Welcome

Last Updated: 14 May 2024

The VA.gov website serves as the single place Veterans can go to find, apply for, track, and manage the benefits they've earned. The Platform is the common infrastructure, technical and non-technical components, and processes that support the static and interactive content consumed by Veterans via VA.gov.

Major pieces of the Platform include a set of APIs that manage communication between a Veteran user and internal VA resources, an identity and authentication system, the VA.gov Design System, reusable frontend components, a Drupal-based content management system, and an extensive set of documentation and guides.

The Platform is here to help the Department of Veterans Affairs build great Veteran-facing digital products and services by:

• Maintaining the infrastructure to keep VA.gov up and running.

• Making sure that apps developed on VA.gov are up to our standards.

• Providing tools and support to VFS teams so that they develop stable, scalable apps quickly and securely.

Definitions

What is the VA.gov Platform team?

The Platform team gives you the tools, systems, and guidance you need to build online experiences on VA.gov that will improve Veterans' lives. As you develop your product, we’ll be your support team helping you through the VA.gov ecosystem, best practices, and processes, including the iterative cycle of ideation and strategy, user testing, launching code, and measuring results.

What is a VFS team?

Veteran-facing Services (VFS) teams are defined as all Veteran-facing teams developing products using the VA.gov Platform.

Working in the open

We work in the open and strive to keep as much of our code and other work product in publicly accessible open source repositories. You will have access to our open-source (i.e. public) GitHub repository for tracking work and documentation. Here are some ground rules to make sure you know what not to do when working in a public repo.

What to expect as you design, build, launch, iterate

Here are materials you should start familiarizing yourself with to help you learn how to create online experiences the VA.gov way, and how to work with the Platform as you go.

Product

Document what you're building, what problem it's solving, what outcomes you hope it achieves, and how you'll measure success. And track the work necessary to actually deliver the solution.

• Here's how to write a great Product Outline.

• Please store your VA.gov Product documentation in the va.gov-team repo product folders.

• Teams regularly use ZenHub to better organize GitHub issues. Here's how the team uses ZenHub to manage its work.

Research

Learn how we do research for VA digital services.

• Here's how to plan, conduct, and synthesize research findings.

• You'll need to have your research plan reviewed before you recruit participants. Here's what to expect and how to request a midpoint review.

Design

Create and test visual artifacts that define the features of the solution and that help engineers build out the solution in code.

• Here's how to create great user-centered designs for VA.gov solutions.

• You'll need reviews from the Platform team to help you make sure you're on track! Here's what to expect and how to request a design review.

Content

Create content as a part of every online experience - whether it's button labels or full pages of static introductory copy.

• Here are the best practices for writing great, plain language content on VA.gov

• You'll need reviews from the Platform team to help you make sure you're on track! Here's what to expect and how to request a content review

Information architecture

Determine the most intuitive place for Veterans to access your application, the appropriate URL, placement in navigation, and the cross-linking strategy.

• Here are the best practices for writing URLs.

• You'll need check-ins with the Platform team to help you make sure you're on track! Reach out to #vfs-platform-support in Slack to schedule a 1:1 with us so we can decide on your cadence for IA check-ins.

Engineering

In tiny iterative chunks and with robust testing, bring the solution to life through code.

• Here's how to write great front end code for VA.gov solutions.

• Here's how to write great back end code for VA.gov solutions.

• You'll need frequent (usually around weekly) code reviews from the Platform team to hep you make sure you're on track! Here's what to expect and how to request a code review

Accessibility

Test incrementally to make sure your solutions work for everyone. Accessibility should be part of every step of your product’s lifecycle.

• Here’s the modernized VA.gov accessibility strategy.

• Here are resources for conducting research with assistive technology users.

• Here’s how to test your product for accessibility before your staging review.

• Here’s how to request an audit from the VA 508 Office after you launch.

Analytics and insights

Incorporate analytics into your code so that you can track the health of your solution over time and understand whether it's achieving the outcomes you hoped it would.

Here's how to set KPIs to track the success of your VA.gov solutions.

The Platform team is here to help you as you set up KPIs and integrate analytics in your code. Reach out to #vfs-platform-support in Slack to schedule a 1:1 with us so we can help, and to schedule an Analytics review.

You'll need reviews from the Platform team to help you make sure you're on track! Here's what to expect and how to request an Analytics review.

QA

Both manually and through automated tests, ensure your solution is doing what you want it to do.

• Here's how to QA your solutions.

• The Platform team is here to help you as you test to ensure your solutions are top quality! Reach out to #vfs-platform-support in Slack to ask questions, or schedule a meeting with us so we can help when you need it.

ATO

You'll need to ensure the solution your building has the authority to operate (ATO).

Security

Get your solution tested for potential technical security issues/vulnerabilities, focusing particularly on frontend-backend interactions, anything involving certificates or cookies, and any new interactions with dependent backends.

You'll need check-ins with the Platform team to help you make sure you're on track! Reach out to #vfs-platform-support in Slack to schedule a 1:1 with us so we can schedule a security review.

Privacy

Get your solution tested to look for potential user data issues, including affirming best practices around handling personally identifiable information.

You'll need check-ins with the Platform team to help you make sure you're on track! Reach out to #vfs-platform-support in Slack to schedule a 1:1 with us so we can schedule a privacy review.

Production readiness/infrastructure

Get your technical architecture tested to look for potential scaling concerns, dependency analysis, and SLO assessment.

Help and feedback

• Suggest content changes to this page.

• Submit new Platform Website content.

• Get help from the Platform Support Team in Slack.

• Submit a feature idea to the Platform.