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Skills Build: Update online form entry points #88924

Open aprocik1 opened 4 months ago

aprocik1 commented 4 months ago

Description

After the product team launches the digitized VA Form 22-10282, we need to update the entry points to the online form.

These are recommendations from Mikki:

Resources

Tasks

Step 1: Pages

Step 2: Crosslinks

Criteria

aprocik1 commented 2 months ago

@hermonica, I've updated this ticket with relevant instructions and resources. I'd like you to take the lead on drafting these pages and identifying crosslinks on VA.gov. Can you review this ticket before our one-on-one tomorrow?

Let's discuss any questions you have tomorrow and align on when we can complete this work together. I'm trying to confirm the product team's timeline before then. Thanks!

aprocik1 commented 1 month ago

@hermonica, it appears that Katherine and the product team have already drafted the About VA Form page. Reference their Figma file.

hermonica commented 1 month ago

Hi @aprocik1, the drafts are ready for your review in this google doc! I've also flagged a few comments about the program's eligibility requirements. Looking forward to your feedback! Thanks, as always.

aprocik1 commented 1 month ago

Update: I'm discussing the pages and questions in this Mural board with Beth today.

aprocik1 commented 1 month ago

Update: Beth, Mikki, Sam, and I are aligning on these entry points and static pages. SMEs agreed to publish our new VA.gov page, rather than publish their new TeamSite page.

Beth is going to ask the business line for more background on their desire to forgo the PDF. Then we'll figure out what updates we need to make to the static page and what to do about the About VA Form page.

aprocik1 commented 2 weeks ago

SMEs approved these pages:

Based on SME feedback, the IA plan for this program may change. As a result, these pages aren't yet ready to copyedit and publish.

aprocik1 commented 2 weeks ago

SMEs asked about page and program placement via email. After reviewing their question, Mikki and Sam said this:

Mikki and I just took a look at the email, the Education hub left nav, and the 'Other VA education benefits' page. Her read on the email is that the SMEs aren't concerned about where IBM will get added in the left nav, rather that it will be grouped on the page in with items that have specific relationships with the GI Bill. Here two thoughts were:

  • Add a third H2 on the page, of benefits that aren't related to the GI Bill, and put IBM in there. (I think you and I talked about this option previously, or I might have fussed about which H2 to plop IBM into, in the IA Spec)
  • This one's a bit scope-creepy, but Mikki noticed that the 'Alternative programs if you're not eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill' section includes the two Montgomery benefits, which are covered elsewhere in the Education hub. She spitballed (and specifically said she defers to your judgement call on this) that if those two were removed, then National Call to Service, VEAP, and IBM could be grouped in a 'Non GI Bill' section.

I think I lean toward changing the page to this:

We'd need to run this past Beth to see if she has concerns re. SME management. @hermonica, what do you think about this? Can you check these benefits and programs to make sure it's accurate to say "if you're not eligible for GI Bill benefits"?

hermonica commented 1 week ago

Hi @aprocik1, sorry I closed this ticket by accident!

Mikki's rec on removing the 2 Montgomery GI Bills makes sense since they're covered under About GI Bill benefits, and because your eligibility for GI Bill benefits may make you eligible for the Montgomery benefits (full context: FAQ comparing VA education benefits).

Re: "Alternative programs if you're not eligible for GI Bill benefits" - this H2 a bit misleading. It makes it sound like you can't be eligible for both GI Bill benefits and other programs.

For example, IBM SkillsBuild is a free program you can apply for and get with your GI Bill Benefits. The program has nothing to do with your eligibility for GI Bill benefits, and it doesn't impact your GI Bill benefits.

The National Call to Service program is an alternative education benefit to the Montgomery GI Bill, and VEAP has specific service requirements. It seems like there's a chance you might be eligible for both GI bill benefits and these other programs, but you can't get both benefits at the same time. It'd be great to check if this is accurate with SMEs.

I wonder if this works for the second H2:

H2: Alternative programs you may be eligible for

  • H3: IBM SkillsBuild
  • H3: National Call to Service
  • H3: VEAP

Or "Other programs you may be eligible for" since IBM is not an alternative program. What do you think? Is this too general?

Also flagging that if we update the second H2, we also need to update the intro text at the top of the Other VA education benefits page.

aprocik1 commented 1 week ago

This what we discussed in our meeting:

H1: Other VA education benefits

H2: Programs for added GI Bill benefits

  • H3: STEM
  • H3: Yellow Ribbon

H2: Related programs you may be eligible for

  • H3: IBM SkillsBuild
  • H3: National Call to Service
  • H3: VEAP

First, Monica is going to research the MGIB and PGIB benefits mentions on this page. Then, we'll ask Beth for approval.

hermonica commented 1 week ago

@aprocik1 VEAP is an alternative program if you're not eligible for PGIB, but there's a chance someone might be eligible for both PGIB and the National Call to Service program and choose the latter as an alternative. So, the current second H2, "Alternative programs if you’re not eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill," doesn't seem accurate.

Also, it'd be more accurate and descriptive (but longer) if we updated the first H2 to "Programs for added Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits" since the 2 programs listed are specific to PGIB.

Re: "Related programs you may be eligible for" - Is this H2 potentially misleading too? Some might think the 3 programs are related to each other instead of related to VA edu benefits, but lmk if I'm overthinking here. A safer second H2 could be "More programs you may be eligible for," but this clashes with the "More helpful information" H2 at the end of the current Other VA education benefits page.

What do you think? Should we narrow down or share both options with Beth?

Option A: Broad and simple

H1: Other VA education benefits

H2: Programs for added Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits

  • H3: Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship
  • H3: Yellow Ribbon Program

H2: Related programs you may be eligible for

  • H3: IBM SkillsBuild program
  • H3: National Call to Service program
  • H3: Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)

Option B: Most accurate and descriptive, but extra headers

H1: Other VA education benefits

H2: Programs for added Post-GI Bill benefits

  • H3: Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship
  • H3: Yellow Ribbon Program

H2: Alternative programs you may be eligible for

  • H3: National Call to Service program
  • H3: Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)

H2: Online [or Additional] programs you may be eligible for

  • H3: IBM SkillsBuild program
aprocik1 commented 1 week ago

@hermonica, thanks for researching this. I think either option is fine, although I lean toward option A with the "more" H2. It seems odd to have one H3 under the last H2 in option B, but I think that's fine too. Let's bring both of these options to Beth.

hermonica commented 1 week ago

Update: I brought both of these options to Beth via Slack (link to Slack thread), but she hasn't responded yet. We'll need to follow up with her next week when she's back from her offsite.

aprocik1 commented 4 days ago

Update: Beth is working with SMEs on the updates to this page: Other VA education benefits (Drupal).

We should confirm that Beth that we can publish all her draft edits when the product team launches the online form.

aprocik1 commented 4 days ago

The product team updated their timeline. They're planning to launch the online form at the end of January. This ticket is mostly complete--we're awaiting launch now. I'm moving this ticket to blocked.