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[a11y design review] Midpoint Prep Assistance: Pension 527EZ Form Updates from Benefits & Claims | Non-Disability Experience #67343

Closed sara-amanda closed 10 months ago

sara-amanda commented 11 months ago

Findings

To be provided via Summary of Findings markdown file in GitHub

Auditor(s)

About Your Team

Initial Request

Describe what you need in a few sentences:

Kickoff Meeting Accessibility Notes

Supporting artifacts

Design Review

Based on the development of the prototype, some of the following may or may not be applicable.

As Time Allows

Additional Resources

Design Intent

Accessibility Feedback - Benefits Non-Disability, Pension 527EZ, Form Reactivation https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/66475

Should: Wherever possible, try to use a "one thing per page" approach rather than any sort of conditional display of information or form fields. There are a handful of situations where conditionally revealing new things makes sense, but usually breaking things into separate pages helps with cognitive load (keeps focus on a particular task) and avoids some tricky assistive technology interactions.

Consider: Since this is a long and complicated workflow with a heavy cognitive load overall, it may be worth exploring mid-flow interruptions to tell users what they've done, what's coming next, and what they'll need for that next part. (eg. "You've now finished, X and Y. Next up is Z, which should take about 10 minutes. You'll need...") I don't know for sure if it's going to add value, but I feel like it's worth exploring and maybe testing with users. Note that since there's no existing pattern around this, you'll want to bring it through the experimental design process.

Should: I promised to share some list-and-loop examples from various products, but the multiple responses pattern page includes enough variations to hopefully give you something to dig into. From the user flow I think the multi-page variation and the add item variation might be most interesting to you --- but you know your product better than me, so I might be totally off on that. Zoom recording

Recording

Prototype Link

Pension redesign | Pension entry points

### Review Process \[WIP]
- [ ] [a11y support] Pension 527EZ Form Updates from Benefits and Claims:  Intro and initial reach out
- [ ] Create markdown draft from [Design review template](link) to create final deliverable summary
- [ ] Reach out to team for any outstanding resources necessary to complete design review, and agree on how to deliver feedback (comments in Figma, markdown file table, call to verbally review)
- [ ] Conduct design review and document findings
- [ ] [a11y support] Pension 527EZ Form Updates from Benefits and Claims: Share feedback product team
- [x] [a11y attend/watch meeting] Design Intent: Pension 527EZ Form Updates from Benefits and Claims or watch/read summaries
- [x] [a11y attend meeting] Kickoff Call: Pension 527EZ Form Updates from Benefits and Claims or read notes
ohgreatkate commented 10 months ago

Comments made directly in Sketch file, reviewed on a call with Maya, synched with Jenny and Katherine for CAIA overlap support and high level summary completed and saved within GH folder.

sara-amanda commented 10 months ago

CAIA Findings Summary

All findings given in comments directly on Sketch file, this is a high-level summary.

Findings compiled by: Kate

Please reach back our for any additional support during CAIA office hours or on our DSVA channel at any time.

