Antecedentes

On 1 January 2021, UNDP launched its new Digital, Inclusive, Accessible: Support to Digitalisation of State Services in Ukraine (DIA Support) Project. The project is made possible due to the support of the Government of Sweden and is carried out in close collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (MDT) and other government stakeholders. As part of the project, UNDP helps the government partners – primarily MDT – select several service clusters in use by citizens representing vulnerable groups. Services will be packaged to accommodate everyday needs and transposed into a fully digital format.

One of the most important aspects of the DIA Support Project is to enhance the accessibility of digital solutions through the design of relevant IT instruments and the creation of relevant regulatory tools that would guide state entities and their contractors/developers for the production of equitable, genuinely inclusive e-service tools according to the principles of the universal design. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have been developed to provide a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.

Ukraine adopted the WCAG 2.0 (currently version 2.1 is available) in 2019, as part of amendments Regulation of Cabinet of Ministers #3 from 4 January 2002 as well as state standard DSTU ISO/IEC 40500:2015. In tight cooperation with MDT, the DIA Support project has been working on updating the DSTU to mirror the EU standard EN 301 549, and relevant amendments to the legislature to facilitate web accessibility of content and services provided by state authorities. These activities, as well as the web accessibility monitoring, go in line with the Action Plan on implementation of the National Strategy on Barrier-Free Environment, adopted by the government in August 2021.

At the same time, a growing body of academic research and practical experience in Europe suggests that even well-considered web resources, electronic services and applications for citizen use are not immune to blind spots of neglecting the rights of people with disabilities or those belonging to vulnerable groups. The accessibility monitoring of 100 government-sponsored online resources initiated by the DIA Support project in late 2021 enabled MDT and other counterparts to mitigate the inconsistency and digital barriers for people with disabilities. Also, the monitoring brought the topic of web accessibility into the public agenda and allowed to reinforce the position that all existing and new e-services should be fully compliant with web accessibility standards.

To continue working on bringing Ukraine closer to the European standards of web content accessibility, UNDP seeks the services of a qualified Consultant to provide professional support in the area of web accessibility covering technical specific consultations, analysis and recommendations, preparation of thematic publications and their presentation to various target groups. The support may also include the production of comprehensive, understandable and easy-to-follow instructions to be efficiently utilized by public authorities for enhancing digital inclusion standards in Ukraine. The incumbent will promote UNDP’s mandate as a gender-responsive organization with zero tolerance to any kind of discriminatory and abusive behaviour, including sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.

Deberes y responsabilidades

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The main objective of the assignment is to provide analytical, technical and consultancy work in terms of web accessibility with the possibility of being widely engaged by all interested parties. Specifically,  the Consultant is expected to provide expertise in content accessibility assessments, audit of digital services in production, the adaptation of existing e-services, e.g., dedicated section for ePidtrymka (e-aid) service, enhancing web accessibility of Diia infrastructure, contributions to draft lawful regulations on web accessibility and their further promotion, preparation of thematic articles, other types of publications and their public presentation, as well as actively address other UNDP and MDT requests related to web accessibility. It is also anticipated that the Consultant will prepare necessary clarifications, furnish explanatory notes, and perform other works that may be necessary to achieve the expected end results.

3. DESCRIPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES / SCOPE OF WORK

The Consultant will work in close cooperation with DIA Support Project and MDT teams, and he/she will be tasked with producing the following deliverables:

1. By participating in working meetings of UNDP, MDT and other stakeholders, to finalise the ToRs for tasks related to the web accessibility;
2. Prepare expert recommendations on improving accessibility of web resources within Diia infrastructure and also upon requests from the DIA Support project or other stakeholders;
3. Conduct (or co-design in close cooperation with MDT) technical assessments, web accessibility audits, accessibility monitoring to support the launch of new electronic services that have relevance to the DIA Support Project’s mandate of working with vulnerable groups;
4. Produce advisory notes, analytical materials, accessibility audit/monitoring reports, memos for UNDP on the issues related to public digital services or platforms that operate such services (for instance, the content for ePidtrymka service);
5. Prepare and deliver public presentations of thematic materials upon request from UNDP, MDT and other stakeholders.

4. MEASURABLE OUTPUTS OF THE WORK ASSIGNMENT/DELIVERABLES

Deliverables expected under the contract should be achieved under the following schedule:

5. Management arrangements

The Consultant will be primarily responsible for achieving the objectives of the assignment. The Consultant will report to the Diia Support Project Manager and will work closely with Diia Support Project Digitalization Policy Specialist and the MDT and other stakeholders, e.g., executive government bodies, parliamentarians, international technical assistance projects’ representatives.

