San Miguel County, Colorado (“County”) is seeking proposals from professional organizations or individuals capable of providing professional services for the position of Accessibility Coordinator.

Interested professional organizations or individuals are requested to submit statements of experience and qualifications to the County in regard to providing the professional services for the described Accessibility Coordinator position. Work could be performed partly or fully remotely, with the potential of periodic site visits.

The proposal is soliciting for an initial period of 18 months of service at a minimum of 20 hours/week at a rate of $35.00/hour. Selected person or organization would act as an independent contractor for San Miguel County. Project award is contingent upon approval by the San Miguel County Manager.

Firms or individuals will be ranked on experience, cost and qualifications, including but not limited to: previous, similar projects, key personnel qualifications and availability.

San Miguel County serves approximately 8,200 citizens and encompasses a diverse region ranging from the rugged mountain resort communities of Telluride and Mountain Village to the arid ranching communities of the County's west end, Norwood and Egnar. The County is approximately 1,287 square miles, stretching from the San Juan Mountains in the east to the Utah border to the west. The incorporated towns in the County consist of Telluride (County seat), Mountain Village, Ophir, Sawpit, and Norwood. Other communities include Placerville, Egnar and Slickrock.

Colorado House Bill 21-1110 (https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_1110_signed.pdf), passed on June 30, 2021, makes it a state civil rights violation for a government agency to exclude people with disabilities from receiving services or benefits because of lack of accessibility. This applies to both public-facing and staff-facing technologies.

Any Colorado government entity that does not comply with state digital accessibility standards could be subject to injunctive relief, meaning a court order to fix the problem; actual monetary damages; or a fine of $3,500 payable to the plaintiff, who must be someone from the disability community.

Legislation places responsibility for compliance on both platform providers and content owners.

All state agencies and local governments must be compliant with state standards by July 1, 2024.

Working with the San Miguel County Special Projects Director and County Manager, as well as the existing accessibility team (Chief Deputy Clerk to the Board, GIS Director, Communications Coordinator) as well as all stakeholders, the Accessibility Coordinator will be responsible for ensuring that the County will be compliant, or have accommodation strategies in place, by the July 1, 2024 deadline.

Services will include the following:

1. Technology Evaluation
   1. Evaluation of all County technology touchpoints for compliance with accessibility standards.
   2. Communication with software vendors regarding plans and timelines for meeting accessibility standards.
   3. Together with department heads, elected officials and the IT Department, determine whether alternate software solutions should be pursued for software packages that will not comply.
   4. Guide software procurement from an accessibility standpoint.
2. Content Remediation
   1. Ensure that content available on the County’s website or otherwise distributed is either compliant or removed.
   2. Manage any mass remediation projects necessary to meet this goal.
3. Accommodations Strategies
   1. Based on the Technology Evaluation, design and implement accommodations strategies for areas where compliance cannot yet be achieved.
   2. Ensure clear channels of communication for citizens who experience difficulties, with documented follow-up and resolution tracking.
4. Staff Support
   1. Designate accessibility contacts who are responsible for content accessibility per department.
   2. Provide and document staff training in content accessibility.
   3. Provide direct staff support for remediating content.
   4. Facilitate an organizational culture of inclusivity around accessibility.
5. Program Effectiveness
   1. Engage with the disability community to ensure efforts are meeting needs.
   2. Institute and manage regular accessibility testing and audits. Address identified problems with the appropriate platform or content provider.
6. Monitor State Rules
   1. Monitor rules promulgated by the Colorado Office of Information Technology as they are adopted and ensure that the rules will be followed.

1. Knowledge of or ability to become familiar with Colorado House Bill 21-1110, subsequent related legislation and digital accessibility compliance requirements.
2. Knowledge of digital accessibility methodologies for various media/document types strongly preferred.
3. Knowledge of and experience with complying with Web Consortium Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA strongly preferred.
4. Knowledge of website content management systems.
5. Strong overall information technology knowledge.
6. Ability to manage projects, including collaborative projects, efficiently and successfully.
7. Possesses strong office technology and computer skills; ability to learn and effectively and accurately use various software programs related to the tasks, duties and responsibilities required of the position.
8. Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook; Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Docs; Adobe Acrobat Pro and the respective accessibility features.

Any questions relative to the scope of services must be submitted in writing by e-mail to Christina Lambert, Human Resources Director, hr@sanmiguelcountyco.gov For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address. . Questions must be received by no later than July 28, 2023. Late questions will not be addressed. Written answers will be provided within two (2) business days.

San Miguel County will review all Qualification Packages submitted for this position or project. To be considered as a qualified respondent, an electronic copy must be submitted (via email) to hr@sanmiguelcountyco.gov For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address. .

Submittal shall have the subject line: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FOR ACCESSIBILITY COORDINATOR POSITION, and must be received by August 4, 2023 by no later than 5:00 PM MDT to the Human Resources Director.

Any submittals received after this date and time will be deemed unresponsive. The County reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals, to re-solicit proposals, to waive any irregularities, to negotiate pricing and to select the proposal deemed to be in the best interests of the County. Issuance of this RFP does not obligate the County to award a contract nor is the County liable for any costs incurred by the proponent in the preparation and submittal of the proposal.

All proposals must include the following information in the order stated below:

1. Profile: Describe on one page the background of your organization or yourself and why it or you is qualified to provide the requested services.
2. Understanding of the Project: Describe in two pages or less your understanding of the project including a brief overview of your plan on accomplishing the services being requested.
3. Project Team: Describe the qualifications of the key person(s) who will be responsible for providing the requested services. Resumes for key person(s) are required.
4. Experience: Provide evidence of similar, past experience that demonstrates your ability to successfully provide the services being requested in this RFP, including writing samples. Include names and contact information from past projects for reference purposes.
5. Acknowledgment Form: Include the Acknowledgment form as the final page of the Proposal.

If the County and the successful bidder cannot agree on a firm cost, the County will solicit a fee from the next highest scored firm or individual. Billing will be on a monthly basis for any services provided.

The selected vendor must perform the work in a professional manner in accordance with all applicable County, State, and Federal laws and regulations.

The undersigned, having carefully read and considered the Request for Proposals for the San Miguel County Accessibility Coordinator position, does hereby offer to perform such services on behalf of the County of San Miguel, in the manner described and subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the attached Request for Proposals.

The undersigned further states that this bid is made in good faith and is not founded on, or in consequence of, any collusion, anticompetitive agreement or other type of anticompetitive activities between themselves and any other interested party, in restraint of free competition.

Proposer Business Name __________________________________________________________

Authorized Representative Signature _____________________________________________

Authorized Representative Name & Title (print)

Address ___________________________________________________________________________

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