High-Level Summary

Color Checks

Detailed Findings

Intro Page Comments https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/0C7C4F5E-82B6-44DD-AC2F-80D95351BDD8/canvas#Comment ### Katherine I don't think this link to rates is relevant here on the intro page of the form ### Katherine using "certain needs or disabilities" language from existing va.gov page: https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/special-monthly-compensation-rates/ ### Katherine @Fiorella @ Maya - I removed the list of additional forms for special circumstances from this page. The list doesn't provide enough context on this page to be useful to Veterans. They won't be able to tell if which additional forms they may need at this point. I've replaced the list with one sentence about additional forms. ### Katherine CAIA recommendation: Break the bulleted list into shorter chunks for easier reading. Recommended copy below: ### Katherine noting here that VA.gov doesn't use directional language ("below") for accessibility reasons. "Pension" should also be lower case. ### Katherine This is outside the purple note of areas to review, but noting here that steps 3 and 4 aren't steps the Veteran takes, so we don't need them on this page. ### Katherine changed this instruction to "Complete and submit" (from "Complete and mail") ### Katherine @Maya @Fiorella I revised this list. We'll need stakeholders to confirm the accuracy. ### Katherine Just noting for the designers that I messed up the style of these bullet points. Fiorella I noticed the phone number is different the request appeal. What is the number selection they should press to get help right away? Fiorella What would the new expiration date be? Fiorella I updated the time to 45 mins from 15 mins, I still think 45 mins is not enough, this from is a beast and I think it would take someone longer than 45 mins Fiorella ITF is something we’d like to include automatically, should we still keep this copy here, adjust it, or remove it?
Intent to File Comments https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/3BF5B061-A74A-4EF7-9842-682E66AA879B/canvas#Comment ### Katherine changed ### Kate If you are looking to distinguish this additional info section from the alert more there is an additional 'no border' alternate option.
Step 1: Applicant Information https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/467E6E7E-9020-4C29-B732-B774FECC95B3/canvas#Comment ### Maya @Katherine @Vicky I wouldn't make an assumption that the user has read the hint text on this field. Additionally, please include error validation for this input in case they enter their social security number here. ### Katherine remove hint text ### Katherine Is this asking whether the Veteran has ever filed a VA pension claim, or any kind of claim with VA before? ### Katherine @Maya What action triggers this alert to show up on this screen? ### Todd On vets-website they encourage us to follow component patterns for common user submitted fields. The Social Security number component pattern doesn't include an option to add an 'example, 123 45 6789' hint. This would be a deviation from other vets-website forms. ### Katherine lower cased "number" ### Katherine @Maya is it considered in scope to remove "Your" from the other fields on this page, i.r. "Your first name"? I noticed "VA file number" doesn't have "Your." If removing "Your" isn't in scope, then I'll update to say "Your VA file number"
Step 2: Military History https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/316E2F85-A392-40B8-9DF2-B0178C7CA260/canvas#Comment ### Todd The pension benefits form automatically saves your progress as you fill it out, including additional service periods. When the veteran selects 'Add another service period' the form will continue to auto-save. The exception is when you 'Edit' an existing service period. In that case you need to manually save the changes with the 'Update' button. Adding a manual 'Save' button to a new service period would be a deviation from the existing pattern and may potentially require some significant refactoring. ### Katherine What is a VA service number?
Step 3: Pension, Employment, Medical Centers https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/AFA43D59-B983-46B6-9702-F37DDB5ABF6D/canvas#Comment ### Vicky Zenhub task: https://app.zenhub.com/workspaces/benefits-pension-64e775aaa6b1ca1ed49b2ede/issues/gh/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/69725 ### Katherine @Maya @Julie I updated the copy on this page based on the language from the PDF form ### Katherine I'm discussing this recommendation with the CAIA team, but in the meantime, I suggest doing this: Insert an "additional info" component: https://design.va.gov/components/additional-info Link text: What's special monthly compensation? Expandable copy: If you have certain health needs or disabilities, we'll pay you extra money. We call this special monthly compensation. You may be eligible to claim SMC if you experience any of these situations: The physical loss of one or both eyes The loss of sight or total blindness in one or both eyes Being permanently bedridden (unable to get out of bed) Needing daily help with basic needs (like eating, dressing, and bathing), also called “Aid and Attendance” ### Katherine Question for product team: Is there a reason we only ask about severe visual impairment, and not other situations that are eligible for special monthly compensation? The amputation of one or more limbs or extremities The loss of use of one or more limbs or extremities (meaning you have no effective function remaining) The physical loss of one or both eyes The loss of sight or total blindness in one or both eyes Source: https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/special-monthly-compensation-rates/#how-we-assign-smc-levels-l-thr ### Katherine @Maya I changed the header for step 3 ### Katherine @Maya changing