Web standards

VA must adhere to all applicable laws and regulations when building and maintaining websites.

A comprehensive list of all applicable federal laws and regulations are available on Digital.gov, including Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policies and guidance.  Please refer to this online library as they are updated regularly with current resources.

In addition to federal laws and regulations, there are several policies and directives in place that address VA websites and usage specifically.  Refer to VA’s web policies webpage.

VA Administrations may have additional standards or rules.

• Use a va.gov domain unless approved by the Web Governance Board and VA Chief Information Officer in accordance with VA Directive 6102. See the VA’s web policies webpage for additional information regarding URLs.
• Serve VA’s mission and be relevant and useful to VA website visitors. This also applies to webpage links. Link content must be organized in ways that is relevant to website visitors and must use information architecture principles and standards.
• Test links when posted to VA webpages to ensure their viability and usability, and they must refer to the correct domain.
• Ensure external links posted to VA webpages are viable and correct and no government or agency mandates or standards are violated prior to posting.
• Ensure that information collected from the public minimizes burden and maximizes public utility in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act.
• Protect user privacy by complying with all privacy requirements.
• Evaluate customer satisfaction and website usability in accordance with Executive Order 13571 and OMB Memorandum M-11-24. Refer to DigitalGov.gov for more information.
• Implement digital analytics on all websites, allowing the government to share common performance measures within a common measurement framework. Refer to VA’s Analytics webpage.
• Be registered in the intranet-based VA Web Registry ()VA Staff only database. All registered sites will be reviewed and certified annually (at a minimum) or as changes occur.
• Meet all Section 508, accessibility, and plain language federal laws and compliance regulations.

• Give the appearance of favoritism to a single commercial website when there are multiple sources of the same information or services.
• Endorse or promote vendors or products, or information that purports to sell goods or services to Internet customers. Websites are also prohibited from being used for direct or indirect lobbying.
• Link to external websites not related to VA’s mission.
• Use active intranet links, actively link to internal VA resources, or fail to remove or redact active internal hyperlinks prior to externally publishing of any internet webpage or document. Web Communications Offices or the Web Governance Board may immediately remove any page or document containing active intranet links from internet production servers. Content managers will be notified and those pages will not be permitted to be restored until corrected.
• Link to sensitive information regarding Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), VA sensitive, budget, procurement, and human resources or other privileged and confidential information unless access is restricted. These types of information are protected information and must be secured by passwords that are assigned to specific persons or groups who need, and are authorized, to access this information.
• Individual or personal VA email addresses must not appear on department internet web pages. Office and organizational emails may be used for soliciting feedback, but should not be active hyperlinks.
• Use copyrighted materials without appropriate permissions and payment of any applicable fees.
• Be used to convey information for VA employees unless appropriately justified.