IAAF 2023: Keynote Address with Tanya Bradsher

Narrator

Annual Interagency Accessibility Forum. Day 2 Keynote Speaker, Tanya Bradsher.

Brooke Aiken

Welcome back everyone. It's my privilege and honor to introduce our keynote speaker, the Honorable Tanya Bradsher is the Veterans Affairs’ (VA) first woman deputy secretary, first woman of color to serve in the position, and the highest-ranking woman in the VA's more than 90-year history. A fourth-generation veteran, Miss Bradsher, a combat veteran of the Iraq War, served in the United States Army for 20 years and retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Since retiring, she served as the VA's chief of staff and in senior positions with the Department of Homeland Security and on the white House National Security Council. Miss Bradsher believes deeply in honoring our nation's sacred obligation to serve veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, as well as they have served all of us. Please join me in welcoming the VA's 10th Deputy Secretary, Miss Tanya Bradsher, here this summer.

Tanya Bradsher

Good morning. I just have to take a couple of points of privilege. So, we are literally down the street from my high school. So, in the 60s, Arlington, where we are, is actually divided racially. And so, the black high school was Wakefield, and the white high school was W and L, which is now Washington and Liberty. But at the time it was Washington and Lee. My dad went to Wakefield. My mom went to W and L. And believe it or not, this blockish is where they met at People's Drugstore, where my dad was the stocker of the drugstore before he was drafted for Vietnam and my mom was the cashier, and they got married in 1969. And so, if you know anything about loving being a biracial couple, they’re pretty bold and so, to be back in Arlington where I was born and went to high school is always a great privilege. So, it is just wonderful to be here today.

When I first got this invitation, my team thought, well, you know, you've got so much going on, you've got a, we got Veterans Day. We probably won't be able to do this one. And I said, no, we're absolutely going to do this speech. And I'll tell you why. I have a daughter with special needs. My daughter has dyslexia. And the tools that 508 provides for her is literally how she went from being a failing seventh grader to almost a graduate in college. And so, it is personal and deeply important to me that we are able to have all of our services at the VA accessible to all of our veterans, because I can't imagine a more deserving population.

So, I'm so incredibly proud of the work that our VA team is doing on 508 compliance. It is absolutely vital and for everyone here, thank you so much for what you are doing to open up the world for everyone, because everyone deserves the opportunity to have the tools and the resources available to them.

So now I'll get started my actual remarks. Thank you for joining me today to discuss one of our top priorities at VA. Our unwavering commitment to accessibility. And thanks for all of what you do across your teams and organizations. To ensure that users can access information and services in a seamless way. Your work typically takes place behind the scenes, away from the spotlight, but makes such a tremendous difference. This summer, ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, President Biden announced new steps to make it easier to access public services online.

We've committed to doing our part at the VA. This commitment is not about meeting a requirement. It's not just a box to check. It's a reflection of our core values and our dedication to serving those who have served our nation. Veterans have sacrificed so much for our country. They deserve nothing less than the best when it comes to accessing the benefits and services they have earned through their service to our country, and they should be able to access those services with dignity and ease and efficiency.

I have some personal experience with this. My husband, John and I are both veterans. Our VA experience, like those of many veterans, families across the nation, have been extraordinarily positive and in some measures, life changing. But there is still work to be done in meeting our sacred obligation to care for all veterans that we serve. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and in particular section 508, were enormous steps forward in the history of making that obligation.

With the advent of legislation, accessibility was finally in law. Federal agencies are required to ensure that electronic and information technology are accessible to people with disabilities or be held accountable for not complying. It's not just a matter of choice, it's the law. So how do we think about accessibility at the VA today? We know that we live in a world in which so many of us have to come to expect an effortless digital experience.

And that's extends to veterans. We serve, whether they're chatting with the customer service representative or depositing a check from their phone. They expect the same ease and convenience from VA that they expect from anywhere they do business. And so, in everything we do, we put the user at the center. We put the veteran at the center. Secretary McDonough has given me a very clear mission to deliver on our sacred obligations to veterans.

And that's precisely what I've committed to do as deputy secretary, to do everything in my power to ensure that every veteran gets the world class care, benefits, and services that they deserve. We know the needs and preferences of our veterans are diverse, and so our digital resources and services must cater to those unique needs. Think of the veteran with a disability who can now independently access VA health care resources, schedule appointments, and communicate with health care providers, all with the help of an app on their phone.

Like our Health and Benefits app, which has nearly 2 million downloads, tens of thousands of users rank in an average of 4.8 out of five, on par with apps from leading companies like USAA and Uber. Accessibility makes that possible. Think of the veterans searching for their next great professional adventure through our services, and successfully securing a job that allows them to maximize their talents, accessibility levels the playing field.

