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Open Source Matters is seeking a contractor to deliver Milestone 7c of Joomla's STF-funded accessibility programme, completing the standardisation of all transversal features identified in Milestone 7a by executing the Phase 2 work onto the Milestone 2b design system. Combined with that design system, this milestone establishes a foundation where future accessibility regressions in transversal features become detectable, attributable, and fixable, rather than accumulating silently across a fragmented codebase.

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 two related RFPs "Transversal Features, Audit and Documentation" and "Transversal Features, Standardisation Phase 1" Applicants are welcome to submit a single proposal covering all 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, two or all milestones.

This RFP covers Milestone 7c: Transversal Features, Standardisation Phase 2.

This milestone completes the standardisation of all transversal features identified in Milestone 7a. Combined with the design system from Milestone 2b, this creates a foundation where future accessibility regressions in transversal features become detectable, attributable, and fixable, rather than accumulating silently across a fragmented codebase.

Milestone 7c depends on the prioritised Phase 2 list produced and OSM-accepted in Milestone 7a, on the Phase 1 standardisation patterns established in Milestone 7b, on the stable design system from Milestone 2b, and on the test protocols and acceptance criteria established in Milestone 1a.

Scope of Work

The contractor is required to deliver all four 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: Standardisation of Phase 2 Transversal Features

Standardise the Phase 2 transversal features (as defined and accepted in Milestone 7a) so that each feature uses:

• The design system components from Milestone 2b
• A consistent coding pattern across all admin views where the feature appears
• The same patterns established for Phase 1 in Milestone 7b, so the full transversal feature set behaves consistently end-to-end

The standardised implementation must ensure that keyboard navigation, focus management, ARIA attributes, and screen-reader behaviour work the same way everywhere the feature appears.

Deliverable 2: Removal of Outdated Code and Legacy Patterns

Remove the outdated code and legacy patterns for the Phase 2 features that:

• Block accessibility improvements, or
• Prevent the design system components from being applied

Removals must be documented (what was removed, where, and why) and must follow the documentation approach established in Milestone 7b so that the full transversal-feature record is coherent.

Deliverable 3: Validation of Each Phase 2 Feature

Validate each Phase 2 transversal feature against the test protocols from Milestone 1a in at least three admin views where it appears. Validation must:

• Use the AT/browser combinations defined in Milestone 1a (minimum matrix: NVDA + Chrome, JAWS + Edge, VoiceOver + Safari)
• Record results against the acceptance criteria from Milestone 1a
• Categorise any remaining issues by severity and map them to the relevant WCAG 2.2 success criterion

Deliverable 4: 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 7c (Cluster G: Transversal Features)

Contract type: Service agreement with OSM.

Dependency: Builds on the OSM-accepted Phase 2 list from Milestone 7a, on the patterns established in Milestone 7b, on the stable design system from Milestone 2b, and on the test protocols from Milestone 1a.

Duration: 2 months (1 August 2027 to 30 September 2027).

Delivery date: 30 September 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

• Refactoring legacy code patterns at scale without regressing existing functionality
• Building accessible administrative interfaces in accordance with WCAG 2.2 AA and WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices
• Integrating a design-tokens-and-components system into existing core code, without re-introducing parallel framework-specific styling
• Reading, adopting, and continuing patterns established by a previous workstream (in this case Milestone 7b)
• Accessibility validation with assistive technologies (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver) and with automated tools such as axe-core
• Clear technical writing, in particular for documenting removed patterns and their replacements

Skills the applicant should have

• Joomla core development, in particular with the transversal feature set (categories, workflows, custom fields, tags, associations, versioning) and how it appears across multiple admin components
• Familiarity with the Milestone 7a audit and prioritised list, and with the Milestone 7b implementation patterns
• Understanding of the design tokens and components from Milestones 2a and 2b

Skills that would be nice to have

• Continuity with, or direct collaboration with, the Milestones 7a and 7b contractors
• Prior experience completing the second phase of a multi-phase refactoring programme

How to Apply

Proposals must include the following

• A brief description of your organisation or team and relevant Joomla refactoring and accessibility experience
• Examples of comparable refactoring or standardisation work across an admin codebase, with links where possible
• At least one reference from a comparable contracted engagement
• Your proposed approach and methodology for executing the Phase 2 standardisation onto the Milestone 2b design system and aligning with the patterns established in Milestone 7b
• A clear description of how you will read, accept, and act on the Milestone 7a Phase 2 list and the Milestone 7b implementation record, including how you will handle any conflicts or gaps you find
• A clear description of how you will validate at least three admin views per Phase 2 feature
• A coordination plan for the parallel window with Milestone 3c and the early overlap with Milestone 4, to avoid conflicting changes to admin views
• Identification of any potential schedule risks or bottlenecks, including any dependency on the timing of Milestones 7a, 7b, and 2b
• A timeline showing how the two-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 standardisation and refactoring methodology
• Accessibility expertise: demonstrated experience with WCAG 2.2, WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices, and assistive-technology testing
• Design-system fit: a credible plan for migrating Phase 2 features entirely onto the Milestone 2b design system, consistent with the Phase 1 patterns from Milestone 7b
• Continuity: a credible plan for adopting and continuing the Milestone 7b implementation patterns
• Timeline: a realistic plan for delivery within the two-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 7b 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.