The newly revamped VA.gov—relaunched in November—was designed to be a one-stop shop, providing veterans with links to any and all information they would need. However, the site appears to be missing links to some critical resources, some of which are mandated by law, according to lawmakers on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
Committee members Reps. Gilbert Cisneros, D-Calif., Max Rose, D-N.Y., and Chris Pappas, D-N.H., sent a letter Wednesday to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie noting that the website is missing links to three federal websites.
VA officials, in partnership with the U.S. Digital Service’s Veterans Affairs team, relaunched VA.gov last year after initially working on a comprehensive benefits site called Vets.gov. After conversations with more than 5,000 users, the team discovered that veterans didn’t want a website just for benefits, and the agency opted to move all those services to the VA.gov landing page.
“They don’t expect to go to a benefits site for benefits stuff and benefits tools and a health site for health stuff, and have to log in completely differently,” Marcy Jacobs, executive director of USDS at VA, told Nextgov during the relaunch of VA.gov. “They want to go to one VA and have a single front door.”
However, a review by the House VA Committee staff showed VA.gov was missing links to the agency’s Freedom of Information Act page and the federal jobs listing website USAJobs.gov, both required by law to be on the main site.
Committee staffers also could not find links to the VA Office of Inspector General on VA’s eBenefits website, another Congressional requirement.
“We understand that VA’s website continues to evolve, including a major redesign last year,” the congressmen wrote. “However, we ask that you ensure that the website has all the required information in order to be as useful as possible for our nation’s veterans.”
VA and USDS officials did not respond to requests for comment.
source: NextGov
