BLOG
Bringing it all together: Wealden District Council redesigned its self-service portal for a smoother resident journey
Accessibility is everything, especially when it comes to the resident’s perception of public services. At this year’s Granicus Digital Government Awards, it’s a point that has been proven by the UK winner of the Total Government Experience category, which honours organisations who have taken a comprehensive approach to enhancing the user experience of the services they offer.
As we’ll explore — by working with Granicus to thoughtfully redesign its self-service portal around the principles of accessibility — Wealden District Council is now not only able to offer a smoother digital journey for its community but completely changed how its residents interact with government. This is a huge achievement, one that is certainly worth celebrating.
In their application submission for this category, the Digital Services team at Wealden District Council explain that, “Redesigning our customer self-service portal was essential to improve accessibility and give our community a clearer, more intuitive way to interact with our services.” So much more than a technical upgrade, they emphasise that this was a collaboration centred around empathy, strategy, and innovation. While it was certainly a testament to their skill as team, it also exemplified the council’s dedication to the residents it serves.
The team are firm in their view that Wealden deserved this award, “because it has redefined what a local government portal can be … It reflects the values of modern governance: transparency, accessibility, and resident empowerment.”
The impetus for the redesign of its My Wealden portal — and its collaboration with Granicus — was an acknowledgement by the Wealden District Council that its existing digital offering simply did not meet the expectations of modern users. The challenge, then, was to unite the various services that were fragmented across different areas of the council’s operations, a point that caused friction for residents.
The goal was to increase engagement by improving navigation and usability while increasing accessibility and self-service capacity. The team at Wealden explain that, “The aim was to create a more intuitive, joined up and accessible experience across all key services.”
Wealden partnered with Granicus to undertake a full redesign of its My Wealden portal, implementing the Engagement Cloud solution to place user experience and accessibility at the very heart of its operations. “The redesigned My Wealden portal brings together a wide range of council services into a single, coherent digital space,” the team says. “Residents can now access council tax, housing, waste, parking, and more — all from one place, with fewer clicks and less confusion.”
My Wealden’s key features now include:
These enhancements, say the team, are “functional, thoughtful, and designed to reduce friction in everyday interactions with the council. The portal is fully responsive across devices and built to meet accessibility standards, ensuring inclusivity for all residents.”
“One of the most significant improvements in the redesign was the portal’s alignment with WCAG accessibility standards,” they emphasise, adding, “Accessibility was not treated as a checkbox — it was embedded into every design and development decision.”
On the back of this, the team worked to ensure that the portal’s content can be read and navigated by screen readers and that WCAG 2.1 AA standards have been met for colour contrast and typography. They also ensured that the portal’s interactive elements are keyboard-accessible and labelled and that its layout can be adapted across devices and assistive technologies. “These changes have made the portal more inclusive for residents with visual, motor, or cognitive impairments, and reflect Wealden’s commitment to equitable digital access,” the team says.
Speaking of their wider collaboration with Granicus, they add, “Granicus played a key role in the success of this project. Their consultancy support helped refine the portal’s structure, user flow, and integration of best practices … This partnership highlights Wealden’s proactive approach to digital transformation.”
More than anything else, Wealden District Council’s win reminds us that — just as governments are in service to their people — we at Granicus help governments serve their communities through technology. As we wrap this series, we offer our heartfelt congratulations to each of our UK winners at this year’s Granicus Digital Government Awards, all of whom have used technology to make incredible strides for their residents and communities.
