Contract notice
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
RC000645
Edgbaston
BIRMINGHAM
B152TT
UK
Contact person: Chris Morgan
E-mail: c.morgan.2@bham.ac.uk
NUTS: UKG31
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/
I.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge at:
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingham/aspx/Home
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent electronically to:
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingham/aspx/Home
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Education
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Framework for the Provision of Services of Virtual Learning Environment Accessibility for the University of Birmingham
Reference number: FRAM842/24
II.1.2) Main CPV code
72212190
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
The University of Birmingham invites tenders for the provision of an integrated solution to support digital accessibility of teaching materials in our Virtual Learning Environment, Canvas VLE.
The University has a number of aims with regards to this solution:
1. The solution should be in place and ready to use from August 2024.
2. For staff, the aim is to improve staff engagement with creating accessible teaching content by providing automated identification of accessibility issues with the VLE and to provide
means by which they may remedy these issues, for example by serving point of need guidance and to support them in making improvements with the accessibility of their content.
3. For students, the aim is to provide access to automatically produced accessible alternatives of content within the VLE.
4. For the institution, the aim is to access reports on the accessibility of content within the VLE.
5. The preferred solution(s) will fully integrate in Canvas in a way which provides a consistent experience for students and staff. There should be little to no manual interventions required to synchronise data or user permissions between the solution and Canvas.
6. The preferred solution(s) will have experience working with other Higher Education Institutes in the UK and will have a well-developed Roadmap with a proven track record of meeting Roadmap timescales.
7. There are 38,000 students of which circa 32,000 are based in the University Birmingham's Edgbaston campus, circa 2000 in the University's Dubai campus, and circa 4000 on Distance
Learning programmes (current published HESA FTE 33,570). There are also circa 900 students at the University's Jinan-Birmingham-Joint-Institute (JBJI) in China. The preferred solution will need to cater to these variations in student populations, programme types and location.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
48190000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKG31
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The University of Birmingham invites tenders for the provision of an integrated solution to support digital accessibility of teaching materials in our Virtual Learning Environment, Canvas VLE.
The University has a number of aims with regards to this solution:
1. The solution should be in place and ready to use from August 2024.
2. For staff, the aim is to improve staff engagement with creating accessible teaching content by providing automated identification of accessibility issues with the VLE and to provide means by which they may remedy these issues, for example by serving point of need guidance and to support them in making improvements with the accessibility of their content.
3. For students, the aim is to provide access to automatically produced accessible alternatives of content within the VLE.
4. For the institution, the aim is to access reports on the accessibility of content within the VLE.
5. The preferred solution(s) will fully integrate in Canvas in a way which provides a consistent experience for students and staff. There should be little to no manual interventions required to synchronise data or user permissions between the solution and Canvas.
6. The preferred solution(s) will have experience working with other Higher Education Institutes in the UK and will have a well-developed Roadmap with a proven track record of meeting Roadmap timescales.
7. There are 38,000 students of which circa 32,000 are based in the University Birmingham's Edgbaston campus, circa 2000 in the University's Dubai campus, and circa 4000 on Distance Learning programmes (current published HESA FTE 33,570). There are also circa 900 students at the University's Jinan-Birmingham-Joint-Institute (JBJI) in China. The preferred solution will need to cater to these variations in student populations, programme types and location.
Supplier demonstrations are expected to take place during the weeks commencing 29th April 2024 and 6th May 2024.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Criteria below:
Quality criterion: ITSPQs
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Standard Supplier Questionnaire (SQ)
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Pass/Fail Questions
/ Weighting: 5
Quality criterion: Experience
/ Weighting: 5
Quality criterion: Reporting and Analytics
/ Weighting: 5
Quality criterion: User Experience - Permissions
/ Weighting: 5
Quality criterion: User Experience - General
/ Weighting: 15
Quality criterion: Technical and Professional Ability
/ Weighting: 5
Quality criterion: Supplier Presentations/Demonstrations
/ Weighting: 30
Price
/ Weighting:
10
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 48
This contract is subject to renewal: No
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
II.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted:
No
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement with a single operator.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date:
25/03/2024
Local time: 11:59
IV.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
EN
IV.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date:
25/03/2024
Local time: 12:00
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement:
No
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
The University of Birmingham
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
23/02/2024