The Canada.ca Web Content Style Guide:An unofficial sneak preview

Tom Vradenburg · EAC National Capital Region · January 21, 2015

Where the guide fits It’s not a replacement for Ye Canadian Style/Guide du

rédacteur It’s written for “web content writers, editors and owners”

to help navigate these: GoC Communications policy Federal Identity Program Standards on web accessability and interoperability Standard on Optimizing Websites and Applications for Mobile

Devices Guidance on Publishing in the Government of Canada Procedures for Publishing Official Languages Act

The guiding principles If you want your stuff published on Canada.ca, apply

these web content writing requirements But if these requirements conflict with Canadian Style/Guide

du rédacteur, this document trumps Use Canada.ca Content and Information Architecture

Specification templates...? Provide content in both official languages Know your audience, organize your content “by topic,

audience or task, whichever best suits your users"

The guiding principlesAlways ensure that Canada.ca content is professionally edited and translated includes images, multimedia files and transcripts that are

fully bilingual or reflect equivalent information includes links to external resources that are either fully

bilingual or reflect equivalent information

Plain language in depthBy writing plainly and simply, you: present information clearly and concisely increase the chances that users will find, read and understand

your information, regardless of the device they are using make your information more accessible to people with

disabilities save resources when editing and translating your text help reduce telephone enquiries

Plain language writing does not mean that content writers, editors and owners need to over-simplify or leave out critical information.

Everyday words and phrasesAgain, nothing too remarkable for editors, but the emphasis on it in this guide is encouraging.

Instead of… Write…

request ask

shall must

prior to before

terminate end

obtain get

possess have

cease and desist stop

in order to to

The eligibility requirements are…

You may be eligible if…

Your entitlement to benefits will cease effective…

Your benefits will end on (or when)…

Everyday phrases!Well-crafted examples show so much—and they are hard to do. The first one is nearly Dickensian.

Their second example is meant to show how simple subject + verb + object sentences are better.

Instead of… Write…

The period of time which taxpayers have in which to file their income tax returns shall end on the 30th day of April.

Taxpayers have until April 30 to file their returns.

Instead of… Write…Canada’s vast transportation system enables millions of people each year to travel throughout the county, around the world, and to work and back. From this page you can access a wealth of transportation information related to travelling and commuting.

Millions of people use Canada’s transportation system every year. They use it to travel around Canada, access and return from destinations around the world, and commute to and from work.

Verbs in their simplest form!This is covered, less comphrehensively, in Canadian Style.

Novice editors should also read the Canadian Style usage chapter.

Instead of... Use...

application apply

referral refer

utilization use

calculation calculate

assignment assign

consideration consider

enforcement enforce

modification modify

is in need of needs

submit an application apply

complete the following calculation

calculate as follows

Explain references to legislationHere, they leave you the choice of even mentioning the section of the legislation: what they want to see is explanation of the topic dealt with in that part of the legislation.

Secondary message: use the second person singular in instructions.

Instead of… Write…

For more information, taxpayers may refer to section 14(3)(b) of the Income Tax Act.

You may refer to section 14(3)(b) of the Income Tax Act for more information about property costs (expenditures).

If you are eligible, you can apply for a grant of citizenship under section 5.1 of the Citizenship Act.

If you are eligible, you can apply for citizenship using the intercountry adoption process.

Plain language in depth Use the active voice Use idioms and expressions carefully

To avoid: “when pigs fly”, “nest egg” Avoid double negatives Spell out abbreviations on each web page

Use the positive form—

—unless you are entitled to none of the deduction.

Instead of… Use…

You are not entitled to the entire deduction. (negative)

You are entitled to part of the deduction. (positive)

Consistent style, professional tone Use underlining for links only Use italics for proper titles Avoid all-caps Use bold sparingly

Consistent style, professional tone Did you know?

Use the styles feature of your word processing software instead of bold to identify page titles and headings correctly. It will make it easier for your web team to code the web page correctly.

For this page element… Use this style Frequency of use on a single web page

Page title Heading 1 Only once

Main section Heading 2 Multiple times

Subsection Heading 3 Multiple times and within multiple sections

Sub-subsection Heading 4 Multiple times and within multiple sub-sections

Consistent style, professional tone Keep the same “level of language” Write directly to the user Avoid can’t/don’t/won’t contractions Use “we” only when it is clear who is speaking

On the Canada.ca site, the Government of Canada is the default “we”

Organizing contentUse a logical page structure with correctly formatted and structured content elements to make it easier for users to scan the web page and find the

information they are looking for ensure that people with disabilities can use assistive

technologies to interpret online information correctly make your page more visible to search engines and

therefore easier to find make it easier to view the page on a mobile device

Organizing contentUse the inverted pyramid!

