Making Customer Portals Usable for All Ages and Abilities

In the world of housing, the customer portal is rapidly becoming the main point of interaction between providers and tenants. Whether it’s reporting repairs, accessing rent statements, or updating contact details, today’s tenants are increasingly expected to self-serve online. But from my hands-on experience across housing associations, supported housing, and student accommodation, I’ve seen firsthand how challenging it is to design portals that actually work for everyone—especially when internal systems and processes are still working against you.

This blog explores how housing providers can make customer portals more usable for all ages and abilities. It highlights the common structural and technological challenges behind poor user experiences, and how thoughtful design and system integration can help bridge that gap. This is written for small to mid-sized housing providers, tech decision-makers, and operational leaders who are looking to both comply and improve service delivery in the digital age without leaving anyone behind.

The Reality Behind Most Housing Portals

Let’s be honest—many housing customer portals today are not fit for purpose. From clunky interfaces to fractured customer journeys, residents often abandon portals in frustration and resort to phoning or emailing staff. This leads to duplicated effort and increasing workloads for already stretched teams.

From my work across the sector, I’ve identified a few consistent themes that cause portals to fall short:

• Manual processes tangled with digital interfaces – A tenant might report a repair online, but the system doesn’t trigger the correct job due to a disconnected back office. Staff then manually transfer the request, absorbing more time and introducing the risk of error.
• Legacy systems that constrain UI/UX design – Many housing systems were built before mobile-first thinking or accessibility standards were taken seriously. Portals are often clunky retrofits rather than user-centric redesigns.
• Integration gaps – When CRM, repairs, rent accounts, and support case systems don’t talk to each other, the portal can’t give the user a cohesive picture. Missing information erodes trust in the technology.
• Compliance and digital inclusion pressures – With regulators paying more attention to tenant voice and transparency, there’s pressure to modernise. But making systems suitable for older tenants or people with accessibility needs is easier said than done.

Understanding Your Audience

Effective portal design starts not with the technology, but with a deep understanding of who your users are and their real-world challenges.

A diverse user base

• An 82-year-old tenant who uses a tablet for calling her grandchildren and checking emails
• A visually impaired resident in supported housing using screen reader software
• A working parent quickly trying to log a repair between shifts from a mobile device
• A university student who expects self-service as the standard, not the exception

This range in digital confidence, device preference, cognitive load, and accessibility needs means one-size-fits-all solutions don’t work. If your portal is designed only for tech-fluent users, you risk isolating a significant portion of your tenants.

Digital exclusion is still a real concern

According to various government and sector reports, a significant number of social housing residents report low digital confidence. In supported or sheltered housing, this number is even higher. Portals must serve the needs of these individuals without overwhelming or alienating them.

What “Usable for All” Actually Means

“Usability” isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between a tool that’s used and trusted, and one that gets abandoned in frustration. A usable portal for all ages and abilities should aim to be:

• Accessible – Compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA standards at a minimum. This includes screen reader support, keyboard navigation, alternative text, and colour contrast standards.
• Mobile responsive – Designed mobile-first, not just shrunk desktop versions. For many tenants, a smartphone is their only internet access point.
• Forgiving – With simple, jargon-free language and logical workflows that guide the user without requiring tech-specific knowledge.
• Multilingual and culturally sensitive – Particularly important in areas with diverse tenant populations or non-native English speakers.
• Flexible – Able to support those who want minimal interaction (e.g., auto-payment confirmations) and those who need more guided experiences (e.g., repeat repairs history explained clearly).

How Legacy Systems Undermine Good UX

You can’t fix usability just at the frontend. Many housing providers are running outdated core systems that are slow to adapt or integrate. I’ve worked with housing teams where even basic data like tenancy status or a correct contact number can sit in five different systems—all showing different information.

Here are just some integration challenges that block usable design:

• Multiple repair systems – If your portal connects only to the main repairs contractor but not to specialist contractors or in-house DLOs, tenants get incomplete updates and mixed messages.
• Disconnected CRMs – Portals relying on static or outdated CRM data results in wrong profile information, or worse, security issues when users can’t verify their own identity online.
• Manual workarounds because nothing talks to each other – I’ve seen teams re-key repair jobs from customer portals into internal systems just so the job gets scheduled. This is not scalable or sustainable.

Unless your backend systems support structured workflows and real-time data, even the best-designed portal will hit limitations fast. True usability includes operational usability—reducing manual handoffs and ensuring tenants receive consistent, timely responses.

Practical Steps Toward Inclusive Portal Design

Co-design with real tenants

Involve tenants in your portal design process—especially those who are older, have disabilities, or are less digitally confident. Their lived experience will help flag assumptions in your design. Use a mixture of interviews, task testing, and pilot applications, and listen actively to frustrations, not just suggestions.

Build modular, not monolithic

Choose digital platforms that are modular and API-driven, so they can evolve with your organisation. This gives you the flexibility to swap out legacy parts gradually instead of a costly and disruptive major overhaul.

Ensure accessibility is baked in from day one

Accessibility isn’t an afterthought—it should be part of the user journey planning, UI wireframes, and developer handoffs. Use simple forms, large touchscreen-friendly buttons, skip-to-content links, and never rely solely on colour to convey information.

Offer human fallback options

For customers who struggle, ensure there are hybrid journeys. This includes having an assisted digital offer through phone or in-person support, and giving staff the ability to submit on behalf of tenants within the same system so data remains consistent.

Train frontline staff for digital support

Portals are only part of the user journey. When tenants do call, staff should be trained to confidently guide them through the digital process or resolve issues in the same platform to maintain consistency. Staff should also have visibility into what the customer sees online—this makes it easier to help.

Outcomes of Getting It Right

Housing organisations that take portal usability seriously reap long-term benefits:

• Reduced call volume and duplication – Staff spend less time rekeying data or clarifying basic requests.
• Increased tenant satisfaction – People feel empowered when technology works for them, regardless of age or ability.
• Improved data quality – When tenants keep their own info up to date or log issues correctly, your systems become more reliable.
• Stronger compliance posture – Customer feedback mechanisms, accessibility compliance, and audit trails become easier to manage.

Conclusion: From Fragmented to Empowered

Usability for all is not just a UI issue—it’s a deep reflection of how well our systems, processes, and people are coordinated. If your current portal is creating more work than it saves, or if only a narrow slice of tenants can actually use it, it’s time to re-evaluate from the ground up.

Creating truly inclusive digital services should be a collaborative effort: guided by tenant voices, supported by technology that integrates easily, and grounded in long-term operational efficiency. That might mean slow incremental change, but it’s much better than big-bang systems that don’t suit the people they claim to serve.

If you need help implementing technology into your organisation or want some advice — get in touch today at info@proptechconsult.uk