#BidBites – ACCESSIBILITY

January’s #BidBites theme was all about the hugely important issue of ‘accessibility’ and establishing how participation barriers can be removed in the world of bidding.

The session was guest hosted by @Mark Whitley CMktr FCIM CP APMP who has an understanding on the subject of accessibility due to his own daughter becoming profoundly deaf at the age of 3. Mark is always keen to highlight the issue of making bidding more accessible to everyone involved in the process. He wanted this #BidBites session to identify what has or could be done to increase the ability for all parties to fully participate in the bidding process and access the material that is generated.

We had a very productive one-hour session where we chatted and brainstormed about what things could possibly be done to make participation easier across the board. We would like to continue to gather thoughts and opinion on this subject to build an even bigger picture, so please feel free to add your comments and tips at the end of this article.

Firstly, Mark wanted to know whether anyone had been unable to access bidding documents effectively due to the way they were structured or delivered? Here’s what we came up with…

As bidding professionals, we are all recipients of large and badly put together documents every day. Documents are often in varying formats and can take an enormous amount of unravelling, even for those without a disability or impairment. Which led us to the question of whether technology can assist us in deciphering the content of bidding documents? We concluded that most people with a visual impairment will probably have their systems sufficiently set up for their individual needs. We also determined that current software (such as that in the Microsoft 365 suite) already has some suitable accessibility functions built in, such as macros, VBA, read aloud, find and replace and ‘Accessibility Checker’. It is also important to use functions and shortcuts aren’t undoable, particularly those involving special characters. There are certainly other software manufacturers that are following suit in terms of accessibility functionality.

The increased use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has meant that this type of technology will advance proposal software in the future, and accessibility will undoubtedly benefit as a result. It remains to be seen how RPA and AI can be made to work from an accessibility point of view. So, for the time being at least, we will continue to simply read documents. 

On the flipside, when we send resultant submissions, we don’t always know whether anyone on the evaluation panel has an impairment that will hinder them from reading the documents. It was agreed that it is always a good idea to get to know the buyer wherever possible. But how comfortable do we feel with getting under the skin and predispositions of an organisation? It is always good to be the first to get to know the evaluation panel without doing so for competitive advantage. This could be as simple as sending a clarification question or email to the organisation asking whether there are any accessibility matters that need to be taken into consideration. This could also be good opportunity to ask whether panellists prefer a particular file type (if file types are not stipulated in the tender documents of course!).

It was then discussed how accessibility for SMEs is radically different to someone who is managing or running a bid. SMEs will tend to have more resource adaptations that are more ‘person centric’ rather than ‘technology centric’.

One #BidBites attendee said that he is 72 and has been a speed reader since 1975. An extra space after full stops helps him to decide which words to ignore when he is reading. But the main reason why he recommends two spaces is that many people evaluate proposals late at night because it’s their second job. He wants evaluators to remember everything he writes and if they are tired, then they might not remember a key point here or there. As proposals are scored and not read, he doesn’t want to take any chances and lose points! As a Bid Forensics Consultant, he has seen cases where the difference between winning and losing is less than one point.

A frustrating experience was relayed by a regular #BidBites attendee who wasn’t able to attend in person, but who sent their thoughts on email to us instead. They said that they once had documents issued in Swedish that had to be translated, checked and then clarified with the client, resulting in hundreds of clarification questions. There was also a requirement for the submission to be drafted in English and then translated for final submission into Swedish, leading to an exponential increase in the document’s length because the Swedish language has so many large and complex words!

After some discussion about issues surrounding accessing bidding documents, we then moved onto talking about what tweaks to tools, processes or submissions everyone has introduced (or would like to introduce) to make it easier for EVERY bid team member or submission recipient to access the work?

One thing that was unanimously decided upon was that a ‘universal best practice guide’ would be handy for all bidding professionals to refer to. The baseline guide should contain information such as preferred font, font size, line spacing and colours for people with barriers such as visual impairment, dyslexia and colour blindness. Collating this information into one document was the biggest discussion that came from January’s #BidBites session. It was agreed that there should be some formatting rules that are always applied as a rule, and when time, space and circumstances allow, wider and more sophisticated formatting can be employed.

APMP have recently set up an EDI Awareness Focus Group, so it was thought that working together with them to produce a best practice guide would be the best step forward.

Here are some other tweaks and tools that we decided could be helpful to make things a bit easier in terms of document accessibility:

• Using a specialist font for dyslexic readers such as ‘Dyslexie’
• Establishing what colours are best used with people who suffer from colour blindness. Also bearing in mind what colours are used in colour documents as the recipient may print them out in black and white and the content becomes Illegible
• Better portal designs so that it is easier to establish whether all documents have been downloaded/uploaded successfully
• Using sufficient white space between answers if submission rules allow
• In terms of a physical disability, ensuring that meeting facilities are fully equipped for people in wheelchairs or who are not able bodied
• Adding sufficient ‘Alt Text’ to all elements within documents
• Including a double space after full stops - this can help some readers which words to ignore when reviewing documents

One thing that is for sure, we are at the start of a journey when it comes to talking about accessibility. Our #BidBites session opened a discussion that we are sure will continue for a long time to come.

For anyone who missed this #BidBites session, it can be viewed by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/lYA1p1Uy3gk4pv_wBlnyUnNv7aqcjKGq4VWWv58bm35TpeNx4oNLzFRwlOQKr2U0.lt5Bdv_WiAwTUbpz by using the passcode n?T*0AhC 

If you want to join our community for the next #BidBites session, please drop a PM to any of the Pipster team. Our next session is on Friday 26th February, with more details to follow.

We would be interested to know YOUR thoughts on accessibility - drop your thoughts, opinions and stories below, along with tips to share with others.

Thank you to all the regular attendees of #BidBites and #ThursdayThrong. Our bidding community is thriving - we are supporting and learning from each other at every session and your input is truly valued.

Useful Links:

Microsoft Accessibility Checker: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/make-your-word-documents-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-d9bf3683-87ac-47ea-b91a-78dcacb3c66d

Robotic Process Automation and AI: The Future for Proposal Creation: https://winningthebusiness.com/robotic-process-automation-and-ai-the-future-for-proposal-creation/

Dyslexie Font: https://www.dyslexiefont.com/en/typeface/