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Open Source Matters is seeking a contractor to deliver Milestone 2b of Joomla's STF-funded accessibility programme, completing the accessible component set with the complex, overlay-driven components and turning the design system into a stable, versioned community asset. With a versioning policy and contribution guide in place, the accessibility gains from this programme will be durable beyond the 20-month funded period.

Introduction and Background

Open Source Matters, Inc. (OSM), the non-profit organisation supporting the Joomla project, is selected for funding from the Sovereign Tech Fund (STF) to deliver a structured, 20-month accessibility improvement programme across the Joomla CMS. The programme covers 19 independently contracted milestones, ranging from expert audits and remediation work to documentation, testing infrastructure, and community enablement.

Parallel to this milestone, we have published the RFP "Call for Design System, Tokens and Core Components." Applicants are welcome to submit a single proposal covering both milestones. This is encouraged, provided that the proposal clearly distinguishes the work packages, timelines, and deliverables for each milestone. All deliverables must be completed within the specified deadlines, regardless of whether the contractor is awarded one or both milestones.

This RFP covers Milestone 2b: Design System, Complex Components and Validation.

The stable versioned release transforms the design system from a project deliverable into a living community asset. With a versioning policy and contribution guide in place, the Joomla project can maintain and extend the system in future major versions without starting from scratch. This is the foundation that makes the accessibility improvements from this programme durable beyond the 20-month funded period.

Milestone 2b depends directly on the design tokens, core components, and the initial alpha release produced in Milestone 2a, and on the test protocols and acceptance criteria established in Milestone 1a.

Scope of Work

The contractor is required to deliver all six deliverables described below. Scope and acceptance criteria are fixed. The budget is to be quoted as a fixed price, based on the applicant's approach and team composition.

Deliverable 1: Complex Accessible UI Components

Design and implement the comprehensive accessible UI components that complete the full component set:

• Dialogs and modals
• Menus (navigation and dropdown)
• Tabs
• Accordions
• Sortable tables
• Toast notifications
• Pagination
• Tree views

Each component must implement proper focus management, including focus trapping where required, together with ARIA attributes, keyboard interactions, and labelling in accordance with WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices. All components must support RTL layouts, responsive mobile behaviour, and reduced-motion preferences.

Deliverable 2: Documentation and Examples for the Full Component Set

Complete the documentation and example pages for all components in the full design system, covering both the core components from Milestone 2a and the complex components from this milestone. For every component, the documentation must show:

• Correct usage
• Accessibility requirements
• Common mistakes to avoid

Deliverable 3: Stable Versioned Package on GitHub

Publish the design system as a stable versioned package on GitHub that both Joomla core and third-party extensions can use. The package must include:

• A change-log
• A versioning policy
• A contribution guide

These artefacts must support long-term maintenance by the community after the funded programme ends.

Deliverable 4: Guided-Tour Readiness

Ensure all design-system components are Guided-Tour-ready, meaning they expose stable landmarks, labels, and states that can be reliably targeted by onboarding and help systems without breaking accessibility.

Deliverable 5: Full Validation and Regression Pass

Validate all components, core (from Milestone 2a) and complex (from this milestone), against the test protocols and the AT/browser combinations defined in Milestone 1a (minimum matrix: NVDA + Chrome, JAWS + Edge, VoiceOver + Safari). A full regression-testing pass must be run across the complete component set, and results recorded against the acceptance criteria for each component.

Deliverable 6: Documentation and Milestone Report

Maintain the programme documentation framework and produce the milestone completion report in the format agreed with OSM at kick-off.

Contract Details

Milestone reference: Milestone 2b (Cluster B: Design System)

Contract type: Service agreement with OSM.

Dependency: Builds directly on Milestone 2a (tokens, core components, alpha release) and on the test protocols from Milestone 1a.

Duration: 3 months (1 February 2027 to 30 April 2027).

Delivery date: 30 April 2027.

Payment terms: Full payment upon acceptance of all deliverables.

Budget: To be quoted by the applicant as a fixed price, based on the scope described.

Eligibility and Required Skills

Applicants must have experience in the following areas

• Building production-grade accessible UI components in accordance with WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices, including overlay and portal patterns
• Implementing focus management and focus trapping for dialogs, modals, menus, and other complex interactive components
• Practical knowledge of WCAG 2.2 AA, including keyboard interaction, labelling, and live-region requirements
• Implementation of RTL layouts, responsive mobile behaviour, and reduced-motion preferences
• Component testing with assistive technologies (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver) and with automated tools such as axe-core
• Publishing and maintaining stable versioned packages on GitHub, including change-log management, semantic versioning, and contribution guidelines
• Clear technical writing for component documentation and usage examples

Skills the applicant should have

• Familiarity with the Joomla CMS, in particular the Atum admin template and the Cassiopeia frontend template
• Understanding of Guided-Tour, onboarding, or help-system integration requirements for component libraries

Skills that would be nice to have

• Prior contributions to open-source design systems or component libraries
• Continuity with, or direct collaboration with, the contractor delivering Milestone 2a

How to Apply

Proposals must include the following

• A brief description of your organisation or team and relevant complex-component and design-system experience
• Examples of comparable accessible component libraries, especially overlay-based components (dialogs, menus, tabs, tree views), with links where possible
• At least one reference from a comparable contracted engagement
• Your proposed approach and methodology for the complex components, the stable release, the Guided-Tour readiness work, and the full regression pass
• A clear description of how you will collaborate with, or take handover from, the Milestone 2a contractor
• Identification of any potential schedule risks or bottlenecks, including any dependency on the timing of Milestone 2a
• A timeline showing how the three-month delivery period will be structured
• Your fixed-price proposal for the full scope

Proposals should be submitted by email to the address published alongside this RFP. The submission deadline is two weeks from the date of publication.

Selection Process

Proposals will be reviewed by a small selection committee comprising community members.

Evaluation criteria are:

• Technical quality: depth and rigour of the proposed methodology for complex components and full regression
• Accessibility expertise: demonstrated experience with WCAG 2.2, WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices for overlays and focus trapping, and assistive-technology testing
• Maintainability: a credible plan for stable versioning, change-log, and contribution guidance that the community can sustain after the funded period
• Timeline: a realistic plan for delivery within the three-month period
• Price: value for money within the fixed contract envelope

The selected team will be asked to sign a standard OSM service agreement. Work can begin once the agreement is signed and the Milestone 2a outputs are available.

Community Support

Every milestone in this programme includes access to an experienced Joomla community maintainer if you need it. If you have questions about the codebase, about an accessibility standard as applied to Joomla's specific implementation, or about how something works within the Joomla ecosystem, you can ask. This support is funded through the project's Community Accessibility Reserve, a dedicated budget set aside to help contractors succeed. The maintainer's role is to guide and not to supervise. You are not on your own.

Questions

Questions about this RFP may be submitted by email to the address published alongside this RFP prior to the submission deadline. Answers to questions received will be shared publicly so that all applicants have equal access to information.

Submission Timeline

Terms

This RFP is published as part of the STF-funded Joomla Accessibility Programme. Submitting a proposal does not guarantee selection. OSM reserves the right to cancel or amend this RFP at any time.

• The RFP can be withdrawn at any point without reason.
• No compensation will be given to any entity submitting a proposal or working on a proposal.
• The vendor selected for this proposal will be solely at the discretion of Open Source Matters, Inc.
• Open Source Matters, Inc. reserves the right not to award any applicant if no proposal meets the expectations or requirements set by this RFP.

For all communication with OSM use [email protected] as email address.