The Department of Health and Ageing has issued a request for tender (RFT) for the provision of text-to-speech software for its websites.
To further meet the federal government’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, the department wants to extend its use of text-to-speech software so that people with visual impairments or who have reading difficulties can easily access its online services and information.
Having already been implemented on its main website, the department requires the software to cover 55 other websites that come under its portfolio, in addition to intranets, e-learning modules and blogs. Also, the provider will need to allow for an increase in the number of websites over three years.
The supplier must comply with the WCAG 2.0 Level AA; comply with Australian government’s Protective Security Policy Framework and Information Security Manual; retain all data within Australia, including support and administration functions; and provide software that can be operated without the need for the end user to download or install additional software.
Other requirements include monthly to yearly reporting statistics for each of the 55 websites; access across all browsers and hardware, including mobile devices; supports reading for PDF, RTF, Word and Excel; supports reading without the need for Javascript; supports dynamic URLs; and provides instructions and support for implementation, configuration and maintenance.
Some of the features the department is looking for in the software include allowing users to change the speed of reading, synchronise text highlighting, read text in more than one language, and read text in different formats such as HTML, Word and PDF.
The software license or contract will be for three years starting from the contract exchange. Tender lodgements close 2pm local Canberra time on Monday 24 June 2013.
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