the problem and advise the Commonwealth in writing of the corrective steps taken.

· Understand that the Commonwealth can test the digital content and services at any time and a plan to remediate any identified issues will be incorporated into the release cycle as agreed upon by the Commonwealth.

· Provide an example of a website or application to represent the work that will be done on behalf of the Commonwealth.

Digital Accessibility Requirements | Supplier-Built Websites and Applications