ARCHIVED - Part 1: Standard on Web Addresses - CLF 2.0 Assessment Methodology

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Part 1: Standard on Web Addresses

Part 1, R1 – Domain names

Part 1, R1.1 – Registration

Part 1, R1.1.1 – GC.CA
Compliance Criteria - Web page

Not included in the assessment of a Web page

Compliance Criteria – Domain names for a site or sub site

Situation where applicable: Always

High priority criteria (failure of a criterion results in 0% compliance)

  1. Is the primary domain name for the site or sub site registered in the .gc.ca sub domain?
  2. Does the primary domain name resolve to the Welcome Page of the site or sub site?
  3. Is the primary domain name for the site or sub site composed of one of the following:
    1. elements or acronyms with the same meaning and spelling in both official languages (such as ec.gc.ca)?
    2. Bilingual or multilingual site or sub site provided by an office outside of Quebec:
      1. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of English on the left and French on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as tbs-sct.gc.ca)?
    3. Bilingual or multilingual site or sub site provided by an office inside of Quebec:
      1. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of French on the left and English on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as ainc-inac.gc.ca)?
    4. Unilingual English site:
      1. elements or acronyms in English only; or
      2. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of English on the left and French on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as tbs-sct.gc.ca)?
    5. Unilingual French site:
      1. elements or acronyms in French only; or
      2. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of French on the left and English on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as ainc-inac.gc.ca)?
  4. Main institutional site:
    1. Are domain names incorporating the title or abbreviation of the institution registered in commonly used Internet top-level domains where required based on a risk-based assessment?
  5. Multidepartment site or a site related to a marketing campaign or government initiative:
    1. Are domain names incorporating the name or abbreviation of the multidepartment site, marketing campaign, or government initiative registered in commonly used Internet top-level domains where feasible?
  6. Is each domain name that is registered in a top-level domain and resolves to the site or sub site also registered in the .gc.ca sub domain with both domain names resolving to the same location?
  7. Are only domain names registered in the .gc.ca sub domain used for advertising, marketing, and promotion of the site or sub site (except where authorization has been obtained via the usual communications approval process in the institution)?
Part 1, R1.1.2 – Additional Web addresses
Compliance Criteria – Web page

Not included in the assessment of a Web page

Compliance Criteria – Domain names for a site or sub site

Situation where applicable: Site

High priority criteria (failure of a criterion results in 0% compliance)

  1. Bilingual or multilingual site:
    1. Is at least one intuitive unilingual English domain name registered for the site (such as TreasuryBoardSecretariat.gc.ca)?
    2. Does each unilingual English domain name resolve to the English main page of the site?
    3. Is at least one intuitive unilingual French domain name registered for the site (such as SecretariatduConseilduTresor.gc.ca)?
    4. Does each unilingual French domain name resolve to the French main page of the site?
  2. Unilingual English site:
    1. Is at least one intuitive unilingual English domain name (in addition to the primary domain name) registered for the site (such as TreasuryBoardSecretariat.gc.ca)?
    2. Does each unilingual English domain name (excluding the primary domain name) resolve to the main page of the site or sub site?
  3. Unilingual French site:
    1. Is at least one intuitive unilingual French domain name (in addition to the primary domain name) registered for the site (such as SecretariatduConseilduTresor.gc.ca)?
    2. Does each unilingual French domain name (excluding the primary domain name) resolve to the main page of the site?

Part 1, R1.2 – Cybersquatting

Compliance Criteria – Web page

Not included in the assessment of a Web page

Compliance Criteria – Domain names for a site or sub site

Situation where applicable: Site or sub site where one or more domain names that could be perceived as being associated to the site or sub site are registered by a private individual or entity with apparent bad-faith intent

High priority criteria (failure of a criterion results in 0% compliance)
  1. Is each domain name that could be perceived as being associated to the site or sub site and is registered by a private individual or entity with apparent bad-faith intent being pursued using the established redress provisions of the governing body that oversees the Internet domain in question (where required based on a risk-based analysis)?