The Consultant will be responsible for all personal administrative expenses associated with the assignment. In case any public events are planned jointly by the Consultant and UNDP as part of the present assignment, the Consultant will not be responsible for the logistics of events. UNDP will cover the conference costs (including possible printing, food, accommodation, etc.) on its own.

6. MONITORING REQUIREMENTS / TERMS OF PAYMENT

The Consultant will interact with UNDP and MDT to receive any clarifications and guidance that may be needed. The Consultant will duly inform UNDP of any problems, issues or delays arising in the course of implementation of the assignment and take necessary steps to address them.

UNDP will be the final authority to control the quality and evaluate the work. The satisfactory completion of each of the deliverables shall be subject to the endorsement of the Project Manager. Each deliverable will be delivered in a draft for comments and feedback before finalisation. No reports or documents should be published or distributed to third parties without the approval of UNDP.

All results are to be submitted to the UNDP in electronic form (*.docx, *.xlsx, *.pptx, and *.pdf or other formats accepted by UNDP). The language of the materials and reports is Ukrainian.

UNDP will provide payment upon provision of each deliverable duly certified by UNDP following the schedule below:

Deliverable 1.               20%

Deliverable 2.               30%

Deliverable 3.               20%

Deliverable 4.               30%

Competencias

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

8. EXPERIENCE AND MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

• Master’s / Specialist’s degree in Public Policy / Administration, IT or other relevant social sciences/information technology field;
• At least 4 years of experience in issues of accessibility of information technology (web-based resources, software, mobile-based accessible software);
• Demonstrated track record in advice to international organizations / national government institutions / CSOs on issues of accessibility of public services and ICT products. First-hand experience in problems with the accessibility of government online resources considered as an asset;
• Demonstrated experience in producing advisory notes, technical reports, memos in the past. Experience in working with international technical development projects would be an asset;
• Fluent Ukrainian, working-level English would be an asset.

9. DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSAL

Applicants shall submit the following documents:

10. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

 Lump sum contract

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (please, refer to Section 4 Measurable outputs of the work assignment / deliverables). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of Cost by Components.

Travel

All travel arrangements will be handled by UNDP if such travel is deemed necessary. Consultations regarding travel options will be held with the Consultant before the planning of the trips and relevant logistics.

11. EVALUATION CRITERIA

• Educational background – 10 pts max

• 10 pts – PhD in Public Policy / Administration, IT or other relevant social sciences / information technology field;
• 8 pts – Master’s / Specialist’s degree in Public Policy / Administration, IT or other relevant sciences / information technology field;

• Experience in issues of accessibility of information technology (web-based resources, software, mobile-based accessible software) – 12 pts max

• 12 pts – over 7 years of relevant experience;
• 11 pts – between 5 and 6 years of relevant experience;
• 10 pts – at least 4 years of relevant experience.

• Track record in advice to international organizations / national government institutions on issues of accessibility of public services and ICT products – 16 pts max

• 16 pts – over 5 relevant examples demonstrated;
• 14 pts – 3-4 relevant examples demonstrated;
• 12 pts – at least 2 relevant examples demonstrated.

• First-hand experience in problems with the accessibility of government online resources – 2 pts max

• 2 pts – the candidate has first-hand experience;
• 0 pts – the candidate does not have first-hand experience.

• Quality of the writing sample – 25 pts max

• 25 pts – the extract presents a top-quality, cogent, well-articulated practical assessment of an issue at hand with practical advice on the way forward;
• 22 pts – a generally well-developed, well-grounded assessment of an issue at hand with meaning conveyed clearly;
• 17 pts – presents the assessment of an issue at hand with acceptable clarity with a trend to academism or unnecessary vagueness, generally demonstrates control of the conventions of standard written language;
• 0 pts – the proposed writing sample is barely relevant to the TOR and the tasks therein and would need significant re-working.

• Experience in working with international technical development projects would be an asset – 2 pts max

• 2 pts – the candidate has experience;
• 0 pts – the candidate does not have experience.

• Language skills – 3 pts max
  • 3 pts – Native-level knowledge of Ukrainian. Working-level knowledge of English;
  • 2 pts – Native-level knowledge of Ukrainian.

Maximum available technical score - 70 points.

Evaluation method:

 Cumulative analysis

Contract award shall be made to the incumbent whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) having received the cumulative highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight: 70%

* Financial Criteria weight: 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% from the maximum available technical score (49 points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal and will equal to 30. All other price proposals will be evaluated and assigned points, as per the below formula:

30 points [max points available for financial part] x [lowest of all evaluated offered prices among responsive offers] / [evaluated price].

The proposal obtaining the overall cumulatively highest score after adding the score of the technical proposal and the financial proposal will be considered as the most compliant offer. After successful completion of the validation interview, the offeror will be awarded a contract.