What is the Digital Accessibility Questionnaire?
The Vendor Digital Accessibility Questionnaire is a series of questions designed to collect information about a vendor’s policies, skills, staffing, methods, and approach to digital accessibility. This information can help determine the extent to which a vendor can deliver a digital product that meets the Digital Accessibility Standards and perform other contractual accessibility obligations. Note that the Digital Accessibility Questionnaire and an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) do not present a complete picture of a vendor’s digital accessibility capabilities and an accessibility demo should also be part of the vendor vetting process.
How Do I Use the Digital Accessibility Questionnaire?
Step 1: Request bidders complete the Digital Accessibility Questionnaire as part of their response to a Request for Quote (RFQ), Request for Response (RFR), or Request for Information (RFI).
Step 2: Review questionnaire responses for completeness and follow up with any bidder who fails to provide the requested information.
Step 3: With support from your respective Secretariat IT Accessibility Officer (SIAO) or designated digital accessibility subject matter expert (SME), evaluate the strength and truthfulness of each bidder’s response.
Step 4: Develop a confidence level for each bidder to deliver accessible digital products and services based on questionnaire responses and other information including an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), any Digital Accessibility Roadmaps, vendor demos, and/or accessibility testing results. Confidence levels are defined as follows:
High
A high confidence level means the vendor has a demonstrated track record of developing and delivering accessible digital products or services.
The vendor has an established digital accessibility practice with documented policies and/or procedures in place, a dedicated digital accessibility lead, and staffing with expertise to support digital accessibility initiatives. The digital product or service being procured is free of any critical or serious Accessibility Violations and any medium or minor violation is included on an Accessibility Roadmap with a target date for remediation.
Medium
A medium confidence level means the vendor has some demonstrated capabilities in developing and delivering accessible digital products or services.
The vendor has some established digital accessibility processes in place and is actively working to mature its digital accessibility practice. The vendor is transparent of any Accessibility Violations within its products or services, is working to remediate such violations, and will include them on an Accessibility Roadmap with target dates for remediation.
Low
A low confidence level means that the vendor has demonstrated little to no capabilities at developing and delivering accessible digital products or services.
The vendor has no established policies or practices and little to no internal expertise in digital accessibility. The digital products or services being procured have several critical or serious Accessibility Violations and there is no concrete plan to remediate such violations. The vendor is resistant to creating an Accessibility Roadmap or to remediating known Accessibility Violations.
Conclusion
Requesting responses to the Vendor Digital Accessibility Questionnaire is an important initial step to better understand a vendor’s capabilities to deliver accessible digital products and services. The questionnaire can provide insights into a vendor’s commitment level to digital accessibility and support the bidder selection process.
Downloads
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Open DOCX file, 85.41 KB, Vendor Digital Accessibility Questionnaire (English, DOCX 85.41 KB)