Start each page with the most important ideas and information(who, what, where, when, why and how).

Avoid placing hyperlinks in your introductory paragraph.This will keep your user focused on the page long

enough to read most of the information. Include information that is useful

but not critical to your users. Add details and tasks by

order of importance. Use hyperlinks to

direct users tokey information

and tasks. Include ‘nice to have’

information forusers who wantto learn more. Include related

links.

Organizing contentEffective headings and subheadings are easy to scan, making it easier for people with a visual impairment and those using mobile

devices to quickly scan and navigate to relevant information within a web page

search engines to find your information Make page titles and headings that are tightly written give a clear idea of what the text offers can stand alone (i.e., when read by a screen reader)

Sentence case is prescribed for titles, all heading levels.

Organizing contentPage titles are crucial they will appear in search lists with little or none of the

page to support them the first few words should be the most relevant they should be unique, at least to the Canada.ca siteTheir examples:

What is the Canada child tax benefit? What is an ePassport? Building trust to promote compliance Resolving taxpayer disputes and service complaints

Bulleted and numbered listsOnly use numbered lists for step-by-step instructions to show the ranking or priority of items for lists where the lead-in states the number of points

that followOtherwise, use bulleted lists, with a lead-in that introduces or applies to all the items any word or phrase common to all the items only one idea per bullet consistent punctuation and capitalization

Bulleted and numbered listsInstead of… Go with…

To draft a high-quality source document: • organize your ideas • use only short sentences and

paragraphs • do not use the passive voice • it is important to use the right words • use the Canada.ca Web Content Style

Guide and checklists to ensure you have followed the guidelines

To draft a high-quality source document: • organize your ideas • write short sentences and paragraphs • use the active voice • use the right words • use the Canada.ca Web Content Style

Guide and checklists to ensure you have followed the guidelines

An appendix that’s worth a lookCase study A: Improve plain language, document structure and reduce ROT—TBS Regulatory Affairs Sector page—beforeAbout Us The Regulatory Affairs Sector, transferred in July 2006 from Privy Council Office, supports the Treasury Board Committee in its role as the “Queen’s privy council for Canada” by providing advice to the Governor General and by providing management and oversight of the government’s regulatory function. In addition, it provides policy leadership on the federal regulatory policy, a.k.a. Cabinet Directive on Streamlining Regulation (CDSR). As such, the Sector is engaged in two key functions: (1) support of government priorities through continuous improvement of the policy; and (2) advise Treasury Board Ministers on Governor in Council (GIC) submissions. It delivers on its mandate by undertaking policy research and analysis, and developing policy and associated frameworks; providing reliable and timely advice to departments on regulatory policy interpretation and application; reviewing regulatory and non-regulatory submissions to the GIC (except for appointments) and, among other things, ensuring submissions adhere to the CDSR; ensuring that relevant information is provided for decision-making of the GIC; contributing to learning programs that strengthen all of government regulatory capacity, particularly their understanding of regulatory policy requirements; and brokering the resolution of issues through interdepartmental coordination and horizontal policy management. The sector is also developing a third function, the Centre of Regulatory Expertise (CORE), which will assist departments in building their internal capacity to comply with the Directive, particularly in the areas of cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment and performance measurement and evaluation. The CORE will assist departments through its team of internal experts and by cost-sharing the services of external experts/consultants in cases where CORE experts are not available and departments do not have sufficient funds to fund external experts. The CORE is scheduled to launch in fall 2007.

An appendix that’s worth a lookAfterRegulatory Affairs Sector The Regulatory Affairs Sector supports the Treasury Board in its role as the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. How do we do this? The sector: provides advice to the Governor General provides management and oversight of the government’s regulatory function advises Treasury Board ministers on Governor in Council submissions supports implementation and continuous improvement of the Cabinet Directive on Regulatory

Management leads and supports continuous improvement of federal regulatory policy, the Cabinet Directive on

Regulatory Management and guidelines and tools to implement this directive assists institutions in building the framework and skills needed to comply with this directive oversees government-wide implementation of Canada’s systemic regulatory reforms in reducing red tape,

including the: Red Tape Reduction Action Plan Canada–United States Regulatory Cooperation Council (see About the Regulatory Cooperation Council)

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit the Canada Gazette and Consulting with Canadians websites.

Summary Treasury Board insists this guide is only in force for

Canada.ca It does offer reasonable advice for any government

website or intranet

Questions or comments? Thanks for coming out. Remember, there are cookies behind you.