By DistrictProof · Published · Source links checked on this date.
Download the editable template
Free to use without registration. The complete template is also readable below. Replace bracketed fields and have your procurement team and counsel adapt the terms before issuing a solicitation or signing an agreement.
What should a district PDF remediation RFP include?
Define the file inventory, intended outputs, technical requirements, human review coverage, acceptance tasks, evidence, corrections, schedule and price. Name the district’s responsibilities for content approval and publication. Then compare vendors against that same scope, rather than a page rate alone.
This template offers proposed purchasing language. It is vendor-neutral: a bidder must explain its actual method and exceptions. The final agreement determines the purchased obligations; this page does not promise a particular legal outcome or approve a vendor.
Choose RFP or SOW before filling it in
An RFP asks suppliers to propose a solution under your purchasing process. Include the response instructions, evaluation criteria and questions that will let your team compare offers. Do not present an optional bidder response as an agreed obligation.
An SOW records the selected work. Replace open questions with negotiated quantities, named responsibilities, methods, acceptance criteria and dates. Attach it to the district-approved agreement, resolve conflicts and obtain authorized signatures. A downloaded template is not an executed SOW.
Prepare the attachments before approaching vendors
- A versioned PDF backlog inventory with file IDs, page counts, source availability and priorities.
- A representative sample covering the document types in the production list, shared through an approved route.
- The district’s required purchasing, data-handling, records and security terms.
- A response schedule and a comparison rubric approved under district rules. Set weights before proposals arrive.
- A named acceptance lead and publishing owner, with time reserved for their work.
Copy and adapt the purchasing template
Use the Word or text download for editing. Bracketed entries intentionally require district decisions. The clauses below are the same clauses supplied in both downloads.
1. Project and purchasing details
District: [District name]. Procurement reference: [Reference]. Project contact and accessibility contact: [Names and roles]. Submission deadline and time zone: [Date, time, zone]. Questions process, submission method and applicable district purchasing rules: [Insert approved instructions].
Purpose: obtain remediation and documented accessibility review of the documents in the agreed inventory. Identify whether this document is an RFP requesting proposals or an SOW attached to an executed agreement. Complete all bracketed fields before issue.
2. Inventory, versions and boundaries
Attach an inventory identifying each file, public URL or secure identifier, page count, content owner, source availability and required delivery date. Identify languages, scans, forms, complex tables, charts and assembled packets. State the maximum included quantity and how pages and repeated pages are counted.
Specify included formats and outputs: [PDF / editable source / HTML / other]. Identify excluded work: [Translation, content rewriting, website edits, multimedia or other]. Any exception, retention, removal or archive decision requires district authorization; the vendor must not infer permission from document age.
3. Technical requirements and user tasks
The agreed deliverables shall meet the applicable WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA success criteria identified in the written scope. If a PDF/UA standard is also required, name its edition and validation approach separately. List the intended PDF readers, assistive technologies, languages and critical user tasks.
Tasks to verify include, as applicable: navigating headings, following reading order, understanding meaningful images, identifying table headers and relationships, using links, and completing and correcting form entries with a keyboard and screen reader. Record non-applicable criteria and any unresolved findings with their basis.
4. Representative sample and proposal response
Before production, review a representative sample containing [Selected file IDs and types]. Require vendors to return a corrected sample, proposed review method, findings, delivery record, assumptions and price. Use the same sample and written questions for each bidder; identify any paid sample work in advance.
Ask each bidder to state who performs remediation and review, which tasks are automated, whether human review covers every delivered file or a sample, and any subcontracting. For an every-file review requirement, carry that requirement explicitly into the final SOW.
5. Review coverage and delivery evidence
Required coverage: [Every delivered file / specifically defined sampling, with its limits]. State the automated tools, manual checks, keyboard and screen-reader tasks, environments and review responsibilities. A tool pass alone is not sufficient acceptance evidence.
For each delivered version, provide the file identifier, version or checksum, review date, methods and coverage, task outcomes, remaining findings and responsible owner. Distinguish technical validation, human review and verification of the posted version. Deliver the evidence in [Agreed usable format].
6. Acceptance and corrections
The district acceptance lead is [Role]. The review period begins when the agreed files and complete evidence arrive and lasts [Number] business days, using [Calendar and time zone]. Acceptance requires the agreed outputs and test tasks to satisfy the written criteria; record rejection reasons against those criteria.
