SOLICITATION NOTICE
D -- BINARY PRINT COMPARE UTILITY (VISUALLY IMPAIRED/BLIND ACCESSIBILITY
- Notice Date
- 10/25/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), National Office Procurement (OS:A:P), 6009 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 500, Oxon Hill, MD, 20745, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 20745
- Solicitation Number
- RFI-BPCU1107
- Response Due
- 11/5/2007
- Point of Contact
- Edwina Wilkins, Contract Specialist, Phone 202-283-2752, Fax 202-283-4429
- E-Mail Address
-
edwina.a.wilkins@irs.gov
- Description
- The Internal Revenue Service is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) for a Binary Print Compare Utility that meets U.S. Government Section 508 compliance standards (Visually Impaired/Blind Accessibility). This product needs to be fully Section 508 compliant, or data should be provided as to when should be fully Section 508 compliant. The IRS requires that all interested vendors address how their product meets or will meet each of the technical standards listed under ?Subpart B?Technical Standards 1194.21 or 1194.22 found at this site: http://www.section508.gov/ (http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12#Software). Technical Requirements: The Internal Revenue Service produces taxpayer notices in IBM Advanced Function Printing (AFP) format using several document composition tools, including Document Sciences Compuset, and IBM Elixir DesignPro Tools. Taxpayer notices are currently produced on an IBM zSeries mainframe, running IBM z/OS operating system. We have begun a multi-year effort to migrate taxpayer notice production to a new hardware platform: Sun UltraSPARC running Sun Solaris operating system. Taxpayer notices will be produced on the Sun using the Document Sciences product xPression. As we migrate the production of taxpayer notices from the IBM zSeries mainframe using legacy document composition tools to the new Sun environment utilizing Document Sciences xPression, we require a binary compare utility which will allow us to compare print files electronically. The utility should report the differences between the files in an easily understandable format, or report that files have no differences when no differences exist. The utility needs to provide the capability to ?mask? differences, be able to compare a ?Reference file? ? and ?Test file? ? of differing sizes, compare reference file and test file with differing encoding and /or byte ordering, compare AFP files with differing internal structures, compare non-printable fields such as Tag Logical Elements (TLEs). The utility is not required to run on a Sun UltraSPARC running the Sun Solaris operating system; however it is deemed beneficial due to the long range vision of notice migration. Below is a detailed explanation of each requirement: 1. Compare AFP files generated with the same or different composition tools on the same or different hosts (z/OS and Solaris). The table below summarizes possible combinations. Reference File created on Host / using Composition tool: Test File created on: Host /using Composition tool z/OS / Legacy composition tools z/OS / Legacy composition tools Solaris/ xPression Solaris/xPression z/OS / mainframe composition tools Solaris / xPression Solaris / xPression z/OS /mainframe composition tools 2. Provide masking capabilities at the individual field, page, and document level to allow comparison of files with the ability for the user to exclude reporting on known differences. For example, reference and test files being compared could be composed using different fonts (arial versus helvetica), different font types (outline versus raster), different font sizes (12 point versus 8 point), or the reference file could contain a graphic image on the first page of each notice, while the test file does not contain the graphic image. We require the ability to exclude known differences from the reporting. 3. Provide a method of synchronizing files, so that if the reference file and the test file contain differing numbers of records, the can be compared with an indication of which records occurred only on one file. 4. Compare files with differing internal structures (MO:DCA print streams) This could be due to different structured fields or different MO:DCA triplets within a structured field. For example, the reference file contains a page segment referred to in an ?Include Page Segment? (IPS) structured field. In addition, for the reference file, the page segment is also mapped with a ?Map Page Segment? (MPS) structured field in the active environment group for that page. The test file contains the same page segment referred to in an ?Include Page Segment? (IPS) structured field, but in the test file, the page segment is not mapped with a ?Map Page Segment? (MPS) structured field. The printed output looks identical. We need to know that the rendered output is identical. (see requirement six below for non-printable fields). Please see the IBM document number SG31-6802-07 Data Streams and Object Architecture Mixed Object Document Content Architecture Reference for information on MO:DCA. 5. Compare print files with different encoding schemes (ASCII, EBCDIC, UNICODE UTF-8 and UTF-16, big-endian and little-endian byte ordering) performing the appropriate translations so that files produced on different platforms can be accurately compared. For example a reference file is created on z/OS with EBCDIC encoding with big-endian byte ordering, and the test file is created on a Sun Solaris 64-bit system with UTF-16E. 6. Tag Logical Elements (TLEs) if present in the print files being compared, must also be compared, and differences reported. Statement of Need: The purpose of this RFI is to determine if any vendors have a Binary Print Compare Utility that is Section 508 compliant and capable of fulfilling the technical requirements listed above. Requested Response: Your response must be limited to 5 pages. As part of the response for each product, the responder should provide the following information for the Government?s consideration and review: We require each vendor to explain: -If your product meets or exceeds each element in the technical standards listed in ?Subpart B - - Technical Standards 1194.21? Please include section number(s) and paragraph letters being addressed, and respond to section(s) appropriate to the product. This is expected to be section 1194.21 ?Software applications and operating systems? paragraphs a through i, or section 1194.22 ?Web-based intranet and internet information and applications? paragraphs a through p. (Note that Section 508 compliance is for developers, business customers, and field end-users use of the product) - Does the product meet each of the 6 technical requirements listed above and - Does the product correctly interact with adaptive screen Reading software JAWS by Freedom Scientific (hhtp://www/freedomscientific.com/). All responsible sources who can provide the specified product as stated above shall submit a written response that includes enough technical detail to allow the IRS to conduct a technical evaluation. The response should include POC (name and telephone number); GSA contact number if applicable; Delivery date; Business size and Payment terms. Telephonic inquires will not be accepted. All questions must be submitted in writing and may be submitted by e-mail to: Edwina.A.Wilkins@irs.gov. Responses shall be submitted by 3:00 p.m., November 5, 2007 to the following address: Internal Revenue Service, National Office Procurement, 6009 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 500, Oxon Hill, MD 20745, Attn: Edwina A. Wilkins, OS:A:P:I:D:B. Responses may also be submitted by e-mail to the e-mail address above. Any responses to this notice should reference number: RFI-BPCU1107. NOTE: THIS NOTICE MAY HAVE POSTED ON FEDBIZOPPS ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (25-OCT-2007). IT ACTUALLY APPEARED OR REAPPEARED ON THE FEDBIZOPPS SYSTEM ON 08-NOV-2007, BUT REAPPEARED IN THE FTP FEED FOR THIS POSTING DATE. PLEASE CONTACT fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
- Web Link
-
Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.fbo.gov/spg/TREAS/IRS/NOPAP/RFI-BPCU1107/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Internal Revenue Service, National Office Procurement, 6009 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 500, Oxon Hill, MD 20745
- Zip Code: 20745
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 20745
- Record
- SN01449823-F 20071110/071108230508 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |