Accessibility Statement

Halton Borough Council is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to https://visithalton.co.uk/ 

Using this website

This website is run by Halton Borough Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • 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’ve also made 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 aren’t fully accessible:

  • some older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some section icon buttons aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • some headings don’t appear in the correct nested order.

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 @halton.gov.uk We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us by [email protected]

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 complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS)

Compliance status

Halton Borough Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

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.

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations

  • The slider under ‘Upcoming Events’ cannot be paused, stopped or hidden. This fails WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide.
  • This refers to all links in the slider under ‘Upcoming Events’. This refers to the link ‘Visit Liverpool’ in the footer of the webpage. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) and WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.
  • This refers to the two radio buttons under ‘Upcoming Events’. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.

Downloadable documents

We aim to provide content in html format where possible. Where we have to use different formats this will be because:

  • the information is too long or too complex for a webpage;
  • the user is likely to want to print the content, for example a brochure;
  • the document is needed in its original format – for example, leaflets;
  • documents are from other agencies or other systems – for example, government publications or reports.

Download document viewing software

Where possible we try to provide downloadable documents in the following formats:

• PDF – A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided);

• XLS/XLSX – A reader can be downloaded free from the Microsoft website – XLS viewer (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided);

• DOC/DOCX – A reader can be downloaded free from the Microsoft website – DOC viewer (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided).

If you have difficulties obtaining information from a PDF, you can use Adobe’s web-based conversion service to produce an HTML version. However, please be aware that the standard of HTML produced is not very good.

If any downloadable document presents a barrier to accessing information, please contact us with details of the document in question, the problems encountered and what we could do to help.

How we test this website

Tests were conducted on the by the Cabinet Office, Government Digital Service and can be accessed online. The tests were to ensure that we met our legal obligation of the website accessibility regulations that came into force on 23 September 2018.  The outcome of these external and independent tests was that the website was not compliant in some areas. Having been made aware of these the Visit Halton website was updated and amended; accordingly, any outstanding issues are listed in this Accessibility Statement.

Online services are re-assessed for accessibility whenever a major modification is undertaken; ‘page content’ is checked every time it is updated. Our current estimate is that further accessibility fixes to address non-accessible content on this site, will be tested annually using Accessibility Insights for Web

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Accessibility needs are actively considered as part of designing any new content, transactions and services. We follow GDS content design principles where possible and we understand the importance of inclusive design https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design

We respond to customer feedback and use this to make things better wherever possible.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 07 July 2025.

Reading the website

We aim to make our website as easy to read as possible and follow the Plain English principles. We are constantly working to improve our website and make it easier to understand.