Exhibit A
Overview
The City of Bakersfield has engaged Sellable to lead the City’s digital accessibility program in alignment with ADA Title II requirements.
This engagement applies Sellable’s 3P Accessibility Framework to help the City move from reactive accessibility fixes to a measurable, sustainable accessibility program. This approach ensures Bakersfield develops a strategy to reach critical compliance goals for April 2026 while also building internal systems and processes that maintain accessibility beyond the project term.
The program will run from November 2025 through April 2026, with work billed monthly under a six-month retainer structure totaling $99,999 (USD). While we share a phase structure for clarity, these phases represent work streams and not milestones or payment triggers. These work streams will continuously be developed and prioritized during and after Discovery and executed concurrently to ensure we meet timeline goals.
Based on conversations with the Bakersfield team, the breadth of digital assets that need to be examined for accessibility, and the cross-departmental needs of the City, our recommendation is to do a 6-month sprint between November and April. Regardless of the shifting federal regulations around digital accessibility and Title II, this type of sprint is still recommended as it will help Bakersfield get a foundational understanding of their compliance landscape while setting up an infrastructure to build inclusion moving forward. This will be aligned with our original proposal approach that has been updated below.
Objectives
● Establish a measurable baseline of accessibility maturity and compliance risk across Bakersfield’s digital ecosystem.
● Build a prioritized roadmap for testing, remediation, and governance using 3P data. ● Train Bakersfield’s Accessibility Committee and Technology Services staff with role- based education and reusable playbooks.
● Remediate high-priority web and document assets to WCAG 2.x AA and PDF/UA standards.
● Create long-term governance policies and reporting mechanisms to sustain accessibility.
Program Structure
Phase Focus Duration Key Deliverables
Phase 1: 3P
Discovery &
Baseline Audit
Stakeholder interviews,
accessibility maturity analysis,
representative audits across
web, mobile, and documents.
Nov - Dec
2025
Accessibility Roadmap
Report, Risk & Gap
Analysis, Prioritized
Remediation Plan
Phase 2:
Training &
Enablement
Role-based training,
documentation, and creation of
governance playbooks.
Dec 2025 -
Feb 2026
Training Decks &
Recordings, Train-the-
Trainer Guide, Accessible
Workflow Templates
Phase 3: Agile
Testing &
Remediation
Iterative batch testing,
remediation, and validation
cycles focused on high-impact
assets.
Dec 2025 -
Apr 2026
Batch Audit Reports,
Validation Summaries,
Live Progress Dashboard
Phase 4:
Governance &
Handoff
Final reporting, policy
templates, and executive
readout.
Apr 2026 Accessibility Statement,
Governance Playbook,
Procurement Policy
Templates, Final Readout
Key Collaboration Points
● Sellable will attend bi-weekly committee meetings in the first two months, then monthly thereafter.
● Sellable and City stakeholders will coordinate to assign basic remediation to internal teams, reserving project funds for advanced testing, training, and governance work. ● A leadership briefing with City executives will occur in December 2025 to review Discovery findings and confirm priorities.
What We’ll Need from the Bakersfield Team
Timely collaboration from the City team is essential to keep the project on track and ensure measurable progress each month. To maintain alignment across discovery, testing, and remediation, the following support will be required:
1. Central Point of Contact
● Assign one primary project lead within the City (ideally from Technology Services or the Accessibility Committee) to serve as the main liaison for all project communication. ● Identify backup contacts for each department involved in interviews, testing, or document remediation.
2. Access and Credentials
● Provide administrative or staging-level access to relevant platforms, including the City’s website CMS, mobile-app backend, cloud storage, and multimedia repositories (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo).
● Supply secure test credentials for portals, forms, or systems that require authenticated access during testing.
3. Timely Responses and Reviews
● Deliver feedback on all deliverables within five business days of receipt. ● Confirm meeting attendance and review sign-offs promptly to keep workstreams on schedule.
4. Asset and Data Availability
● Share available inventories of digital assets, including websites, documents, and multimedia content.
● Provide access to analytics or usage data to help prioritize high-traffic and high-impact materials.
5. System and Vendor Coordination
● Facilitate introductions to third-party vendors, contractors, or IT partners who manage any part of the City’s digital ecosystem.
● Support coordination with IT and procurement staff to ensure proper access and permissions for Sellable’s testing team.
6. Code Freezes During Testing and Validation
● During scheduled remediation and validation sprints, the City should institute short, coordinated code freezes on affected web properties. These pauses prevent new code deployments or CMS updates from overwriting accessibility fixes or creating regressions during validation. Code freezes typically last 3-5 business days per sprint and will be scheduled in advance to minimize disruption.
Sellable will provide a shared project tracker and communication plan during kickoff to manage all requests, dependencies, and approvals in one place.
Detailed Scope of Work
Phase 1: 3P Discovery & Baseline Audit
The 3P Discovery phase builds the foundation for all subsequent work. Sellable will:
● Conduct approximately ten stakeholder interviews across departments, focusing on governance, vendor management, and content workflows.