subheader to "VA medical centers" for accessibility ### Katherine @Maya I changed subheader to "VA medical centers" for accessibility ### Katherine @Maya changing sub hed to "VA medical centers" for accessibility ### Kate Consider the order of these questions, to help with cognitive load we would want to think of the information in a funnel approach starting with the most broad to most specific. Review this screen and previous screen and decide if making these questions in a different order makes sense. ### Kate Be cautious of pages where the headings and content are all the same until the 'decision point' question, this can be confusing and make folks answer incorrectly thinking they are on a previous screen. ### Kate Be cautious when adding new information to an existing page, think through reasoning on why to continue this pattern over creating new pages for additional steps. ### Katherine @Maya does VA need to know if this person has ever received treatment from a VA medical center, within a specific time frame, or something else? ### Katherine Question for the product team: How should someone complete and submit this form if they're completing a pension form online? ### Katherine CAIA recommendation: The form should ask one question at a time for ease of reading, and to reduce cognitive overload. Suggested questions below. For the 2nd question, I assume we want to know if they're currently in the process of waiting for a Medicaid decision, not whether they've applied for it and been denied? ### Katherine CAIA recommendation: The form should ask one question at a time for ease of reading, and to reduce cognitive overload. Suggested questions below. For the 2nd question, I assume we want to know if they're currently in the process of waiting for a Medicaid decision, not whether they've applied for it and been denied? ### Katherine @Maya @Fiorella - Do all of the questions in step 3 relate to special monthly compensation? Or disabilities? I might want to recommend a different name for this section, since pension is very general and applies to the entire application. ### Katherine Question: I'd like to ask this in a different way, but before I can suggest other language, how does this question affect the Veteran's eligibility? ### Katherine minor change to fix spelling and add question mark ### Katherine minor change to add missing words ### Katherine corrected spelling of "currently" ### Katherine corrected spelling of "currently" ### Katherine minor change to add missing word ### Katherine minor change for style ### Kate This seems to be a different pattern than the previous screens. Was there a reason for adapting to a new pattern mid step? I recommend keeping consistent throughout the form. This secondary heading could be useful to help build unique URLs for each page. ### Katherine new copy ### Katherine changed copy to align with VA.gov style standards ### Kate if using situational logic like this and new questions appear based off the Veterans answers, ensure robust testing is done so that they are clearly communicated with screen reader users. Generally the preferred approach would be less steps per page and more pages. Be prepared to share reasoning on choosing the design pattern less traveled. ### Kate Consider adding more context here, this can also help inform your URLs and build more inclusive IA. ex. 3 of 7 Pension information: [narrower description of this pages questions] ### Katherine I changed this question to be active voice from passive voice. I also rephrased it so that users can answer yes or no more easily. Viewed ### Katherine I'd like to suggest content recommendations for this question, but I'd like to know: How do we define "recently"? Are there other examples of federal medical facilities other than military bases?
Step 4: Household Info https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/2647C492-EE5E-4C31-B060-D04332452461/canvas#Comment ### Katherine @Maya flagging a small copy change here. ### Katherine @Maya @ Julie I saw the answer from the pension biz stakeholders. I re-phrased these options with input from the sitewide content team, and removed "illness" since it falls under "medical reason" ### Katherine @Maya @ Julie I saw the answer from the pension biz stakeholders. I re-phrased these options with input from the sitewide content team, and removed "illness" since it falls under "medical reason." This question refers to living apart, not being legally separated right? That's what I gather from the Teams chat with stakeholders. ### Vicky Task for engineering: https://app.zenhub.com/workspaces/benefits-pension-64e775aaa6b1ca1ed49b2ede/issues/gh/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/69554 ### Katherine @Maya For consistency on this page, consider a subheader for the address, like "Where does your child live?" This will be consistent with the next subheader on the page "Who does your child live with?" ### Katherine changed "Are they" to "Is your child..." ### Katherine @Maya The checkbox copy is clear. I think we can remove the copy in parentheses here (Foreign nation, etc.). Unless there's a reason we need to keep it? ### Kate This is a lot of questions per page, consider breaking apart. Also think through fidelity of information, does it make sense to ask specific questions like if the child is married and if the child is in school or disabled at the same time? ### Katherine changed from "Describe how your marriage ended" because this page is asking about the current spouse's former marriage, not the user's marriage. ### Katherine The scope of the content review is just the areas with purple notes, but noting that some of the other labels on this page need tweaks (for example: Spouse's first name needs an apostrophe s after spouse). Should also use consistent sentence casing (for example: Spouse's suffix) ### Kate Review styling across all screens collectively to