Brent Customer Portal accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Brent Customer portal and the services available within it which is offered as part of the wider Brent council website. There’s a separate accessibility statement for the main Brent council website and associated web platforms and applications.

This website is run by Brent Council.

Using this service

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’re also making the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability:

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You see see a full list of any issues we currently know about in the non-accessible section of this statement.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille email us at: webteam@brent.gov.uk

To help us deal with your enquiry, please try and include as must information as possible, including:

the web address of the pages you're having difficulties with
how you are accessing the site, for example on your phone, on a laptop, on a tablet
If on a laptop or tablet, which browser you are using, for example Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome or Safari
the nature of your disability, if any
a description of the problem.

We will consider your request and get back to you within 20 working days.

Find out about the different ways you can contact our teams.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, let us know by emailing webteam@brent.gov.uk

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complain contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

London Borough of Brent Council is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with thePublic Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Sign in and registration

Keyboard and screen readers users cannot click the ‘Create’ button to complete their account creation. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A).

We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023).

Apply for housing benefits

When selecting your details the first set of radio buttons changes the rest of the form on the page. If a screen reader user moves to the third radio button option “None of the above” they will immediately hear a message saying “you are not eligible”. This may be confusing but is read out because the user has selected “None of the above”. The user can go back and select other options to continue with the journey.

This fails WCAG 3.3.1 Error Identification (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023)

Some instructions for completing fields within the application form are not read out when the user moves into the form field. These instructions are important and it is suggested that users check all questions and labels carefully while completing any benefit applications.

This fails WCAG 3.2.4 Consistent Identification (AA) and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023)

The postcode finder on the “Tenancy and rent details” section of the application is not read out correctly to screen reader users.

This fails WCAG 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023)

Tenant services

Signing up to Tenant services will cause issues for screen reader users. Form fields are not correctly labelled to be read out for screen readers and error messages are also not read out when the form is submitted.

This fails WCAG 3.3.1 Error Identification (A) and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023)

For keyboard users, the date input field when signing up to Tenant services may be unusable or trap keyboard focus.

This fails WCAG 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023)

Council Tax

Links to view Council Tax summaries for individual addresses are not currently accessible to keyboard users. This will stop a user being able to access Council Tax summaries.

This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023)

When completing forms for moving home, error messages are not correctly identified to screen reader users as soon as the click continue but are readable on the page.

This fails WCAG 3.1.1 Error identification (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023)

Microsoft issues

Some of the issues with the service are due to underlying Microsoft issues. We have raised these with Microsoft and if you require further support with any Microsoft issues please contact us.

Hint or instructional text with some form fields is not read out to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A).

Some tables have column headings which can be clicked on to filter results. These are not being correctly read out to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

On the custom entity form thee is additional aria information for screen reader users which is not correct but should not significantly impact the user journey. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

When completing forms for moving home, error messages are not correctly identified to screen reader users as soon as the click continue but are readable on the page. This fails WCAG 3.3.1 Error identification (A).

Hint or instructional text with some form fields is not read out to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A).

On forms with multiple pages, progress bars look like they are clickable when they are not.

Microsoft have identified these as new bugs and are working on a fix for each of them.

Other issues

Autocomplete has been disabled on all forms which fails WCAG 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose. This decision was taken for data protection reasons to support many of our users which access this service from communal devices.

The Brent Digital Assistant cannot currently be accessed by keyboard users. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023).

Across the service there are various aria issues such as an aria role issue with the account link in the navigation menu. This should not significantly affect user experience. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023).

A number of decorative images have not been marked as such and may disrupt screen reader user experience. None of these images contain important information. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A). We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023).

Focus indication is present across the vast majority of elements, however some elements are not as visually clear when receiving focus as we would like. We will investigate this and implement a solution in the next phase of My Account enhancements (prior to 2023).

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the routes described in the ‘Reporting accessibility problems with this website’ section of this statement.

Disproportionate burden

At this time, we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Some documents available through My Account services such as building insurance information through the tenant services journeys are provided to Brent Council by third parties. We have no control over the creation of the documents but have a responsibility to make them available to users. Documents provided to us by third parties like this are exempt under the regulations. If you are having trouble with a third party document we have provided please contact webteam@brent.gov.uk

How we tested this service

The website was tested by All Able Ltd using a range of manual, automated and assistive technology testing across core user journeys.

This service is built on the Microsoft Dynamics platform and has been developed by our third party partner, Infosys.

We will work to resolve all identified accessibility issues, which are within our control and will release them to the website as soon as possible.

Where we do not have direct control over a third-party product, we will work with Microsoft and Infosys to resolve any identified accessibility issues and make the system more usable for all visitors.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 8 December 2020. It was last reviewed on 20 September 2022

This website was last tested on 20/06/2022. The test was carried out by All Able Ltd