And let's face it, this is not always been the case. Far too often, the veteran experience in the past was one of frustration and experience with a distinct lack of accessibility. For example, veterans had to fulfill their prescriptions by traveling in-person to VA facilities or to appeal a claim they would need to travel to a regional office, an appeals board, often very far away from home.

Meanwhile, their information was stored in multiple locations across desperate applications, and this meant even the simplest of tasks. Updating personal information required multiple visits to multiple outdated websites. So today we are shaping VA solutions that meet them where they are. They have adapted them and their needs rather than expecting veterans to adapt to us. Whether it's accessing critical health care information, applying for the benefits they've earned, or finding a job opportunity as they've transitioned to civilian life.

We want every veteran to have equal access and the opportunity to thrive. That's why we won't stop at compliance. We aim for continuous improvement. Accessibility is an ongoing journey, and that's why we assess and update our digital assets on an ongoing basis to stay current with the latest accessibility standards. And we won't be satisfied until we have the benchmark for accessibility standards across all federal agencies.

Our veterans deserve nothing less. It's easy to think that the most important part of the getting these tools and technology right. But this isn't just about technology. It's also about people. Secretary McDonough has said to our employees that while tech is a key enabler to our accessibility story, the protagonist in our ability to deliver on the promise of new technology is you.

We continue to invest in training and education for all of our staff, making sure they have the knowledge and skills they need to create and maintain accessible content and have benefit that benefits all of our veterans. Collaboration is key to making anything great happen, and we strive to live by that rule. Each day we closely we work closely with a wide range of VA offices, external partners and accessibility experts all coming together to ensure that we remain at the forefront of accessibility best practices.

There's so much more that we can get done together when we pull our knowledge and resources. We're in this for the long haul, and while we're proud of how far we've come, we are not done yet. We continue to set higher goals for ourselves in the future. Ongoing improvement, innovation, and the continued expansion of accessibility initiatives. We all know too well how quickly technology evolves.

We must continue to adapt and evolve and keep up with the times. Our veterans deserve accessible, user centric and efficient services. That's what we're committed to providing. Since President Biden took office, VA has provided more care to more and more benefits to more veterans than ever before. And in the process, the trust that veterans place in VA has grown stronger.

Thank you for your time and your attention today. I look forward to your questions and your perspective on how we can continue to work together in enhancing accessibility for our veterans. Thank you.

I also want to say, for anyone that's celebrating Veterans Day and for your family members that celebrate Veterans Day, I hope you all have a wonderful Veteran's Day.

Does anyone have any questions? Yes, sir.

Jonathan

Hi. I'm Jonathan from, Department of Labor. And, firstly, thank you for a really great presentation. Something I'm interested in with the collaboration and training, which is really important. How do you also encourage your staff at VA to know when to ask for help and encourage them to ask for help and, make have that asking culture, which we know is so essential to making sure that folks have the knowledge and skills and support they need to implement 508.

Tanya Bradsher

I hope we have. We're working really hard on the events that we hold to ensure that it's accessible for everyone. that that's a really great question in regards to just being more up front with it. You know, I can I say every single time that we have told our employees, I can't say that we do that at the VA.

What we have done at the VA is to make sure that when we have the big events that, we make them 508 compliant as quickly as we can. Sometimes we have the ability to have an interpreter with us and we're able to translate, but we're still working on getting all the transcripts up and, finding tools in the tool shed to be able to ensure that all of our interactions are accessible to all of our employees.

Great question. Well, hope you have a wonderful conference. Thank you so much for your time. Have a wonderful day.

Brooke Aiken

Once again, thank you to Tanya Bradsher for joining us today and to speak with us about accessibility at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Fantastic opening speech. We now break for lunch. Lunch is now until 1:30. So you have a lot of time. We have the cafeteria as I mentioned, and I think we have a couple eateries nearby.

Oh. That’s right. And we have the exhibitors. Thank you. Please visit the exhibitors. So, we'll transition at 1:30. you're going to have three tracks. You can go straight to your next session after lunch. So let me tell you about the three tracks. In the Hove is the GSA general update gains. you'll gain insights into the government wide I.T. accessibility programs achievements over the past year and get a glimpse of what the future holds and how you can be part of this success.

In training room B3022 is the user research in personas for Bard Mobile. This is the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled. Bard's mobile app provides access to tens of thousands of books to patrons with disabilities, including blindness, low vision, cognitive and print disabilities.

And here in the Bair Auditorium, using the USWDS Critical, Critical Checklist to Develop Accessibility Skills Across Government Teams. In this session, members of the U.S. Web Design System Core team will share plain language checklists they're developing for checking the accessibility of individual components, which are the building blocks of websites.

All right, it's lunchtime. Go get it.