Part 1, R2 – Page addresses

Compliance Criteria – Web page

Situation where applicable: Always

High priority criteria (failure of a criterion results in 0% compliance)
  1. Are all components of the URL (including the query string), that the browser uses to access the page (normally displayed in the address bar), implemented using one or more of the following approaches (excluding query parameters and variables that cannot be controlled such as user-specified search terms and core parameters of 3rd party frameworks):
    1. English page:
      1. elements or acronyms in English only where the French version of the page uses equivalent elements or acronyms in French only for the same URL components?
    2. French page:
      1. elements or acronyms in French only where the English version of the page consists of equivalent elements or acronyms in English only for the same URL components?
    3. elements or acronyms spelled the same in both official languages (such as /options/ that could have menu-eng.htm and menu-fra.html within it)?
    4. Page provided by an office outside of Quebec:
      1. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of English on the left and French on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as /links-liens/ that could have fip-pcim-eng.html and fip-pcim-fra.html files within it)?
    5. Page provided by an office inside of Quebec:
      1. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of French on the left and English on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as /liens-links/ that could have pcim-fip-fra.html and pcim-fip-eng.html files within it)?
    6. elements that are language neutral, such as numbers (such as /100/ that could have 123-eng.html and 123-fra.html within it); alphabetic characters (such as /aaa/ that could have abc-eng.html and abc-fra.html within it) or an alphanumeric combination (such as /10aa1/ that could have 34de1-eng.html and 34de1-fra.html within it)?
  2. Bilingual or multilingual page:
    1. Are all components of the URL (including the query string), that the browser uses to access the page (normally displayed in the address bar), free of elements, acronyms, language suffixes, and language codes that indicate that the page is specific to one language?
  3. English page:
    1. Is the language of the page conveyed by at least one of the following approaches:
      1. the file name is composed exclusively of elements or acronyms in English only that are not spelled the same in French (such as links.html);
      2. one of the folder names is "english" or the "eng" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code with subsequent folder names and the file name being composed exclusively of at least one of the following:
        1. elements or acronyms in English only (such as /eng/links.html or /english/links.html);
        2. elements or acronyms spelled the same in both official languages (such as /eng/menu.html or /english/menu.html); or
        3. elements that are language neutral, such as numbers (for example, /eng/123.html or /english/123.html); alphabetic characters (for example, /eng/abc.html or /english/abc.html) or an alphanumeric combination (for example, /eng/34de1.html or /english/34de1.html)?
      3. the file name is terminated by "-eng" (such as menu-eng.html); or
      4. the "eng" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code is a parameter or variable in one of the first three parameter/variable pairs of the query string (such as index.cfm?lang=eng)?
    2. Bilingual or multilingual site:
      1. Is the approach for conveying the language of the page the same approach that is used to convey the language of the French version of the page?
  4. French page:
    1. Is the language of the page conveyed by at least one of the following approaches:
      1. the file name is composed exclusively of elements or acronyms in French only that are not spelled the same in English (such as liens.html);
      2. one of the folder names is "francais" or the "fra" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code with subsequent folder names and the file name being composed exclusively of at least one of the following:
        1. elements or acronyms in French only (such as /fra/liens.html or /francais/liens.html);
        2. elements or acronyms spelled the same in both official languages (such as /fra/menu.html or /francais/menu.html); or
        3. elements that are language neutral, such as numbers (for example, /fra/123.html or /francais/123.html); alphabetic characters (for example, /fra/abc.html or /francais/abc.html) or an alphanumeric combination (for example, /fra/34de1.html or /francais/34de1.html)?
      3. the file name is terminated by "-fra" (such as menu-fra.html); or
      4. the "fra" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code is a parameter or variable in one of the first three parameter/variable pairs of the query string (such as index.cfm?lang=fra)?
    2. Bilingual or multilingual site:
      1. Is the approach for conveying the language of the page the same approach that is used to convey the language of the English version of the page?
  5. Page in a language other than English or French:
    1. Is the language of the page conveyed by at least one of the following approaches:
      1. the file name is composed exclusively of elements or acronyms in the language of the page (such as nexo.html);
      2. one of the folder names is the language of the page (such as "espanol") or the three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code representing the language of the page (such as "spa") with subsequent folder names and the file name being composed exclusively of at least one of the following:
        1. elements or acronyms in the language of the page only (such as /spa/nexo.html or /espanol/nexo.html);
        2. elements or acronyms spelled the same in both official languages (such as /spa/menu.html or /espanol/menu.html); or
        3. elements that are language neutral, such as numbers (for example, /spa/123.html or /espanol/123.html); alphabetic characters (for example, /spa/abc.html or /espanol/abc.html) or an alphanumeric combination (for example, /spa/34de1.html or /espanol/34de1.html)?
        4. Page provided by an office outside of Quebec:
          1. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of English on the left and French on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as /spa/links-liens.html or /espanol/links-liens.html)?
        5. Page provided by an office inside of Quebec:
          1. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of French on the left and English on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as /spa/liens-links.html or /espanol/liens-links.html)?
      3. the file name is terminated by a hyphen followed by the three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code representing the language of the page (such as menu-spa.html); or
      4. the three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code representing the language of the page is a parameter or variable in one of the first three parameter/variable pairs of the query string (such as index.cfm?lang=spa)?
Medium priority criteria (failure of a criterion results in no more than 90% compliance)
  1. English page:
    1. Is the "eng" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code the only code that conveys the language of the page in the URL (including the query string), that the browser uses to access the page (normally displayed in the address bar)?
