ViViAN Website Usability Testing
- This RFP was uploaded by the owner.
1. Background/Introduction
The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) is a nationally recognized non-profit organization established to empower and guide consumers, victims, business and government to minimize risk and mitigate the impact of identity compromise and crime. The ITRC strives to reduce the impact and level of harm caused by identity compromise, crime and related issues by being the first place an individual contacts for education and assistance.
The ITRC receives funding from a number of sources, including grants - federal, state, local, non-profit foundation, and corporate - as well as fee-for-service, sponsorships and donations.
2. Project Goals and Scope of Services
As part of our current efforts, the ITRC has secured a grant to evaluate the usability of its website. Under this testing, two areas have been identified that need to be considered:
i. General user experience
ii. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and American Disabilities Act compliance
General user experience
An initial audit of the website to identify any deficiencies and assess the needs of the platform. The successful vendor will test and evaluate the existing technology, conduct beta testing, and make recommendations for best practices and enhancements.
The evaluation will identify:
Technology processes needed to enhance and/or increase user engagement based upon how user experience;
Enhancements needed to make technology accessible and intuitive to the users (victims and consumers).
Testing should include eye-tracking, color assessment/placement on Call-To-Action buttons, heat mapping on cursor activities, and other best practice modalities. Additional testing to identify gaps in best practice for maintenance, regression testing, and quality assurance including archiving practices, image management, etc. may be recommended as needed.
WCAG/ADA Compliance
As a supplement to the general user experience testing, additional testing and an ADA-compliance audit should be included to advise the ITRC on needed improvements to achieve top WCAG standards and better serve the population. AAA-compliance is the benchmark.
The selected vendor will assess ITRC's website and technology platforms, identifying recommendations and areas for improvement using the WCAG 2.0 (w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/?versions=2.0). This includes evaluating text alternatives, video captioning, adaptability, use of color, images of text, visual presentation, keyboard accessibility, navigation, readability, predictability, input assistance, and minimizing redundancy. The evaluation will also measure how well screen reading, screen magnifier, speech recognition and readability technology can access websites, including forms and images. Testing will evaluate whether or not video or audio-only content is accompanied by text transcript or description.
As part of this testing, the vendor will conduct user testing with people with disabilities, specifically those who are blind/low vision and Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Testing should include constituents from organizations that have access to these populations. This will help the ITRC identify if there are any areas not accessible via screen reader, whether or not headings follow a logical sequence, and if images, links, buttons and inputs have appropriate labels to meet the specific populations' needs.
Scope of Work
i. An audit of the existing website
ii. UI/UX testing of general and specified populations
a. Recruitment plan for the proposed population of general users
b. Recruitment plan for the proposed population that fall into the specified populations for ADA compliance
iii. An action report delivered within five days after the tests are completed to facilitate agile development
a. The report should clearly present the findings and recommendations and provide annotated screenshots and participant quotes where needed
i. Key site functionality
ii. Home page design, clarity, and organization
iii. Overall orientation to site and perceived context
iv. Core user tasks according to goals of the site
v. Analytics, conversion metrics and other data-driven aspects for analysis of traffic and user tracking
b. List of recommendations, based on priority, for implementation
c. Timelines for implementation based on recommendations as appropriate for any actions within the areas of expertise possessed by the vendor
d. Any potential barriers and possible solutions to implementation based on existing infrastructure as appropriate within the areas of expertise possessed by the vendor
3. Anticipated Selection Schedule
Deadline for submitting questions March 31, 2020
Answers to all questions submitted April 3, 2020
Deadline for submission of proposals April 3, 2020 5 p.m. PST
Evaluation period April 4-17, 2020
Selection of vendor April 17, 2020
4. Time and Place of Submission of Proposals
All submissions should be done electronically through email to: communications@idtheftcenter.org and should be timestamped prior to April 3, 2020 17:00 PST. Any submission received after that time will not be considered.
5. Timeline
The deadline for initial recommendations is no later than June 30, 2020. This deadline is not subject to change based on our grant status.
6. Elements of Proposal
Proposal elements should include the following:
i. An overview of the audit process
ii. A list of tools used in the process
iii. Any potential sub-contractors that may be utilized
iv. Test user recruitment plan
v. Detailed cost estimate
7. Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on the accuracy of the response to the specific criteria requested.
Responding vendors should provide the following:
i. Samples of similar previous work
ii. At least three client references with contact information
iii. Proven success with similar organizations or projects of similar scope
iv. Working knowledge of WCAG and ADA compliance
v. Proven success meeting needs of US government grant funded organizations, including eligibility to receive Federal contracts, certain subcontracts, and certain types of Federal financial and nonfinancial assistance and benefits
8. Possible Roadblocks
The ITRC will provide access to a copy of the existing site & infrastructure on a development server for audit and testing. The live-site can be used for user testing, if needed, but no changes will made to the production site for the use of testing.
9. Budget
The proposed cost of this project is a not to exceed $75,000 for all aspects of the testing, reporting, and recommended implementation plan. This includes any tools, sub-contractors or in-person testing/recruitment that may need to be done. Itemized invoicing will be required.
