Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Edgbaston
BIRMINGHAM
B152TT
Contact
Chris Morgan
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKG31 - Birmingham
Companies House
RC000645
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.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 above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingham/aspx/Home
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Education
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Framework for the Provision of Services of Virtual Learning Environment Accessibility for the University of Birmingham
Reference number
FRAM842/24
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72212190 - Educational software development services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.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.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 48190000 - Educational software package
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKG31 - Birmingham
two.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.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: ITSPQs / Weighting: 10
Quality criterion - Name: Standard Supplier Questionnaire (SQ) / Weighting: 10
Quality criterion - Name: Pass/Fail Questions / Weighting: 5
Quality criterion - Name: Experience / Weighting: 5
Quality criterion - Name: Reporting and Analytics / Weighting: 5
Quality criterion - Name: User Experience - Permissions / Weighting: 5
Quality criterion - Name: User Experience - General / Weighting: 15
Quality criterion - Name: Technical and Professional Ability / Weighting: 5
Quality criterion - Name: Supplier Presentations/Demonstrations / Weighting: 30
Price - Weighting: 10
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
48
This contract is subject to renewal
No
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
four.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement
Framework agreement with a single operator
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
25 March 2024
Local time
11:59am
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
25 March 2024
Local time
12:00pm
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The University of Birmingham
Birmingham
B15 2TT
Country
United Kingdom