A public services portal,
built for people who just want it to work
A public services portal is judged by the person renewing a permit at 11 p.m. on a phone, not by a design review. We build for accessibility, clear status tracking and forms that do not lose data on a slow connection, with document and identity handling done carefully.
What it is and who needs it
A government or public services portal lets people apply for, track and complete official processes online, permits, registrations, applications, instead of requiring an in-person visit or a phone queue. The bar that actually matters is accessibility and reliability for a real, non-technical user on whatever device and connection they have, not a polished design review. This is for an agency, municipality, or service organization digitizing a process that currently runs on paper, email or an outdated internal system.
What is inside
Multi-step forms built to be accessible (WCAG-compliant) from the first screen, with progress saved automatically so a slow connection or an interrupted session does not cost an applicant their work. Document upload with OCR to extract key fields automatically, speeding up both the applicant’s data entry and the staff review that follows, a pattern we have built directly for visa-related document and slot-monitoring work. Application status tracking that is actually visible to the applicant, not a black box after submission that generates support calls asking what happened. Role-based staff access for review and approval, so different staff roles see exactly the information and actions relevant to them, with an audit trail of who approved or rejected what. Notifications at each status change, by email or a messenger channel, so applicants are not left checking a portal repeatedly for news that could have been pushed to them. Multi-language support is included where your constituents need it, since a form only available in one language quietly excludes exactly the applicants who may need the service most.
How we build it
We build accessibility in from the first form screen, testing with screen readers and keyboard navigation throughout rather than running an accessibility audit at the end and patching what fails. Forms are built to tolerate real-world conditions, a slow connection, a session interrupted by a phone call, auto-saving progress so an applicant never has to start over. Document upload and OCR are built on the same pipeline we have used for visa-related document processing, extracting the right fields reliably and flagging unclear scans for human review rather than guessing silently. Staff-facing review workflows are designed with the actual reviewing staff, since a workflow nobody on the ground finds usable gets worked around, which creates exactly the kind of shadow process digitization was meant to eliminate. We also test the full application flow with actual screen-reader software and keyboard-only navigation throughout the build, not as a final compliance check, because accessibility issues found late are expensive to fix and accessibility issues found early are simply part of normal development. Weekly demos let your staff reviewers try the approval workflow themselves before a single real application arrives. We also test the form’s auto-save specifically against an interrupted session, a dropped connection mid-form, since that is the exact moment a portal either saves an applicant real frustration or costs them a restart.
Timeline and price
| Tier | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | from $5,000 | Core flow, one platform or chain, ready to test with real users |
| Production | from $12,000 | Full feature set, handover docs, agency keeps running it with you |
| Full control (handover-ready) | from $20,000 | Same scope, built and documented for your own team to run with zero dependency on us |
Timeline: 6 to 12 weeks for an MVP; production builds typically run longer depending on integrations.
What you own at the end
The portal’s full source code and all application, document and status data, on infrastructure in your own name. Staff access controls and audit logs, under your administration, with no vendor holding the only copy of citizen data. The OCR and review pipeline, documented so your own IT staff or a future developer can maintain it. Application history and audit logs remain on your own infrastructure indefinitely, which is often a legal requirement for public-sector record keeping, not just a convenience.
Related
Part of our custom development work. See related builds: online community platform, donation platform ngo, edtech platform schools. On the technical side: document ocr pipeline, role based access control. Related case study, another. Ready to scope yours? Get in touch and we will send back a written plan with a fixed price.
FAQ
How much does a public services portal cost?
A portal with accessible forms, document upload and status tracking for a single service starts at $5,000. A fuller build with staff workflows across multiple services and OCR-assisted review runs $12,000 to $20,000.
How long does it take?
6 to 8 weeks for a single-service portal with forms and status tracking. 10 to 12 weeks for multiple services with full staff review workflows.
What is the stack?
Next.js front end built to WCAG accessibility standards, FastAPI or Node backend, PostgreSQL for application records, OCR for document processing (the same approach behind our own visa-slot and document-handling bots), and role-based access control for staff.
Who owns the portal and the applicant data?
You, or the agency commissioning it. All application, document and status data live on infrastructure in your name, with access controls and audit logging you fully control.
What support is included after launch?
30 days of fixes as real applicant traffic surfaces form or document-handling edge cases, plus a handover document on the review workflow and OCR pipeline. Ongoing support for new service types is available as monthly work.