Sign Language, Interpreting, and Captioning Services

This is Small Business Sources Sought Notice. This is not a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The Office of Research Services (ORS), Events Management Branch (EMB), has ongoing requirements to provide sign language and innterpreting, and captioning services to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) community. ORS, EMB is considering awarding a new more inclusive contract that would provide essential communication services. Statement of Need A more inclusive contract would include services to the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Deaf and Hard of Hearing employees, patients, and visitors requesting an accommodation, per Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Services would include American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting (basic and scientific) and Computer Assisted Real-time Transcription (CART). Additionally, a new contract would also deliver Section 508 standard services to ensure the NIH Electronic and Information Technology (EIT), whether purchased or developed at NIH, conforms with the standards and is readily accessible to people with disabilities. These services, historically provided under a separate contract, include verbatim transcription, post-production captioning, live (real-time) captioning, and professional audio description (for the blind). The goal is to streamline delivery of Section 504 and Section 508 essential communication services by centralizing the point of access for both in one Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) compliant user- friendly web-based application (with mobile interface) capable of processing 50-75 requests per day in real-time, scalable to meet growing demand, and able to communicate with a newly acquired government-owned resource management reservation system. The new contract would also require the contractor to participate in NIH-sponsored community-building events to raise awareness of Deaf Culture; and collaborate with NIH and its external partners in the local community on joint initiatives, including establishing feedback loops with existing technology providers on how to improve the user experience; exploring emerging technologies that could be beneficial to Deaf and Blind people down the road; developing a partnership with a Deaf university or research institution for ASL students interested in specializing in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) fields to intern at NIH as part of their education. This internship program might also create a pipeline of scientific interpreters at NIH to ease the post-pandemic interpreter shortage; and serve as a recruitment tool to attract diverse talent to NIH from these communities and foster better communication and deeper appreciation for one another. DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION TO INCLUDE IN THE CAPABILITY STATEMENT The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 541930 (Translation and Interpretation Services ) with a size standard of $22.5 million. All interested small business concerns are invited to submit a tailored capability statement. The capability statement should reference Sources Sought Number HHS-NIH-OD-OLAO-SS-24-001 and should be no longer than 15 pages in length and shall include the following: (1) Name and Address of the Organization, (2) The size and type of business: Small Business (as listed under www.sam.gov), (3) Point of Contact with name, title, voice/telephone, facsimile number, and email address, (4) Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number, (5) Contractor's capability statement that addresses the organization's ability, knowledge, experience and personnel to perform the service described in the Statement of Need (Pamphlets and standard brochures will not be considered responsive to this Sources Sought Notice), and (6) List of organizations to whom similar types of services have been previously provided to include contract number, dollar value, name and phone number of the Contracting Officer. This market survey is being conducted to reach the widest possible audience and to gather current market information. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Responding firms should email one (1) electronic copy of their capability statement to Sheryn Noel at noels@mail.nih.gov. In the email subject line, please include the Small Business Sources Sought Notice No. HHS-NIH-OD-OLAO-SS-24-001. ALL INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE. THE CLOSING DATE FOR RESPONSES IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2024 AT 3:00 PM Eastern Time. Facsimile copies will not be accepted. All questions and/or comments regarding this notice must be in writing and may be emailed to point of contact referenced above. Comments and questions will NOT be answered but may assist in creating a solicitation for this requirement. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).