Reference · Procurement
RFP appendix language for public-sector accessibility
Published May 14, 2026 · 5 min read
Drop-in accessibility language for RFP responses serving state and local government. Covers monitoring, prioritization, reporting, PDFs, and post-launch accountability — without overpromising conformance.
The accessibility section of an RFP response often gets written under time pressure. This is starter language we've adapted from responses we've participated in — adjust to your firm's capabilities and the specifics of the procurement.
1. Standards and scope statement
The proposed solution shall meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, as adopted by the Department of Justice ADA Title II web rule (28 CFR Part 35). Scope includes public-facing HTML pages and downloadable PDFs published through the agency's primary content management system. The vendor will document scope in writing and revise as the property catalog changes.
2. Continuous monitoring
The vendor will implement a continuous monitoring program covering all in-scope public-facing pages. At minimum, monitoring shall (a) execute automated WCAG 2.1 AA checks on a scheduled cadence agreed with the agency; (b) detect regressions across releases; (c) trigger alerts at agency-defined thresholds; and (d) maintain a longitudinal record of findings, status, and resolution.
3. PDF visibility
The vendor will discover PDF documents linked from monitored sites and provide structural-heuristic analysis flagging missing document structure, missing language declaration, and absence of image alternative-text indicators. The vendor acknowledges that this is triage and visibility, not PDF/UA validation; full PDF/UA validation and remediation of highest-priority documents shall be addressed under a separate workstream.
4. Remediation tracking
Findings shall be deduplicated and tracked by root cause across pages. The vendor will maintain a documented remediation workflow with assignment, status, and verification states, and will provide read access to authorized agency staff.
5. Reporting
The vendor will produce on-demand and scheduled reports including: portfolio-level compliance summary; site-level finding detail with WCAG references and severity; conformance/VPAT matrix; and a CSV export suitable for procurement and legal review. Reports shall carry a disclaimer clarifying that the deliverable supports accessibility operations and evidence-based remediation, and does not constitute a legal compliance attestation.
6. Manual evaluation
The vendor acknowledges that automated tooling alone does not establish WCAG conformance. The vendor will conduct or coordinate manual review of [scope to be defined], including assistive-technology testing, and will document review findings on the same workflow as automated findings.
Disclaimer paragraph (for your firm's use)
Our proposed accessibility program supports continuous, evidence-based accessibility operations. It does not certify WCAG conformance, does not replace expert manual testing, and does not constitute legal advice. Final conformance and compliance claims belong to the agency's accessibility lead, auditor, or counsel.