Senate panel faults VA over website accessibility

On Dec 14, 2022

A report from a Senate panel focused on studying issues that affect older Americans found that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has not made its websites accessible for its users.

The Senate Special Committee on Aging released its report on Wednesday after an 11-month investigation that found the federal government has failed to ensure its technology is accessible for people with disabilities, older adults and veterans.

The report states that the government has not met the regulations for accessibility set forth by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires the federal government to develop accessibility guidelines for electronic equipment that it procures.

The committee found issues across the federal government but chiefly with the VA’s websites. The report states that federal departments and agencies can take years to address Section 508 violations, allowing issues to linger, and insufficient oversight and enforcement of the law has led to a lack of compliance.

The Hill has reached out to the VA for comment.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), the chair of the committee, also made 12 recommendations for the federal government to address the issues. The recommendations call for increasing transparency and accountability, improving the accessibility of federal technology for workers and taxpayers and Congress taking action.

They say that inspectors general in each department should increase oversight of Section 508 compliance, which they rarely do, the Justice Department should resume reporting on its compliance with the regulations and the General Services Administration should publish its data on compliance.

They also say that departments and agencies should incorporate people with disabilities and older adults into technology planning and evaluation, expand the use of human testers to evaluate accessibility and consider appointing accessibility officers who are responsible for compliance.

The recommendations state that Congress should hold federal departments and agencies accountable through oversight and legislation and should consider amending Section 508. The amendments should include measures like new language for meeting the needs of people with disabilities and older adults and add new enforcement authority, according to the list of recommendations.