Technology and program support Branch (TPS) provides knowledge services, business applications, and accessibility support for Publishing and Distribution programs. Technology and program support Branch works closely with IRS Information Technology (IT) to make sure that all Publishing and Distribution electronic systems and applications function to provide the highest quality electronic products and services available.

Technology and program support Branch includes three sections:

We use the following acronyms throughout the IRM.

Available resources include:

T&G analysts manage the IT budget for CAPS and ELITE in the Media and Publications (M&P) organization. In this capacity, they:

They work closely with members of other organizations (e.g., Procurement, Accounting, IT) to resolve IT issues and problems using a combination of spreadsheets and online applications (including the IT Project Tracking System (PTS), Work Request Management System (WRMS), and the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP)) to ensure requirements are funded and requisitions are processed timely.

T&G analysts provide IT solutions to serve the business needs of the M&P user community. They collaborate with business representatives to collect data and manage business, functional, and technical requirements. The analysts identify and resolve application issues and monitor the progress of all application development. T&G analysts use the CAPS M&P IT Request and Work Request systems as communication tools to facilitate these tasks.

T&G analysts coordinate application software procurements for the M&P organization, including new software and services, and ongoing maintenance contracts for existing components. The analysts submit Unified Work Requests (UWR) detailing necessary updates to IT via WRMS for tracking and coordination purposes. T&G analysts create requisitions in the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) and prepare any required supporting documents.

T&G participates in and provides oversight for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) activities for GSS-21 (CAPS-I) and ELITE. This includes facilitating meetings with various IT business units, CyberSecurity, and system development and test team members for the Security Assessment and Authorization certification process. T&G ensures compliance with FISMA requirements that includes:

CAPS hosts locally-developed and Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software applications that support the design, composition, requisitioning, printing procurement, and job tracking for all IRS published products. These include the Core Repository of Published Products (CROPP), the Electronic Publishing website at http://www.publish.no.irs.gov, and "Page 1," which is a group of M&P intranet pages.

T&G analysts manage CAPS, including database and application software maintenance and administration. IT Enterprise Operations provides operational support for CAPS hardware and system infrastructure software (including installation, upgrade and maintenance, security administration, and monitoring).

Contractors perform most of the technical work on CAPS. T&G contracting officer’s representatives (CORs) provide support and oversight for the contract work performed.

T&G analysts manage ELITE. Distribution employees use ELITE to manage distribution programs, forecast printed products, and manage National Distribution Center operations. Customer Accounts System (CAS) employees enter orders into a separate ELITE application.

T&G analysts work with other Distribution employees to develop ELITE requirements and manage its Total Information Processing Support Services contract. Contractors perform software maintenance and interpret requirements and program changes.

Through contracted staff, T&G provides XML authoring and/or composition support for a wide range of IRS published products, including tax forms instructions, taxpayer information publications, the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM), the Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB), tax topics, and revenue procedures. This includes help desk support for XML authors Servicewide who use Arbortext Editor software.

T&G analysts manage UWR submissions from M&P to the IT organization by:

M&P’s Distribution Program Support incorporates the principles of knowledge retention, knowledge management, and knowledge sharing into the M&P administrative and production framework to leverage, share, and transfer the wealth of knowledge of M&P employees to their successors, thus aiding the future success of the M&P mission.

DPS designs, develops, tests, implements, and promotes tools to foster knowledge collection and sharing. The tools include:

DPS uses knowledge management expertise to provide M&P with tools to promote a knowledge-sharing environment and helps other M&P functions by:

DPS solicits and analyzes submissions from M&P employees for knowledge-sharing topics, derives and drafts knowledge articles for sharing on the M&P knowledge management website, and provides expertise and assistance regarding social collaboration.

DPS section employees administer the M&P resource center SharePoint site at https://organization.ds.irsnet.gov/sites/ts-care-MP/default.aspx in collaboration with site administrators in M&P business units. This SharePoint site contains descriptive documents and references that M&P functions use in collaborative efforts throughout M&P and affords collaboration and repository functionality amongst all M&P functions. IT manages the SharePoint infrastructure (servers), provides governance policies and standards, and resolves application issues.

DPS leads a team of SharePoint site administrators that includes one or more employees from the Distribution, Publishing, and Tax Forms and Publications functions of M&P. This team recommends and implements overall site policies and enforces adherence to IRS SharePoint and Web standards. Each site administrator manages their function’s sub-sites, Web content, and document libraries within their organizational and program boundaries, and the DPS site collection administrator retains responsibility for the M&P SharePoint site homepage and other cross-organizational M&P content.

Administration responsibilities include:

Content responsibilities include:

The site collection administrator, a DPS section employee, also has other duties in addition to the content and administration duties listed earlier. Those additional duties include:

DPS analysts use a content management application to administer Web content on IRS.gov for Distribution at https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions in their roles. Working with creators/publishers and page stewards across the division, DPS analysts manage Distribution content to ensure the information is technically correct, remains current, and is updated timely or removed as appropriate. They also work with Online Services Web analysts and Content Area Administrators from other business units as needed to revise or remove content. Detailed guidelines, procedures, roles, and responsibilities for Taxpayer Services (TS) Internet content management are maintained in IRM 11.55.1, Internet Content Publishing Process (ICPP) Management Document.

The DPS section provides a point-of-contact (POC) for the Publishing and Distribution functions for questions relating to content pages on IRS.gov. A TS POC listing is on TS’s Internal Content Publishing Process (ICPP) page at http://win.web.irs.gov/icp/ts_icp.htm.

Any IRS.gov website user can submit an inquiry about the website by email, telephone call, or Web chat to the IRS.gov Help Desk (Help Desk). An inquiry can be a question, problem, or comment regarding the Web content and IRS programs. The Help Desk answers most inquiries received from the public within 24 hours.

When an inquiry reaches the Help Desk, DPS checks it against a repository of known issues, e.g., pre-recorded (pre-determined) responses and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). DPS escalates inquiries the Help Desk cannot address to the TS IRS.gov POC.

If the inquiry falls within TS’s purview, then DPS sends it to the TS POC assigned to respond to Help Desk emails.

The AMC offers more than 1,800 alternative media formats of IRS published products. The items produced are a combination of public-facing and non-public-facing products.

Staff produces alternative media products in both electronic and hard copy formats through:

AMC products can be ordered by employees and taxpayers.

AMC products are delivered based on the following turnaround times.

The AMC provides the following services:

IRS employees can request these services using the following methods:

Taxpayers can complete Form 9000, Alternative Media Preference, to choose to receive their IRS tax notices in Braille, large print, audio or electronic formats. This includes notices about additional taxes or penalties owed. Taxpayers can include the completed form with their tax return, call 800- 829-1040, elect it on their online account, or mail it as a standalone form to the IRS at the Address below to request their preferred format.

If the taxpayer already received a notice or letter in print format and prefers it in Braille, large print, audio, or text, choose one of the three options below to request your preference.

Once the AMC receives your notice, it will take up to 15 business days to convert it to your preferred format and mail it back to you.

Promoting accessible tax products and developing partnerships with disability organizations to better understand taxpayer preferences.

Utilizing IRS social media accounts to provide continuous information to taxpayers about the accessible tax products available on IRS.gov.

Building relationships with advocacy groups who support people with disabilities and the aging population to better understand their needs.

Increasing focused outreach in underserved communities to engage with taxpayers and provide information about accessibility services provided by the IRS.