9280-27-R-RFIN-00013

The University of Southern Mississippi is proceeding with a sole source purchase of digital accessibility software and services from Level Access under notice 9280-27-R-RFIN-00013, with comments and objections due October 29, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. Central Time as required under Mississippi Code Section 31-7-13(C).

USM faces a hard compliance deadline of April 26, 2027 under new 2024 ADA Title II regulations requiring web content and mobile applications to conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The university currently monitors only four core domains and lacks institutional oversight of more than 100 additional distinct domains and subdomains. A 2018 Office of Civil Rights complaint also drives the need for comprehensive accessibility remediation.

The proposed Level Access solution comprises a Unified Digital Accessibility Platform (UDAP) and proprietary Digital Accessibility Maturity Model (DAMM) delivered over two years. Deliverables include automated scanning, manual testing by certified accessibility professionals (including individuals with disabilities), remediation workflows and tracking, role-specific training, code-level remediation guidance for developers and content creators, enterprise-level reporting, and 24/7 consultation support. Level Access asserts no competing vendor offers the same integrated combination of enterprise accessibility management, proprietary maturity modeling, integrated testing, and remediation within a single platform.

The total contract value is $200,000 over two years, split evenly at $100,000 annually ($75,000 for UDAP and $25,000 for DAMM each year). Level Access holds SOC 2 Type II, FedRAMP, and ISO 27001 certifications and brings 25 years of Digital Accessibility Maturity Model deployment experience in higher education. USM's justification emphasizes lack of internal resources and expertise to build comparable solutions independently, making the April 26, 2027 deadline unattainable without external vendor support.