The VA for Vets website adheres to all Department of Veterans Affairs web policies. Additional steps have been taken to ensure the website is accessible and easy to use. The information below covers the following topics: Accessibility, Browser Compatibility, Cookies, and JavaScript.
Accessibility
To ensure that visually impaired users are able to more easily distinguish content and contrast color schemes, specific areas within the VA for Vets site have been created to meet compliancy standards and assist with these needs. Techniques such as providing methods for skipping repetitive navigation and avoiding non-distinct link labels, in addition to proper header tags, alternate text and table headers, have been implemented throughout the site.
The following features are also available throughout the site:
- A text equivalent for every non-text element has been provided.
- Synchronized closed captioning, audio descriptions and text transcripts are available for multimedia presentations.
- Information conveyed with color is also available without color. WCAG-recommended text/background color contrast ratios are used. Colors schemes associated with color vision deficiency are not used.
- Content is readable without requiring an associated style sheet.
- Time-based content can be paused with user controls.
- Data tables use appropriate mark-up to identify headers and associate them with data cells.
- Frames are titled.
- Pages are designed to avoid rapid screen flicker.
- Pages that utilize scripting languages contain functional text that can be read by assistive technology.
- Links to all required plug-ins are provided.
- Forms are designed to be accessible to those using assistive technology.
For more information, see the VA’s Section 508 accessibility policy.
Browser Compatibility
This site has been optimized for the browsers and platforms in the table below.
| Browser | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Firefox | 3.6., 4.0 | n/a |
| Internet Explorer | 7.0, 8.0, 9.0 | n/a |
| Safari | n/a | 5.0 |
| Chrome | 10.0 | n/a |
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 users are recommended to upgrade (free) to Internet Explorer 8 or 9 or alternatively use the latest version of Firefox.
Internet Explorer browsers may return the “Webpage has expired” message when the Back button is pressed. If this occurs, press the Refresh or Back button again.
Cookies
If you encounter an error page on the site, try to clear the browser's cache and delete the cookies.
The instructions for clearing the cache and cookies may be different for each browser and version, so please check the browser's help menu if you need assistance.
For more information about cookies, see the VA’s privacy policy.
JavaScript
You need to enable JavaScript for this site to function properly. To enable JavaScript, follow these step-by-step instructions:
Internet Explorer
- Select Tools from menu
- Click Internet Options
- To enable your browser for JavaScript:
- Click Security tab at top
- Select Custom Level
- Scroll down to Active Scripting
- Click option to Enable
- Click OK to accept changes
Safari for Mac OS
- Select Preferences from the Safari menu
- Click Security
- Check Enable JavaScript
- Close the window
- Click Reload
Videos
The user selects the buttons displayed under the video player to control video settings and can tab through any of the items.
- To play the video access
and hit enter - To pause the video access
and hit enter - To turn the volume up for the video access
and hit enter - To turn the volume down for the video access
and hit enter - To mute the video access
and hit enter - To unmute the video access
and hit enter - To fast forward the video access
and hit enter - To rewind the video access
and hit enter
+ Required plugins [ Get Viewer Software ]
