Veterans Affairs Tech Compliance Boss Chet Frith Talks ‘Leading The World’ In Accessibility In Interview

Last August, I published an interview with Dewaine Beard. Beard works for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as the agency’s principal deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Information and Technology. As I reported, Beard told me the VA works “really hard” to provide accessibility vis-a-vis assistive technologies not only to the veterans it serves but to employees as well. The organization, he said, runs on iPhones and the agency maintains a slew of apps for iOS, Android, and the web. The VA’s flagship software is its VA Health & Benefits app.

Earlier this month, I sat down with another VA executive in Chet Frith. A Louisiana native who served 22 years in the Navy and was injured while deployed in Iraq, Frith today is director of the VA’s 508 Compliance Office. The 508 refers to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which mandates federal agencies “ensure that [technology] is accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities to the extent it does not pose an ‘undue burden.’” The General Services Administration and its Office of Government-Wide Policy is tasked under the law with “[providing] provide technical assistance to help Federal agencies comply with these requirements, and ensure that covered [technology] “is accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities.”

Like most people who become disabled and need accessibility, Frith acknowledged he didn’t know much about assistive technology prior to sustaining his injuries and needed help. He started with baby steps, using alarms to remind him about taking his medication and using a recorder to take notes in meetings. Technology has obviously grown exponentially since Frith’s earliest days, and he’s now gung-ho to the reality that accessibility and assistive technology “might be designed for someone with a disability, but it benefits everybody.” It’s a talking point he carries with him as he travels around the country, noting he was in Chicago the week our interview took place, as he tries to continually learn how better the VA can serve veterans and employees. The overarching goal, Frith said, is to create a culture which “levels he playing field” for everyone. It’s important because the VA is the largest federal employer of disabled people and, according to Frith, 12% of the agency’s population identifies with some sort of disability. Thus, what Frith and team do is “very important” as it involves ensuring “all information and communication technology is accessible to everyone.”

“We really are out there to provide the same user experience to everyone, whether it be through our websites, or our communications, through the applications that we use,” Frith said. “We’ve had a huge shift in the last year or two at the VA, really learning how to develop applications or websites [and] communications and information technology we have.”

A particular source of pride for Frith is the aforementioned VA Health & Benefits app. He explained his team polled over 900 vets and asked them what they use the VA website to do. Many respondents said they use the site to communicate with their doctor, as well as look up their health record and manage prescriptions. Frith said the software development team was able to account for 90% of the website’s functionality in the mobile app. Users can access everything “within one or two taps” and the app itself is built to be fully accessible across a range of domains from cognition to hearing to vision and more.

“I’m very proud we’ve been able to truly start from the beginning and that user experience was everything,” Frith said. “The development of that [Health & Benefits] application had great feedback. I’m very passionate about this world. Over 1 million veterans are legally blind, and it’s important to make sure everyone can access [our services].”

Frith echoed Beard’s comments from last year on how the VA goes about providing the necessary tools to people. On the employee side, Frith said a worker with disabilities is asked to work with the so-called Reasonable Accommodations Office in completing a needs assessment that helps determine what tools might best suit them. He cited an example of a Blind employee requesting a Braille display—which, incidentally, iOS has supported for many years—and the VA giving them one so the person can “do their job right more efficiently or effectively.” Likewise, someone with a hearing disability may gain access to real-time captioning during phone calls and videoconferences. Frith reemphasized the notion that technology moves at light speed, and as such, the VA is an active participant in the accessibility arena in an effort to learn and improve. To that end, Frith mentioned the agency attends industry events like the CSUN conference held annually in Anaheim, California. The market research, Frith told me, is an important aspect of “learning what tools are out there that can help not only employees, but veterans alike.”

Tech, he added, oftentimes is “moving faster” than the agency moves.

A common myth Frith tried to dispel in our discussion was the idea that older people, many of whom are military vets and thus are serviced by the VA, are curmudgeons who dislike and don’t use technology. Indeed, Frith said the agency has a generational variety of vets ranging from Korean and Vietnam veterans to newer vets who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s a variety of veterans out there who, Frith said, have shown a “willingness to accept technology.” In fact, contrary to popular belief, it’s been Frith’s experience that the older vets who were dismissive about technology quickly change their tune when they discover all the good it cn do for them in terms of getting help.

There are learning curves, especially around foundational skills like connecting to Wi-Fi and using an internet browser, but many people are “wide open” to technology once they learn about all the things it enables them to do. As one example, Frith said hearing aids are fast becoming more computer-like and use Bluetooth to connect to one’s smartphone so they can answer calls and listen to audio like music and podcasts. AirPods are becoming increasingly popular too, he said. Moreover, Frith shared an anecdote of high school students touring a VA facility to get a sense of how it runs and possible career choices down the line. They spent part of the day volunteering with elderly vets and showing them how to use modern technology. Frith called this interaction a “win-win for both sides”; not only does it expose young people to the real world, it forges meaningful relationships which connects them to their elders.

“To have engagement and see the interaction of the young people and the elderly veterans about technology brings a smile to my face,” Frith said of the students’ recent tour. “I’m passionate about that because it’s something we can all learn from as a society. I’m very proud of seeing a veteran trying to log on or even set up facial recognition [using Face ID] right on their iPhone and having a young high school student show them how to do that. It’s amazing and it’s a huge win for the VA.”

As to who’s doing accessibility right and what more there is to learn, Frith applauded major tech companies such as Adobe, Apple, and Microsoft in leading the way. He added the VA meets regularly with representatives from all these companies and more in an effort to learn more and provide more robust solutions to vets everywhere. A big goal for Frith and team is to “work through the procurement process” and make sure the agency is selecting the most accessible technologies, both hardware and software. He noted if the work is done by the government to enforce the law requiring accessibility, it will have a cascading effect on “[changing] the mindset for those developing the products” and raise awareness of the importance of equality vis-a-vis assistive technology.

“I don’t think anyone is perfect when it comes to accessibility,” Frith said. “But I think as long as you’re aware and willing to accept those risks and move forward and truly make an accessible world, it’s only going to be better. We are working to ensure that the kiosks at the cemeteries are accessible [and] making sure that the kiosks we have at VA facilities are accessible. [Accessibility is] a work in progress.”

Looking towards the future, Frith said the overarching goal of accessibility is to provide those in the disability community greater senses of self-esteem and autonomy. Everyone wants their independence, he said, and modern technology plays a pivotal role in facilitating it. Especially as artificial intelligence rises in prominence in the coming years, Frith believes “technology is going to get us there.”

“I envision a world where the playing field is level for everyone. That’s my dream,” he said of the future. “Once we get there at the VA, I’ll finish my job and retire. That’s where we’re going to be someday. That’s my goal. We have the resources in this country to make it happen and we should be leading the rest of the world when it comes to accessibility.”