● Audit representative assets: up to ten key web pages/templates, sample mobile screens, and document/media examples.
● Produce the Accessibility Roadmap Report summarizing findings across People, Process, and Product, with risk scoring and a prioritized remediation plan. ● Deliver a mid-point progress briefing to accelerate internal action before final Discovery completion.
Phase 2: Training & Enablement
Training will convert Discovery insights into practical learning. Each curriculum will be customized to Bakersfield’s real workflows and tools.
Potential Focus Areas
● Content Authors & Editors: Accessible authoring, alt-text, heading structure, link practices, and PDF fundamentals.
● Designers: Color contrast, layout standards, and accessible component design. ● Developers & QA: Implementing and testing accessible code, integrating accessibility into sprints.
● Leadership & Committee: Setting KPIs, embedding accessibility into procurement and policy.
Deliverables
● Role-based training tracks (virtual or hybrid).
● Accessible slide decks, guides, and playbooks for ongoing use. ● A Train-the-Trainer guide to support new staff onboarding.
Phase 3: Agile Testing & Remediation
This phase implements the prioritized roadmap through overlapping testing and remediation cycles.
Activities
● Automated and manual testing across high-traffic web and mobile assets. ● Validation testing for each remediated batch to confirm compliance. ● Consulting support for City developers to implement fixes and QA procedures. ● Live progress dashboards to track issues resolved and assets validated.
PDF and Document Remediation Process
Accessibility for digital documents is central to Bakersfield’s compliance strategy. Sellable will lead a structured PDF analysis and remediation process, adapted from Department of Justice Title II criteria and industry best practice.
Document Analysis & Scoping
● Inventory Creation: Automated crawling and manual collection of all public PDFs and document assets across City domains.
● Scope Criteria: Evaluate each file using DOJ exemption criteria, user impact, relevance, and feasibility to prioritize documents that directly support City services. ● Deliverables: Master Inventory List, In-Scope Remediation List with priority ratings, and Deferred/Exempt List with justifications.
Remediation Workflow
All in-scope files will be remediated to meet WCAG 2.x AA and PDF/UA standards.
Steps include:
● Tag PDFs with accurate logical structure and reading order. ● Apply alt text for images, links, and form elements.
● Ensure accurate metadata and form field labeling.
● Run Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Check and PAC validation. ● Conduct QA spot-checks with screen readers to confirm usability.
For image-based PDFs, optical character recognition (OCR) will be applied before tagging.
Replacement and Recreation
Where remediation is impractical or cost-prohibitive (legacy scans, complex layouts, or corrupted files), Sellable will:
● Provide a remediation feasibility assessment and cost/time comparison. ● Recommend HTML conversion or document recreation options. ● Coordinate with content owners to maintain accuracy and branding.
Quality Assurance & Handoff
Each file will undergo manual assistive-technology validation before delivery.
Sellable will supply:
● Accessible final documents.
● Remediation reports summarizing changes and QA results. ● An archive of remediated files and process notes for legal defensibility.
Phase 4: Governance & Handoff
Sellable will deliver a governance and confidence package to close the program and set Bakersfield up for sustained success.
Deliverables
● Accessibility Policy & Procurement Template aligned to WCAG 2.x AA and Section 508.
● Public Accessibility Statement and feedback process.
● Governance Playbook outlining roles, responsibilities, and reporting cadence. ● Executive Readout and Certification Summary capturing program outcomes and budget forecast for ongoing compliance.
Budget Structure (Not to Exceed $99,999)
This engagement is billed monthly across six months under a retainer model. Estimated allocations below represent workload distribution, not payment triggers. Allocation can change and will be agreed upon after a more detailed Project Plan is developed post Discovery.
Category Estimated
Allocation
Description
3P Discovery & Baseline Audit $20,000 Fixed foundation for all subsequent phases.
Training & Enablement $25,000 Role-based training, playbooks, and office hours.
PDF Remediation Fund $10,000 Dedicated budget for document remediation.
Testing & Validation $25,000 Batch testing, remediation guidance, and validation cycles.
Governance & Confidence $10,000 Policy templates and final reporting.
Program Management &
Committee Support
$9,999 Ongoing PM oversight and bi-
monthly/monthly meetings.
Expected Outcomes by April 2026
● Comprehensive Accessibility Roadmap rooted in 3P Discovery data. ● Trained internal Accessibility Committee and technical staff. ● Validated remediation of high-priority web and document assets. ● Governance system that keeps accessibility visible and measurable. ● A forward-looking budget forecast and compliance plan for FY 2026-2027.
Investment Schedule
● $16,666.50 (Net30) a month will be invoiced to City, and will include an itemized invoice detailing work accomplished and deliverables submitted in the prior month. ● A diverse range of skill sets and expertise will be necessary to cover the broad accessibility needs of the City of Bakersfield. Given priorities will shift and evolve as both of our teams learn more, designing a set deliverable schedule makes little sense for a project like this.
● With a variety of consultants, project managers, and technical professionals being integrated across your teams, a retainer model of investment allows for the greatest level of flexibility to meet the evolving needs of this project for both the City and Sellable.