find cohesive and consistent heading level. ### Katherine fixed capitalization for "state" ### Katherine removed James Smith's name from this question ### Katherine lower cased "information" in header ### Katherine Changed "Are they" to "Is your child..." ### Katherine changed "Who do they live with?" to "Who does your child live with?" so there's no confusion over who "they" is. ### Katherine lower cased address ### Katherine updated the expandable text for plain language. Product team will need to confirm the accuracy with stakeholders. ### Katherine aligned this link text to the preceding question ### Katherine @Fiorella @Maya do we know how VA uses the information from this question? How does it affect the pension benefit? ### Katherine fixed spelling of "currently" and added question mark ### Katherine aligned this link text to the preceding question ### Katherine corrected spelling of "seriously disabled" ### Katherine change form labels to "Former spouse's first name," "Former spouse's middle name," etc.
Step 5: Financial Disclosure https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/694C1A7E-2096-46A5-AF79-0BAEE169B065/canvas#Comment ### Katherine @Maya I removed the instruction about reporting income ("If you leave a question blank...") from this screen since it doesn't have any fields for reporting income. ### Katherine @Maya Beth Potts, one of the OCTO CAIA leads, and I simplified this instruction further. ### Katherine @Maya Beth Potts, one of the OCTO CAIA leads, and I simplified this instruction further. ### Katherine @Maya Beth Potts, one of the OCTO CAIA leads, and I simplified this instruction further. ### Katherine I changed "your or your dependents" to "you and your dependents" for accuracy. ### Katherine @Maya based on the Teams chat with pension biz stakeholders, it seems like we need to include a field that asks: When did you pay? They'll include some expenses based on when you paid. For example, burial expenses only qualify to be deducted if they're within a certain time frame. The PDF says: "Burial expenses are unreimbursed amounts you paid for the last illness and burial of a spouse at any time prior to the end of the year following the year of death." ### Katherine Question for product team: How should a Veteran complete and submit the additional form if they're applying for pension online? ### Katherine @Fiorella @Maya do Veterans get to exclude the value of all their personal belongings, or just appliances and transportation vehicles? ### Katherine flagging a change to the copy here to move the question closer to the "yes/no" options ### Katherine flagging small tweaks to the options copy here ### Katherine flagging small tweaks to the options copy here ### Katherine updated this copy ### Katherine @Maya what's the difference between the type of expense on the previous screens (hospital) and in-home care or care facility expenses? ### Katherine @Maya this screen feels strange to me because we ask about a specific date that you paid, and then we ask if this payment is recurring. Could we ask the frequency first? And then if it's a one time payment, we can ask when? If it's a recurring payment, can we forgo the question about the payment date? ### Katherine reverse the order of these options. start with one-time, end with annually ### Katherine @Maya can you share the screen that asks if someone has care expenses? ### Katherine changed header to "Your care expenses" ### Katherine minor tweak for capitalization ### Katherine minor tweak for capitalization ### Katherine button text should specify "pension or service retirement income" ### Katherine How much do they pay you every month? ### Katherine re-phrased question ### Katherine Consider making this question required and removing this paragraph. ### Katherine @Maya @Fiorella can we make these questions required to avoid the assumption they have unspecified income or have no income to report? If they have no income to report, they can enter $0. ### Katherine @Fiorella @Maya can we make this the first question of the gross monthly income section? Because the previous section allows you to add other monthly income, someone may think to add pension or service retirement income in the previous section. ### Katherine How much do they pay you every month? ### Katherine re-phrased the question ### Kate @ Katherine Can this be rephrased to make more clear the question is asking about a spouse's expenses? ### Katherine @Fiorella @Maya is there a reason we ask for the payment frequency, instead of asking for the yearly total? ### Katherine What was the purpose of this expense? (*Required) Examples include doctor fees, hospital charges, attorney fees, or tuition. ### Katherine Who did you pay? ### Katherine @Maya - Should "entire question" say "entire section" or "entire page"? Right now, we say if you skip any items, we'll consider it unspecified income. But we also say if you leave the question blank, we assume you have no income to report. Skipping an item and leaving a question blank sound like the same thing. ### Katherine removed definition of assets ### Katherine removed definition of assets ### Katherine removed definition of assets here ### Katherine @Fiorella @Maya - does this page exist in the current online pension form? Just want to confirm. If so, I won't suggest any edits for it. ### Katherine removed .00 cents for VA style ### Kate this information along with the description of what not to include make the question hard to discover on the page, think about the content design/layout here and see if implementing other patterns makes the question more prominent. ### Katherine changed header to say "Your income and assets" ### Kate Think through the order of these sub steps, it may be confusing being asked a catch all other expenses question before asking a question that is specific of their care. I also see grouping all the care questions