Identifying Candidate Consultants

Introduction

Now that you have defined your accessibility problems in measurable terms, identified the activities that should help you resolve those problems, and created a basic RFP that outlines a scope of work, it is time to identify the consultants who should be considered as candidates for the assignment.

Up to this point, we have not made a distinction between in-house consultants and those who are external to your organization. In either case, you had to define the accessibility problems and associated activities before considering the consulting solutions. In the Supporting Information section below is a link to a page that should help you figure out whether the accessibility engagement should be given to employees within your own organization or whether you truly need to employ a "hired gun."

If, after considering your in-house staff’s skills, you think that you need to hire an external consultant, use the List of Consultants provided under Supporting Information to identify candidates for the accessibility engagement. You also may want to do some searching on your own via the "Yellow Pages," "Google" searches for accessibility consultants, and references from others who have employed consultants. The objective is to identify a reasonable number of qualified consultants who should be considered for the job.

Lastly, the Supporting Information section provides a link to a description of misused or misleading claims or remarks that you may hear from some accessibility consultants. This information is provided so you can proceed with the hiring process as a well-informed consumer of consulting services; as someone who is aware of some of the potential pitfalls of relying on an "expert’s" advice and counsel.

Next Steps

1. Check out the links to the supporting information listed below; review this information as needed.
2. When you are ready to move on, click the Next link at the bottom of the page to review a list of questions to ask of your candidate consultants.

Supporting Information

• Can People Within Your Organization Resolve the Accessibility Problems?
• Lists of Consultants
• Commonly Misused or Misleading Claims