How We Work and How to Engage Us

Procurement pathways

ExceedAbility is set up to be easy to buy from. The four most common pathways:

1. Direct engagement under threshold

   Where the engagement value sits below your agency's quote threshold, we engage directly under your standard purchase order or service agreement. This is the fastest path: typically scope to kick-off within 2-4 weeks.

2. Panel arrangements

   ExceedAbility is a registered supplier on the four major Australian government procurement panels (listed below). Panel engagement is the default for most state and Commonwealth agencies above their direct-engagement threshold.

3. Agency-specific panels and master agreements

   Where an agency operates a sector or department-specific accessibility, digital or assurance panel, we can be subcontracted through an existing lead supplier or engaged directly where panel rules permit.

4. RFX response

   We respond to RFQ, RFP, RFT and EOI processes. We can also advise on accessibility language for procurement, supplier scoring rubrics and how to evaluate ACR or VPAT claims with appropriate scrutiny.

Panel memberships

ExceedAbility is registered on the major Australian government procurement portals, covering the Commonwealth and the three largest states by digital spend:

If your agency operates a panel not listed here, we can usually be onboarded inside the panel's standard supplier-application window. Mention it in the contact form and we will provide the documentation needed.

Engagement structure

Every engagement runs through the same four stages. Each stage has a written input and a written output, so handovers are clean and an internal sponsor always has something to forward.

Service-level expectations

Indicative timeframes for the most common engagement types. Final commitments are written into the scope of work.

Step	Typical timeframe
Scoping call to written scope	Within 48 hours of scoping call
Focused WCAG 2.2 audit	3-6 weeks from kick-off
Compliance uplift programme	3-9 months end-to-end
Document estate remediation	Batched across the engagement, typically 4-16 weeks depending on volume
Post-remediation validation	1-2 weeks once your team confirms fixes are deployed
Response to inbound enquiry	One business day or sooner

What you actually get: deliverables

Each engagement produces a defined set of written artefacts. Procurement and assurance teams can request a redacted sample of any of these before engagement.

Insurance and risk

ExceedAbility holds current professional indemnity and broadform public and products liability cover, with workers compensation maintained as required under NSW law. Specific cover levels and the current certificate of currency are provided to procurement teams during scoping or on request.

• Types of cover held: professional indemnity, broadform public liability, products and advertising liability, property in the insured's physical or legal control.
• Period of insurance: 5 August 2025 to 5 August 2026, renewed annually.
• Insurer: Insurance Australia Limited (trading as CGU Professional Risks), ABN 11 000 016 722.
• Broker: Aon Risk Services Australia Limited (AFSL 241141).
• Workers compensation: maintained as required under NSW law.
• Limitation of liability: standard professional services limitations apply unless varied in the engagement contract.

A current certificate of currency, including specific cover levels, is provided to procurement teams during scoping or on request.

Named accessibility lead

Every ExceedAbility engagement runs under a single named accessibility lead. For most engagements that is Simon Dakin, founder.

Foundation

Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility (2016), studied under Professor Clayton MacKenzie and Scott Hollier at the University of South Australia, School of Communication, International Studies and Languages, delivered in partnership with Media Access Australia. Formal accreditation in the standards, principles and practical techniques that still anchor the discipline.

Following Media Access Australia's wind-down after 43 years of service to people with disability, the Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility continues today through Adelaide University, supporting organisations in incorporating accessible work processes.

Substance

A decade of continuous accessibility delivery since the qualification, across Commonwealth and state government and enterprise engagements. The qualification is the foundation. The active practice since is the substance.

This matters because accessibility moves at the pace described by Moore's Law: in the wider technology industry, the practical skill set required to do this work well roughly doubles every couple of years. WCAG alone has had two major releases since this qualification (2.1 in 2018, 2.2 in 2023, with 3.0 in progress). Browsers, native and hybrid application frameworks, assistive technologies and Australian regulatory expectations have all evolved continuously. Current expertise lives in the work delivered across that decade, not in the certificate.

Simon's current practice covers:

• WCAG 2.2 audits across Commonwealth and state government and enterprise organisations.
• Document accessibility (PDF/UA, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, InDesign, Google Docs), including end-to-end document remediation.
• Assistive-technology user testing with people who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, voice input and other access technologies.
• Organisational uplift programmes scoped against the W3C Accessibility Maturity Model.
• VPAT and Accessibility Conformance Reports for procurement evidence.
• Training for designers, developers and content authors.

Where a programme requires additional named consultants, qualifications and clearance status for each consultant are confirmed in writing during scoping. See about the team for the wider founder bios.

Security and data handling

ExceedAbility is set up for the way Australian agencies expect a digital supplier to operate.

• On-shore delivery: 100% Australian resources, based in Sydney, NSW. No offshore subcontracting without written agreement.
• Australian-region data: project data is held on Australian-region cloud services for the duration of the engagement. Retention and deletion follow the contract; see our privacy policy.
• Confidentiality: we sign agency-provided NDAs as standard, or use a mutual confidentiality framework where the agency prefers. Reasonable variations are accepted in scope; the wider commercial framework sits in our terms of service.
• Access to systems: we work with read-only test accounts or staging environments by default. Production access is requested only where unavoidable and is auditable.
• Security clearances: clearance status for named consultants is confirmed during scoping where the engagement requires it.
• Sub-contractors: where specialist work requires sub-contracting (for example, specific assistive-technology testing), sub-contractors are named and approved before engagement.

Independence and conflict of interest

On request we provide a written conflict-of-interest declaration covering the specific agency or vendor relationships relevant to your engagement. See our broader position on overlay shortcuts in why accessibility overlays will not make your website compliant.

How to start a conversation

The fastest paths into a working relationship:

• Book a 20-minute scoping call: via Calendly. No cost, no obligation.
• Send a brief via the contact form: contact ExceedAbility. Include the agency, the service or system in scope, and any deadline.
• Call: 02 9524 4593 during Australian business hours.
• Engage through your panel of choice: see the panel list above and reach out for the supplier documentation needed.

Common procurement questions

Plain answers to the procedural questions buyers ask before drafting an engagement.

Can you sign our NDA?

Yes. We sign agency NDAs as standard. Reasonable variations are negotiated as part of the engagement contract.

What is your standard limitation of liability?

Standard professional services limitations apply unless varied in writing. We are open to agreed variations within the engagement value. See our terms of service for the wider commercial framework.

Do you accept our standard purchase order terms?

In most cases, yes. Where standard PO terms conflict with the scope of work, we agree the variation in writing before mobilisation.

Do you have a credit check or financial reference?

ABN, ACN and credit references provided on request. ExceedAbility is GST registered.

What payment terms do you require?

For new clients and new engagements, our standard terms are a 50% deposit on signing of the engagement and 50% on delivery. For continuing client relationships, 30-day terms from valid tax invoice apply, or as otherwise agreed in the engagement contract. Milestone billing is available for engagements over 8 weeks.

Can we engage you across multiple agencies under a single master agreement?

Yes. We can engage at parent-agency level or under a whole-of-government coordination, with downstream agency work delivered under the master. See government accessibility consulting for the standard programme shapes and all services for the underlying delivery options.

How do you keep your accessibility expertise current?

Continuous client delivery is the primary mechanism. We also publish original research (the Australian Government Accessibility Index, NSW Accessibility Intelligence), maintain free tools (WCAG Criteria Search, WCAG Quick Reference), and keep methodology current; see our methodology.