for self, spouse and dependents. Review with other sections where information is needed about multiple entities and remain consistent to what is best for your user's cognitive load. ### Kate Review header consistency ### Kate I do not see any of these questions as required across all the pages, is this correct that this is all optional information? ### Kate Can not review this page for a11y based on layout confusion. based on previous screens no immediate concerns, please reach out if you would like to review together. Fiorella @Maya I only created the first page for the Veteran’s child. This page is identical as the previous 4 pages I created for the Veteran’s Spouse that has “Josh Smith’s in-home care or care facility expenses:” title ### Katherine @Maya @Fiorella - just confirming, this is for expenses the Veteran already paid? Not expenses they expect to pay? ### Katherine @Maya - What should a Veteran enter for provider? If they're getting in home care, should they enter the name of their care attendant, or the agency the attendant works for? If they're in a care facility, should they enter the name of the facility? ### Katherine made "facility" lower case ### Katherine removed question mark from "Type of care" ### Katherine shortened all the headers in this stage to "Your care expenses" or "[name of person's] care expenses" ### Katherine changed "Do you" to "Does your spouse..." ### Katherine changed "Do you" to "Does your child..." ### Katherine tweaking this for VA.gov ### Katherine @Maya - is this question asking about non-VA pension? What are examples of "service retirement income"? ### Katherine How should someone complete and submit this additional form if they're filling out the pension form online? ### Katherine minor tweak ### Katherine corrected spelling ### Katherine tweaked this button copy because "add monthly income" sounds like a way to add the 3 previous fields ### Katherine minor tweak ### Katherine @Maya - What types of payments are we asking about in the "Civil Service" field? ### Katherine @Maya - I'm changing this header from "Financial Disclosure" to "Financial information" on all step 5 of 7 screens. Is it ok if I don't input the change in this Sketch file? Is there a way to make the change simultaneously for all the screens? ### Katherine @Maya - do we know if this question is asking if the Veteran or their dependents has more than 4 sources of income EACH? Or if the Veteran and their dependents have more than 4 sources of income total? Should this question also include the Veteran's spouse? ### Katherine see comment on previous screen ### Katherine see comment on previous screen ### Katherine changed header ### Katherine changed header ### Katherine changed header ### Katherine changed header ### Katherine removed period after "Finish this application later" ### Katherine re-worded this question so it's easier to read ### Katherine shortening this sentence to align with VA.gov explanation of assets ### Katherine shortening this sentence to align with VA.gov explanation of assets ### Katherine removed period after "Finish this application later" ### Katherine removed period after "Finish this application later" ### Katherine removed period after "Finish this application later" ### Katherine removed period after "Finish this application later" ### Katherine removed period after "Finish this application later" ### Katherine removed .00 cents for VA style ### Katherine removed the .00 cents to align with VA style ### Katherine removed period at end of "Finish this application later" ### Katherine I put new copy here to clarify the information around asset transfers, but I didn't move any of the components around because I didn't to mess anything up. ### Katherine minor tweaks to this copy ### Katherine changed this header ### Katherine changed this header ### Katherine minor tweaks for plain language ### Katherine changed header to "Financial information" ### Katherine minor changes here to align with VA.gov style ### Katherine minor tweaks for plain language ### Katherine minor tweaks for plain language ### Katherine changed header to "Financial information" ### Katherine Question for product team: I changed this to provide clarifying information to the user. Can you confirm with stakeholders if this is accurate? ### Katherine changed the header to "Financial information" Viewed ### Julie @Fiorella I listened to the 9/12 SME call & understood them to say that Service Retirement/Pension is one that needs a source (and there may be multiple entries b/c multiple sources). They did note that they liked that it says "retirement," which I took to mean that people do well to have a prompt for retirement. I think we should handle that by adding examples of types of income in the "Additional monthly income" area -- rather than by keeping it in the group of Federal income sources.
Step 6: Contact Info. https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/15062C97-052C-489F-BD0B-D72FD0C71E73/canvas#Comment ### Katherine changed this text to reflect the new copy of the checkbox ### Katherine I changed this expanded text to make it active voice (i.e. "We automatically enter..." instead of "The United States is automatically chosen...") ### Kate it seems all information requested in this section is contact information; should this step be called contact information instead? Then you can break apart these questions more easily to be: Contact information | Mailing address Contact information | Phone numbers Contact information | Email ### Katherine change this to match design pattern
Step 7: Review (we will not implement this new design) https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/3F02808A-D2D4-4766-9C24-340D3B42FB55/canvas#Comment No comments listed.
Submitted https://www.sketch.com/s/75b363db-6be8-4b7e-8655-8f12f1ea5554/p/E62826B1-9AF9-450D-9740-D61A29A2EB2A/canvas#Comment No comments listed.