D -- Section 508 Conversion Tool for Converting MS-Office Documents to Section 508-Compliant HTML

AMENDED REQUEST FOR INFORMATION / SOURCES SOUGHT TO CORRECT RESPONSE DUE DATE. RESPONSE DUE DATE SHOULD READ 15 MAY 2005 @ 4:00 PM. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) BEING RELEASED PURSUANT TO FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS (FAR) PART 10, MARKET RESEARCH. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) seeks public comment on Section 508 Conversion Tool for Converting MS-Office Documents to Section 508-Compliant HTML. This request for information is being posted on behalf of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Operating Administrations (OA) that are listed below: Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Maritime Administration (MARAD) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) Surface Transportation Board (STB) BACKGROUND: The DOT OA's have varying processes for posting information on web pages. Some have web teams that handle all of the development, testing, and posting. While in other OA's, program offices develop documents that need to be posted and forward them to the web team for testing and posting. Regardless of the process, all documents posted on Federal Agency web pages must comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires that information be accessible to people with disabilities. For many documents, this can best be achieved by creating an HTML version of the document. The DOT uses Microsoft - Office as its standard office automation suite. The tools in the suite (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint) have a native - Save as Web Page feature that creates HTML that is coded in so that the documents can easily be opened back up in the tool in which the document was created. Unfortunately, this HTML currently does not conform to the standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3) or the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards. The DOT is exploring alternatives to the native - Save as Web Page feature for documents authored and modified using Microsoft - Office. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS: At a minimum, the Section 508 conversion tool must: 1. Have the ability to convert documents created using Microsoft - Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) into HTML that conforms to: a. HTML 4.01 Transitional or higher, as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium b. Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards, Conversion includes but not limited to: i. Identify and apply headings to data tables, ii. Associate table data cells with their respective headings, iii. Provide the ability to insert alternative text to meaningful images, iv. Provide the ability to insert blank alternative text for decorative images (example alt=), v. Provide the ability to textually describe charts and graphs, vi. Provide the ability to explicitly label embedded form fields, vii. Provide the ability to group embedded images/objects that collectively form a graph, chart, equation, formula etc. - Desirable, but not required, c. Render the compliant HTML to XHTML standards - Desirable, but not required; 2. Itself be compliant with the applicable Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards; 3. Be compatible with Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 or more recent; and 4. Being a plug-in to MS-Office , as opposed to a standalone tool, is desirable, but not required. OTHER: There is no bid package or solicitation document associated with this announcement. Responses are being solicited on how your approach / solution address our functional requirements. Include product specifications (software / hardware) requirements and an estimated pricing on an individual and volume basis. NO SAMPLES / TRIAL VERSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THIS STAGE. The due date for the responses is May 15, 2005(CORRECTED). This request for information does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of the submission of contractor's information. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for proprietary information not properly identified as such. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations. Attached document contains all hyperlinks for further information. Responses including the specified documentation shall be e-mailed to: contact@example.gov or contact@example.gov. No facsimile response will be accepted.