VA Should Enhance Its Oversight to Improve the Accessibility of Websites and Information Technology Systems for Individuals with Disabilities

… As a reflection of congressional interest, VA also is required to report to Congress the status of its progress in ensuring its internal and public-facing websites comply with Section 508.3In September 2021, VA reported to the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs that 41 of 462 internet sites (9 percent) and 22 of 350 intranet sites (6 percent) were fully compliant.4 VA indicated it would conduct comprehensive website audits, website and portable document format (PDF) remediation, and training to “ensure ongoing legal and technical compliance.” In June 2022, several congressional leaders told the VA Secretary that VA’s September 2021 report was incomplete, lacked key details, and failed to meet legal requirements. The report did not include a detailed remediation schedule with an explanation of how it would prioritize websites or sustain involvement from stakeholders with different disabilities. The congressional leaders requested a revised report.5Although they did not require the revised report by a specific deadline, VA responded on July 29, 2022.6 What the Audit Found The audit team reviewed Section 508 requirements and VA policies and procedures to assess whether VA has taken sufficient actions to comply with information and communications technology accessibility requirements related to its relevant information technology systems and websites. Specifically, the team assessed whether VA was complying with its own guidance and taking the actions necessary to ensure websites and information technology systems are accessible to individuals with disabilities. The OIG acknowledges that VA is working toward addressing compliance concerns about accessibility of its information and communications technology by prioritizing websites that receive the most visits and planning to then address those with fewer views. However, the OIG found areas where VA’s efforts and monitoring could be improved. For instance, web managers did not meet their responsibilities to ensure compliance with Section 508 requirements. Web communications offices also did not consistently enforce the requirement that web managers add and certify all internet and intranet sites in the Web Registry.7As a result, VA’s September 2021 report to Congress did not include all VA websites as required, such as over 218,000 sites on SharePoint Online (an application used to create internal intranet websites for use by personnel and contractors) and about 5,200 websites, both public-facing and internal, that were not included in the Web Registry…

See the report here.

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