Transcript 05_E_CanadaWebGuide (1)

The Canada.ca Web Content Style Guide:
An unofficial sneak preview
Tom Vradenburg · EAC National Capital Region · January 21, 2015
Where the guide fits
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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:
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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
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If you want your stuff published on Canada.ca, apply
these web content writing requirements
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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 principles
Always 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 depth
By 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.
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 words
and phrases
Again, nothing too
remarkable for editors, but
the emphasis on it in this
guide is encouraging.
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.
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...
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
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…
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.
Explain
references to
legislation
Here, 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.
Plain language in depth
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Use the active voice
Use idioms and expressions carefully
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To avoid: “when pigs fly”, “nest egg”
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Avoid double negatives
Spell out abbreviations on each web page
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Use the positive form—
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Instead of…
Use…
You are not entitled to the
entire deduction. (negative)
You are entitled to part of the
deduction. (positive)
—unless you are entitled to none of the deduction.
Consistent style, professional tone
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Use underlining for links only
Use italics for proper titles
Avoid all-caps
Use bold sparingly
Consistent style, professional tone
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Did you know?
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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 subsections
Consistent style, professional tone
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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
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On the Canada.ca site, the Government of Canada is the
default “we”
Organizing content
Use 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 content
Use 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 to
key information
and tasks.
Include ‘nice to have’
information for
users who want
to learn more.
Include related
links.
Organizing content
Effective 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 content
Page 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 site
Their examples:
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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 lists
Only 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 follow
Otherwise, 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 lists
Instead 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 look
Case study A: Improve plain language, document structure and reduce ROT—TBS
Regulatory Affairs Sector page—before
About 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 look
After
Regulatory 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:
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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
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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?
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Thanks for coming out.
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