The beta version of the Department of Veterans Affairs new website, Vets.gov, launched last week on Veterans Day. Still in its rudimentary stages, the site is designed to consolidate the VA's thousands of services and related websites under one roof. A banner on its homepage makes clear that the project is still very much a work in progress.
Vets.gov was developed by a U.S. Digital Service team under contract to the department, according to Fedscoop, a government tech news site and IT community. The website kicks off the VA's "MyVA" initiative, designed to address complaints about the difficulty of navigating and engaging its services, by becoming more customer friendly. VA Secretary Bob McDonald said in a statement that the agency's new focus on costumer service would "drive VA culture and practices to understand and respond to the expectations of our Veteran customers."
Right now, Vets.gov provides basic information on disability and education benefits. The categories are, according to a blog post to veterans from McDonald about the launch, the two "you've told us mean the most to you." Additional features include the Post-9/11 GI Bill Comparison Tool and a function for finding the nearest facility accepting veterans benefits.
New tools will be added on a regular basis. The site's work in progress reveal was deliberate, Fedscoop relayed, because the VA wanted veterans to have a say in how it developed. "The ultimate goal for Vets.gov is to become the single, one-stop shop for information and self-service for Veterans and those that care for them," VA spokesman Mark Farrell told the news site. To reach that goal, the VA hopes veterans provide feedback on how they think tools and content can more fully meet their needs.