Notice of Intent to Sole Source

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration has published a Notice of Intent to Sole Source for a contract with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to support the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Web Accessibility Initiative. The contract will focus on core Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) activities, sustaining a multi-stakeholder forum that brings together perspectives from industry, the disability community, research, and government worldwide. The anticipated contract has an estimated value of $2,000,000 and will cover a base year plus four option years. Services will specifically focus on accessibility for the disability community through developing consensus-based accessibility recommendations for the W3C that are used internationally. This notice was posted on September 21, 2025, and is classified under NAICS code 541611 for Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services.

The primary objective of this sole source award is to continue MIT's unique role as the designated official U.S. representative for the W3C, enabling the development of international web accessibility standards and recommendations for web content, browsers, and media players. The government has determined that MIT is the only organization capable of performing these required tasks due to its exclusive governance and management role in W3C activities. While this is not a request for competitive proposals, any responsible source may express interest and demonstrate capability to respond to the requirement by no later than September 25, 2025. The government reserves sole discretion in determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement based on responses received to this notice. Information submitted will be used primarily to assess whether future competitive procurements should be considered, and the contract will be awarded under FAR 6.302-1 for situations where only one responsible source exists.