Introduction: Canada.ca Content Style Guide

Summary of changes

Here are the changes we made to this version of the guide:

• we’ve added "Writing for inclusivity" to the Writing principles for web content section

Refer to the listed section for details.

Purpose

This guide establishes the rules you must use to develop and edit English web content that will be published on a Government of Canada website. The rules are different from practices adapted to print to support principles related to accessibility, readability and usability.

The purpose of these rules is to make web content easy to find, easy to understand and easy to use for everyone, including people who have physical or cognitive disabilities.

The techniques described in this guide complement the rules set out in The Canadian Style. If there are conflicts between this guide and The Canadian Style or any other resource, this guide takes priority for content published online.

As web and language trends evolve, we'll update this guide to meet the changing needs of our audiences.

Use of the style guide

All departments and other portions of the federal public administration subject to the Directive on the Management of Communications must use the Canada.ca Style Guide. These organizations must follow this style guide's requirements for all public-facing websites and digital services, regardless of the technology, domain name or publishing platform used. This requirement is referenced in Appendix D: Mandatory Procedures for Social Media and Web Communications in the Directive on the Management of Communications.

Out-of-scope situations

Institutions that fall outside of the Directive on the Management of Communications do not have to follow this style guide. However, all institutions are encouraged to use it for both their internal and external web products. Following this guide's rules and techniques will make it easier for everyone to find, understand and use the government's digital content.

Related policies, standards and procedures

Content must comply with:

• templates, content components, character limits and other requirements as described in the Canada.ca Content and Information Architecture Specification
• requirements set out in the related legislated and policy instruments, including:
  • Policy on Communications and Federal Identity
  • Directive on the Management of Communications
  • Standard on Web Accessibility
  • Standard on Web Interoperability
  • Standard on Optimizing Websites and Applications for Mobile Devices
  • Guidance on Publishing in the Government of Canada
  • Procedures for Publishing
  • Official Languages Act