# [U.S. Department of Agriculture]{.smallcaps}  {#u.s.-department-of-agriculture .unnumbered}

######### Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) 45-3142-1-05262

#  {#section .unnumbered}

**Introduction**

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeks a combination of
consulting services and educational services to assist in its goal to
make existing and future internal and external web applications Section
508 of the Rehabilitation Act compliant. The Department of Agriculture
Section 508 compliance solution will be done through a combination of
commercial-off-the-shelf software tools and those services procured via
this BPA. A procurement of the software tools was accomplished through a
separate acquisition vehicle. If additional licenses of the tool are
required, agencies may use this vehicle to acquire them. A host of tools
are available for management and tracking, timely verification or
efficiency, and a plug-in for FrontPage users, as identified herein. The
professional services acquired through this BPA will help agencies and
staff offices ensure successful conversion and migration of existing web
applications through remediation support and training, and assist
agencies and staff offices to establish compliance processes to ensure
that future web applications will be Section 508 compliant.

**Background**

On August 7, 1998, the President signed into law the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998, which includes the Rehabilitation Act Amendments
of 1998. Section 508 was originally added to the Rehabilitation Act in
1986. The 1998 amendments significantly expand and strengthen the
technology access requirements in Section 508. Section 508 is also a
part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires that electronic
and information technology developed, procured, maintained or used by
the Federal government be accessible to people with disabilities.

The current version of Section 508 requires that when Federal agencies
develop, procure, maintain or use electronic and information technology,
they must ensure accessible to people with disabilities. Comparable
access is not required if it would impose an undue burden. This is
consistent with language used in the Americans with Disability Act (ADA)
and other civil rights legislation, where the term 'undue burden' has
been defined as "significant difficulty or expense." However, the agency
must document and explain why meeting the standards would pose an undue
burden for a given procurement action, and must still provide
individuals with disabilities access to the information or data that is
affected in an alternative method.

The old version of Section 508 established non-binding guidelines for
technology accessibility, while the current version creates binding,
enforceable standards, and incorporates these standards into Federal
regulations. Not only do government-wide standards make it easier for
Federal agencies to meet their obligations to make technology systems
accessible to people with disabilities, these standards also promote
competition in the technology industry, which should improve
accessibility products and cost. The Department of Agriculture's goal
through this contract is to achieve 508 compliance for existing and
future web-based electronic and information technology (EIT).

######## USDA Section 508 Goals

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act mandates that any electronic and
information technology developed, procured, maintained, and used by the
Federal government be accessible to people with disabilities. This
includes web-based applications and other Internet and Intranet
services. In addition, web pages are required to meet the accessibility
standards established by the Access Board in order to comply with
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that prohibits discrimination
based on disability in federally funded and conducted programs or
activities.

USDA seeks to assist agencies and staff offices in the conversion of
existing Internet and Intranet sites and the development of new pages
and sites in compliance with requirements of Section 508 guidelines. The
USDA OCIO has made software tool licenses available to the agencies and
staff offices to assist in this effort. This BPA will allow agencies and
staff offices to acquire support services and training to make use of
the software tools to assist in remediation activities and compliance
process development, and to acquire additional tools, if required at a
price equal to or less than previously USDA purchased tools.

USDA's goal is to make all of its web pages accessible to all Federal
employees and all members of the public. If a new web page is now under
development, or will be brought on-line or has a "major" update or
refresh after June 21, 2001, then it must adhere to the Access Board's
Section 508 web accessibility provisions, 36 C.F.R. Pt. 1194.22, unless
doing so imposes a fundamental alteration or undue burden (defined
above). In addition, all USDA programs and information contained on
existing web pages, i.e., those in existence before June 21, 2001, also
shall be made available to members of the public and federal employees
in a way that does not discriminate against people with disabilities,
consistent with our obligations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act. Organizations should make the best use of their resources to ensure
that all USDA programs contained on these existing pages are available
in a nondiscriminatory manner, and to test for and comply with the
Access Board's web accessibility provisions to the extent that resources
allow (beginning with the most popular web sites).

######## BPA Provisions

[Estimated Amount]{.underline}: USDA estimates, but does not guarantee,
that the volume of purchases of products, services and training through
this BPA will be \$1,000,000.

[Funds]{.underline}: This BPA does not obligate any funds.

[Term and Renewal]{.underline}: This BPA shall take effect from
September 24, 2001, and shall continue as long as the underlying
Schedule terms held by Crunchy Technologies remain valid, or for a
period of three years, whichever comes first. Either party may terminate
this BPA without cause and without penalty upon 30 days written notice.

[Authorized Buyers]{.underline}: The products, services and training
offered to the Government under this BPA shall be available to all
offices of USDA, including its cooperator and partner organizations and
offices. Orders can be placed by any Contracting Officer in USDA or by
any authorized purchase cardholder within their authority.

[Principal Points of Contact]{.underline}: USDA has named Sherri Davis
as the Contracting Officer (CO) for any issues concerning the meaning or
scope of this BPA, order execution, tracking, and pricing; she may be
contacted at (202) 720-8309. Tracey Ambeau is the USDA Contracting
Officer's Representative (COR) for service and training task scheduling
and management and may be contacted at (202) 720-6275. The CO and COR
will function as the primary points of contact with Crunchy
Technologies.

[Covered Services]{.underline}: USDA seeks a range of both on-site and
telephone professional services and training to assist the Department
and its agencies and staff offices in meeting the requirements of
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as applicable to its wide variety
of internet, intranet, and extranet web-based information pages and
underlying applications. The professional services require include, but
are not limited to:

-   Project Planning  The development of detailed project tasks,
    milestones, schedules, and resource requirements for design and/or
    remediation activities.

