SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- Students.Gov Design Review
- Notice Date
- 8/19/2002
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, Acquisitions and Contracts Performance, Union Center Plaza, RM 101H4 830 First Street, NE, Washington, DC, 20202-5405
- ZIP Code
- 20202-5405
- Solicitation Number
- EDOSFA-02-900289
- Response Due
- 8/30/2002
- Point of Contact
- Contact Program Office, See Description for Name and Contact Information, Phone See Description, Fax See Description, Description - Deborah Wrabley, Contracting Officer, Phone 202-377-3471, Fax 202-275-3477,
- E-Mail Address
-
See, Deborah.Wrabley@ed.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) is seeking a contractor to review and evaluate the design and navigability of its Students.gov web site. Students.gov, the FSA-sponsored government-wide web portal for students, was launched in April 1999. Since its debut, the site has been enthusiastically received and its usefulness confirmed through awards and praise from the secondary, postsecondary and cyber communities. Almost two million visitors have visited the site since its launch over two years ago, beginning with 2,400 visitors in its first full month of operation to more than 97,000 visitors in July 2002. The students.gov web team has completed two major site redesigns in response to feedback from student focus groups and email feedback received through the site. The site is fully accessible and compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Recognized both within and outside of government, students.gov serves as a model for customer-centered government web portals. James Vaughan of AOL's GovernmentGuide, speaking at the Department of Labor in May 2001, cited students.gov as an outstanding customer-centric website and stated, "This is what most government websites should be like." AOL's GovernmentGuide continues to be a consistent supporter, and plans to actively promote students.gov in the coming year. Students.gov received the Hammer Award in March 2000 and the E-Gov 2000 Trailblazer Award in May 2000; was featured in articles in FirstGov's "e-Gov News" in May 2001 and GSA's "Intergovernmental Solutions" in July 2001; was featured in the Scout Report (an influential website review newsletter directed at educators and librarians) in November 2000; received an "A+" rating from EducationWorld. Students.gov is prominently featured in AOL, Google, Yahoo, and many other commercial portals and search engines, and more than 2,500 other education-related websites link to students.gov. Objective: FSA wishes to review the current design and navigability of the students.gov web portal in light of the findings of recent focus groups, surveys, and usability studies, and evaluate various alternatives to increase its visual appeal and usability, while simplifying and maintaining its "portal" structure (which minimizes the number of mouse-clicks required for visitors to locate information). The site design must remain tailored to the needs and interests of students and other site visitors and must comply with the accessibility requirements of Section 508. The underlying technical structure of the site will remain essentially the same. Recommendations for design changes will build on the current structure, and will use the most cost-effective and efficient methods possible, assuming a very limited redesign budget. Tasks to be Performed: The contractor selected for this project shall review and evaluate the current design and navigation scheme, taking into account recent trends in web portals (especially federal web portals), and the results of recent focus groups, surveys, and usability studies of students.gov. Based on review and analysis of the current site design and visitor feedback, the contractor shall make recommendations for possible design and navigation changes to improve the usability of the site, prepare a written report presenting the findings and conclusions resulting from the design review, including technical and visual details of at least three different approaches for how to incorporate recommended design changes, and present the written report to FSA (either in person or by telephone). Project Benefits: Expert advice in reviewing the current site design and recommending enhancements will provide FSA with a better analysis and more cost-effective use of limited funds for site improvements. Improving students.gov's design and navigability will further the Administration's e-Government goals by providing citizens with a more successful and pleasant experience, tailored to their needs - and this will encourage them to look to the web to obtain more government services. Evaluation Criteria: Proposals will be evaluated on the following measures: 1) Demonstrated familiarity with web portals, especially federal web portals. 2) Demonstrated understanding/experience with website design and usability concepts, including Section 508 accessibility. 3) Ability to communicate findings, conclusions, and recommendations clearly, in plain, non-technical English. 4) Relevant experience and education of team (proposed staff). Price. (The Government is seeking a firm-fixed price for this project, i.e., a single bottom-line price rather than a variable pricing arrangement such as an hourly rate or expendes. The Government will only pay the firm-fixed price and will not reimburse the contractor for any costs incurred.) Proposals should be no longer than ten (10) pages in length, including resumes (proposals over ten pages will be excluded from further review and evaluation). Proposals must be received electronically no later than 5:00 p.m. on 8/30/2002 by Lynda Folwick at lynda.folwick@ed.gov. Questions on this request for proposals should be addressed to Lynda Folwick at lynda.folwick@ed.gov or Deb Wrabley at deborah.wrabley@ed.gov.
- Record
- SN00143802-W 20020821/020819213212 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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