Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), ranking member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and U.S. Representative David Valadao (R-CA-22) urged the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to take swift action to make its technology accessible to people with disabilities.
“Ensuring our veterans have the support, information, and services they need is of the utmost importance—and VA cannot do this unless its technology is accessible to veterans and VA employees with disabilities,” said Senator Gillibrand. “VA must train its employees to procure accessible technology and take steps to ensure that its technology remains accessible. I will continue to provide rigorous oversight on this issue to make sure that our veterans get the support that they deserve.”
Accessible technology is critical to make sure that veterans with disabilities can get the information and services they need and to make sure that VA employees with disabilities can do their jobs. Roughly one-quarter of veterans have a service-connected disability, and post-9/11 veterans, who VA will serve for decades to come, have a higher rate of service-connected disabilities. Additionally, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires federal technology to be accessible for and usable by people with disabilities.
Despite this, congressional and independent oversight efforts have consistently found that VA technology does not meet this requirement. A recent VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report found that, of the 30 critical information and communication technology systems analyzed, 26 were not accessible for people with disabilities. In its report, VA OIG issued four recommendations to improve VA accessibility and encourage the procurement of accessible technology.
In her letter to VA, Senator Gillibrand encouraged the agency to carry out VA OIG’s recommendations as fast as possible. She also requested additional information on how VA plans to do so.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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