-   Requirements Analysis  The development of criteria and alternatives
    to conduct or assist agencies and staff offices in conducting
    remediation actions for existing web pages and applications, and in
    developing criteria and alternatives for the design and
    implementation of new web pages and applications.

-   Application Design and Analysis  The development of design
    criteria, assessment methods, and compliancy processes to ensure
    successful implementation of new or remediated web pages and
    applications.

-   Coding and Testing  The development of software programs and/or
    scripts to remediate or develop web pages and applications.

-   Quality Assurance  The development of processes and/or methods to
    maintain on an on-going basis Section 508 compliancy of remediated
    or developed web pages and applications.

-   Documentation  The development of procedures and/or guides in
    various media formats to assist web managers and content providers
    in ensuring Section 508 compliance of remediated or developed web
    pages and applications.

-   Installation and Training  Install or assist in installing Section
    508 compliancy software, and provide training on these software
    tools, developed scripts, and methods for accomplishing and
    maintaining Section 508 compliancy of web pages and applications.

-   Helpdesk Support  Provide a minimum of 12x5 (6:00 a.m. to 6:00
    p.m., Eastern Time) telephone access support to various points of
    contact by agency and staff office, to address problems, issues, and
    concerns relating to the software tools, developed scripts, and
    methods for accomplishing and maintaining Section 508 compliancy of
    web pages and applications. The Helpdesk support shall include a
    mechanism(s) or process for categorizing the severity of a problem,
    and an escalation process to handle problems of high severity and
    criticality to on-going, daily business functions.

[Covered Products:]{.underline} USDA seeks a range of products to assist
in the Section 508 management of its web sites as well as
interoperability and efficiency. The covered products include, but are
not limited to:

-   PageScreamer

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-   PageScreamer Spider (efficiency tool)

-   PageScreamer Central (management tool)

-   PageScreamer Plug-In for Front Page (users of Microsoft FrontPage)

[Deliverables]{.underline}: For each of the Covered Services, including
support and training, and Covered Products identified above,
deliverables appropriate to the service requested by an agency or staff
office shall be provided. The scope, type, number, depth, schedule,
format, and media of each deliverable shall be negotiated separately
with each agency or staff office seeking support under this BPA and
reflect the business needs, skill levels, and state and extent of
remediation activities needed or new web pages and applications to be
developed.

[Terms]{.underline}: The terms and conditions included in this BPA apply
to all purchases pursuant to it. In the event of an inconsistency
between the provisions of this BPA and Crunchy Technologies' invoice, or
any terms found on any USDA Purchase Order or Delivery Order, the
provisions of this BPA shall govern.

[Order Placement Information]{.underline}: Orders will be placed against
this BPA via fax, credit card, or paper:

Pursuant to GSA Federal Supply Schedule Contract Number
[45-3142-1-05262]{.underline}, Blanket Purchase Agreements, the
Contractor agrees to the following terms of Blanket Purchase Agreement
(BPA) EXCLUSIVELY WITH USDA:

> The following contract services/products can be ordered under this
> BPA. All others placed against BPA are subject to the terms and
> conditions of the contract, excerpt, except as noted below:

**[ITEM (Model/Part Number or Type of Service)]{.underline}** **[SPECIAL
BPA DISCOUNT/PRICE]{.underline}**

PageScreamer \$218.25 (Credit Card) \$261.90 (Purchase Order)

PageScreamer Spider (efficiency tool) \$1,911 (Credit Card) \$2,293
(Purchase Order)

PageScreamer Plug-In for Front Page \$30.95 (Credit Card) \$33.95
(Purchase Order)

**[Professional Services -- Special Pricing]{.underline}**

Internet Project Manager - \$154.61 per hour

Internet Senior Consultant - \$136.94 per hour

Internet Consultant - \$119.27 per hour

**[Training]{.underline}**

\$75 Per Person for 1 hour of Training (1-5 training classes)

\$70 Per Person for 1 hour of Training (5-10 training classes)

\$65 Per Person for 1 hour of Training (10+ training classes)

**[Support]{.underline}**

Standard Support (included with all licenses)

\- 30 day installation support, 9am-5pm EST

**[Platinum Support]{.underline}**

Platinum Pricing: \$50,000 for six months

8 hours training for internal Help Desk personnel

24x7 direct support for 3 users

Priority 1 response within 2 hours

Priority 2 response within 8 hours

Delivery:

[DESTINATION]{.underline} [DELIVERY/SCHEDULE/DATES]{.underline}

[SEE INDIVIDUAL ORDERS]{.underline} [SEE INDIVIDUAL ORDERS]{.underline}

Unless otherwise agreed to, all deliveries under this BPA must be
accompanied by delivery tickets or sales slips that must contain the
following information as a minimum:

(a) Name of Contractor;

(b) Contract Number;

(c) BPA Number;

(d) Model Number or National Stock Number (NSN);

(e) Task/Delivery Order Number

(f) Date of Purchase

(g) Quantity, Unit Price, and Extension of Each Item (unit prices and
    extensions need not be shown when incompatible with the use of
    automated systems; provided, that the invoice is itemized to show
    the information); and

(h) Date of Shipment.

[Invoicing and Payments]{.underline}: The requirements for a proper
invoice are as specified in the Federal Supply Schedule Contract.
Invoicing and credit card payments are both authorized. Invoices should
be addressed to the contact person listed on the Delivery Order, and
payment will be the responsibility of that office.

**\*IMPORTANT -- A new feature to the Federal Supply Schedules Programs
permits contractors to offer price reductions in accordance with
commercial practice. Contractor Team Arrangements are permitted with
Federal Supply Schedule contractors in accordance with FAR Subpart
9.6.**