Define included correction rounds, response and return times, retesting, and the correction period [Terms]. Identify who approves content meaning and alternative text. Record any unresolved item, interim access arrangement and approval separately; silence or a general compliance certificate is not a substitute for an agreed acceptance process.
7. Milestones, inputs and changes
Milestones: [Intake, approved sample, production batches, district review, corrections and final handoff]. For each, record the deliverable, owner, due date and district inputs. Define how missing sources, late approvals and changed meeting dates affect the schedule.
Use written change approval for replacement files, supplements, increased page counts, new languages, accelerated delivery or added tasks. State the revised price and timing before proceeding. Later re-exports and edits require review of the changed version.
8. Price and payment schedule
Request a fixed total for the agreed inventory, with line items for document types, review coverage, evidence, corrections and optional work. State currency, minimum charges, allowance limits, recurring annual totals if applicable, taxes, travel and rush charges, and any volume assumptions.
Payment and purchasing terms: [Purchase order requirements, invoicing milestones, approved payment period and acceptance conditions]. No vendor starting price or sample estimate replaces the executed scope and price.
9. File handling, staff access and incidents
Complete the district-approved requirements for transfer method, storage locations, authorized roles, subcontractors, logging, AI processing or training restrictions, retention, deletion and backups. Identify the information classification and whether student or other sensitive records are excluded. Do not put private records in a public bid attachment.
Name the security contacts and specify incident notification timing, content and cooperation [Approved terms]. Require disclosure and approval of material processing changes. Resolve any data-processing agreement and evidence of controls before transferring non-public files.
10. Publication and final handoff
Identify who posts the returned files, updates links, retires superseded versions and checks the public result. When publication verification is purchased, record the URL, served file version, check date, method and outcome. State whether that check is included in the price.
The handoff shall include the accepted files, agreed editable sources, evidence log, open actions and staff instructions. Set the source-file retention or deletion schedule [Terms]. Define who owns ongoing updates after project closure.
11. Vendor documents and evaluation
Request the district-required company and contracting details, relevant experience, references with permission, W-9, insurance evidence, accessibility sample and proposed agreement or exceptions. Do not publish tax identifiers or sensitive onboarding documents.
Before issuing the RFP, define the evaluation criteria and weights under district rules: [Method, sample quality, evidence, schedule, data handling, price and other approved criteria]. Compare offers against the same inventory and required coverage. Keep the evaluation record separate from marketing claims.
12. Agreement and authorization
Incorporate only the negotiated requirements into the final SOW. Identify the governing agreement, order of precedence, approved schedules, authorized signatories and change process. Complete district legal and procurement review before issue or execution.
This reusable template does not establish a contract, a legal opinion, a district-wide certification or a commitment by DistrictProof. Replace all placeholders and reconcile conflicts with the district-approved agreement.
Make acceptance tasks observable
“Make this accessible” is difficult to evaluate without a defined task and result. For a form, identify the version and ask a reviewer to reach each field, hear its label, enter data and recover from an error using the agreed environment. For a budget table, identify the cells whose header relationships and values must be understandable.
Record the outcome and any remaining finding for the delivered version. Separate an automated validation result from the manual task results. The W3C evaluation resources explain evaluation and reporting; the specific file-level acceptance arrangement in this template is a proposed purchasing approach, not an additional legal standard.
Compare the proposal, sample and final scope
Check that the vendor’s sample method matches the coverage offered for production. If the district requires a person to review every delivered file, do not accept a production scope that quietly changes to sampled review. If sampling is the purchased scope, state its limits and how findings outside the sample are handled.
Use the vendor evaluation guide for comparison questions and the sample evidence report to inspect an example handoff. Compare allowances, annual recurring costs and retained staff work using the cost guide.
Standards, sources and a scoped next step
The DOJ rule fact sheet identifies WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for covered web content. Use WCAG 2.1 to identify applicable criteria. If your procurement also requires PDF/UA, name the required edition separately; do not treat the two labels as interchangeable. Sources checked November 7, 2026.
For a DistrictProof proposal, bring your inventory and these requirements to our procurement team. Salt Technologies, Inc. signs DistrictProof agreements. Review coverage, deliverables, pricing and exceptions belong in the agreed written scope.