Standards and policies

Introduction. Compliance with accessibility per Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is mandatory. The Department is required by law to make its digital media accessible to all audiences. VA itself has employees with visual, auditory, motor and other disabilities. VA builds accessibility from the start into its digital media.

Scope. This policy applies to all VA entities procuring, designing, maintaining, or providing oversight to VA digital internet and intranet assets and content (such as websites, web applications, mobile apps, videos and online documents). Section 508 compliance includes materials produced for VA on behalf of full- and part-time employees, contractors, interns and volunteers. Everyone is responsible for making digital content accessible.

VA Web Registry requires annual certification by VA business owners that their digital content meets requirements in VA Directive 6102 and Section 508.

Responsibilities. The Assistant Secretary for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer delegate responsibility to VA administration Web Communications Offices and the VA Central Office Digital Media Engagement Office to ensure VA digital content is accessible to all audiences.

Under secretaries, assistant secretaries and other key officials ensure all systems and applications developed, procured, maintained or used by VA have been evaluated for accessibility. This evaluation happens in conjunction with the Chief Information Officer and Section 508 Office.

Individual program offices, VA facilities and business content owners with published digital content are responsible for complying with Section 508 law. These offices are responsible for requesting annual audits from the Section 508 Office through the content’s lifecycle.

Digital assets may outlive the office which built them. All published digital content must be transferred to a new VA office.

Verification and remediation. VA uses automated tools to review websites and other publications for accessibility issues prior to first-time launch, and later in the product lifecycle after editing and further development.

The VA Section 508 Office is staffed with experts who advise on making content accessible. They manage the scanning tool and provide reports about website and content accessibility deficiencies to VA administrations and staff offices that own digital assets. Content owners may request an annual Section 508 office audit as needed.

It is the content owner’s responsibility to remediate digital content compliance issues throughout its lifecycle. When major changes occur (such as a redesign or change in content, platform or template) owners must retest to assure accessibility.

Process. Each administration and VA Central Office Web Communications/Digital Media office may help coordinate periodic audits of digital content using automated tools.

Digital content identified with accessibility issues will be reported to their owners, with a timeline for remediation set by the Web Communications/Digital Media Engagement office. If owners do not remediate the problems within the timeline, the content risks being removed from distribution.

The VA Web Governance Board is the final authority on all digital content outlined in its policies and works through the Administration and VA Central Office Web Communications/Digital Media offices to enforce accessibility policies and practices.

Resources