The documents comprising an Invitation to Tender will contain all the information that a potential supplier needs in order to bid for the contract.
IT companies respond to stated business requirements, and anything that doesn't appear in the specification of requirements cannot fairly be scored in the evaluation of the bids. The requirement for products to be accessible must be explicit in the Invitation to Tender. Inclusive design statements must be essential requirements within the specification.
Awareness and knowledge of inclusive design in relation to use of IT systems is not high. It should be assumed that bidders will need full explanations of the accessibility implications for all aspects of the service or product for which tenders are being sought. This might be provided in a supplier briefing or bidders' conference.
General statement of intent
A statement outlining the principles of inclusive design, accessibility and usability might be included in the Invitation to Tender, but will not be sufficient on its own.
An example of a general statement of intent might be:
"[Company] wishes to make use of IT systems that provide accessibility to disabled people by adhering to principles of inclusive design. This will assist the organisation to comply with the relevant aspects of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), hence promoting social inclusion and challenging discrimination."
Example software requirements
These may include:
-
conformance to specific inclusive design guidelines or standards
-
compatibility with particular access technologies
-
requirement for output to be produced in alternative formats such as large print, accessible electronic text or braille
-
a method of indicating that a non-standard format is required for a particular service user or customer
-
the need to test for accessibility and usability as well as functionality
-
accessible documentation and user training materials
-
provision for all users in training materials, support and helpdesk arrangements.
Example supplier requirements
There is useful information that may be requested about the supplier within the tender documentation. For example:
-
A statement detailing the supplier's practical experience in providing accessible products and/or services.
-
Evidence of a track record on achievements on accessibility for previous customers.
-
Details of staff training on accessibility, access technology or related areas.
Tailored guidelines
A published standard may not be suitable for adoption in its entirety. Different types of procurement may call for tailored guidelines or standards. A supplier can more successfully comply with a subset of accessibility statements, and outcomes for users will be better.
Examples of tailored guidelines include the following:
-
Screens should adhere strictly to layout templates. The way information is presented to the user and the way the user will interact with the system should remain as constant as possible across the various elements of a system. Every new layout or user interaction requires training time and leads to a steeper learning curve for the user. New functionality that fits the existing mould will be easily adopted.
-
If it is normal practice to display a report on the screen prior to printing that report, then it is important that the report as displayed with the print preview window is accessible to users of assistive technology.
-
If an Accessibility Option can be implemented in a system without inhibiting the use of that system by other user groups who may not need to use that option, then it should be implemented as standard. If there is a user group access requirement that would inhibit the access of another user group, then this option should be made a User Preference.
Specific design criteria
As well as, or instead of tailored guidelines, specific criteria can be included in the specification, including reference to the fuller set of standards. The following examples can be used without knowledge of disability or specialist access technology.
The proposed solution(s) must be able to:
-
Allow the keyboard to be used for all actions and to complete all tasks, including start up and login (ref. ISO/DIS 9241-171 section 9.2.3).
-
Support system settings for colours and fonts for all user interface controls and client area content (ref. ISO/DIS 9241-171 section 10.4.3).
-
Provide a visual focus indicator that moves among interactive objects as the input focus changes (ref. ISO/DIS 9241-171 section 9.2.1).
-
Associate text labels with controls, objects, icons and images (ref. ISO/DIS 9241-171 section 8.2).
-
Provide online help, documentation and training material in an accessible format (ref. ISO/DIS 9241-171 section 11.1).
The supplier should also be asked to indicate whether the software conforms to other checklists, guidelines or standards for accessibility, usability or inclusive design.