On our glass display, the VOR needle doesn't get "generated" and point to the beacon unless the needle works correctly. The "ident" letters are shown on the GNS530 side bar. I still check the Morse IDs aurally to confirm both the VOR and DME. If using the beacon to track (not often needed as we don't fly airways) I would confirm the beam bar worked in the correct sense as a function of setting the course pointer.
Whether or not I need to do all this these days, it helps stop me getting bored when I can't see much out of the window.