  2. French page:
    1. Is the "fra" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code the only code that conveys the language of the page in the URL (including the query string), that the browser uses to access the page (normally displayed in the address bar)?
  3. Page in a language other than English or French:
    1. Is the three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code representing the language of the page (such as "spa"), the only code that conveys the language of the page in the URL (including the query string), that the browser uses to access the page (normally displayed in the address bar)?
  4. Are all components of the URLs (including the query strings), that the browser uses to access each supporting file associated with the page, implemented using one or more of the following approaches (excluding query parameters and variables that cannot be controlled such as user-specified search terms and core parameters of 3rd party frameworks):
    1. English supporting file:
      1. elements or acronyms in English only where the French version of the supporting file uses equivalent elements or acronyms in French only for the same URL components?
    2. French supporting file:
      1. elements or acronyms in French only where the English version of the supporting file consists of equivalent elements or acronyms in English only for the same URL components?
    3. elements or acronyms spelled the same in both official languages (such as /options/ that could have image-eng.gif and image-fra.gif within it)?
    4. Supporting file for a page provided by an office outside of Quebec:
      1. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of English on the left and French on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as /links-liens/ that could have fip-pcim-eng.gif and fip-pcim-fra.gif files within it)?
    5. Supporting file for a page provided by an office inside of Quebec:
      1. elements or acronyms in both official languages in the order of French on the left and English on the right with a hyphen separating the two languages (such as /liens-links/ that could have pcim-fip-fra.gif and pcim-fip-eng.gif files within it)?
    6. elements that are language neutral, such as numbers (such as /100/ that could have 123-eng.gif and 123-fra.gif within it); alphabetic characters (such as /aaa/ that could have abc-eng.htm and abc-fra.htm within it) or an alphanumeric combination (such as /10aa1/ that could have 34de1-eng.gif and 34de1-fra.gif within it)?
  5. Bilingual, multilingual, or language neutral supporting files associated with the page:
    1. Are all components of the URLs (including the query strings), that the browser uses to access each supporting file, free of elements, acronyms, language suffixes, and language codes that indicate that the supporting file is specific to one language?
  6. English supporting files associated with the page:
    1. Is the language of each supporting file conveyed by at least one of the following approaches:
      1. the file name is composed exclusively of elements or acronyms in English only that are not spelled the same in French (such as links.gif);
      2. one of the folder names is "english" or the "eng" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code with subsequent folder names and the file name being composed exclusively of at least one of the following:
        1. elements or acronyms in English only (such as /eng/links.gif or /english/links.gif);
        2. elements or acronyms spelled the same in both official languages (such as /eng/menu.gif or /english/menu.gif); or
        3. elements that are language neutral, such as numbers (for example, /eng/123.gif or /english/123.gif); alphabetic characters (for example, /eng/abc.gif or /english/abc.gif) or an alphanumeric combination (for example, /eng/34de1.gif or /english/34de1.gif)?
      3. the file name is terminated by "-eng" (such as menu-eng.gif); or
      4. the "eng" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code is a parameter or variable in one of the first three parameter/variable pairs of the query string (such as index.js?lang=eng)?
    2. Is the "eng" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code the only code that conveys the language of the page in the URL (including the query string), that the browser uses to access the supporting file?
    3. Bilingual or multilingual site:
      1. Is the approach for conveying the language of the supporting file the same approach that is used to convey the language of the French version of the supporting file?
  7. French supporting files associated with the page:
    1. Is the language of each supporting file conveyed by at least one of the following approaches:
      1. the file name is composed exclusively of elements or acronyms in French only that are not spelled the same in English (such as liens.gif);
      2. one of the folder names is "francais" or the "fra" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code with subsequent folder names and the file name being composed exclusively of at least one of the following:
        1. elements or acronyms in French only (such as /fra/liens.gif or /francais/liens.gif);
        2. elements or acronyms spelled the same in both official languages (such as /fra/menu.gif or /francais/menu.gif); or
        3. elements that are language neutral, such as numbers (for example, /fra/123.gif or /francais/123.gif); alphabetic characters (for example, /fra/abc.gif or /francais/abc.gif) or an alphanumeric combination (for example, /fra/34de1.gif or /francais/34de1.gif)?
      3. the file name is terminated by "-fra" (such as menu-fra.gif); or
      4. the "fra" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code is a parameter or variable in one of the first three parameter/variable pairs of the query string (such as index.js?lang=fra)?
    2. Is the "fra" three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code the only code that conveys the language of the page in the URL (including the query string), that the browser uses to access the supporting file?
    3. Bilingual or multilingual site:
      1. Is the approach for conveying the language of the supporting file the same approach that is used to convey the language of the English version of the supporting file?
  8. Supporting files associated with the page that are in a language other than English or French:
    1. Is the language of each supporting file conveyed by at least one of the following approaches:
      1. the file ironyms in the language of the supporting file (such as nexo.gif);
      2. one of the folder names is the language of the supporting file (such as "espanol") or the three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code representing the language of the supporting file (such as "spa") with subsequent folder names and the file name being composed exclusively of at least one of the following:
        1. elements or acronyms in the language of the supporting file only (such as /spa/nexo.gif or /espanol/nexo.gif);
        2. elements or acronyms spelled the same in both official languages (such as /spa/menu.gif or /espanol/menu.gif); or
        3. elements that are language neutral, such as numbers (for example, /spa/123.gif or /espanol/123.gif); alphabetic characters (for example, /spa/abc.gif or /espanol/abc.gif) or an alphanumeric combination (for example, /spa/34de1.gif or /espanol/34de1.gif)?
      3. the file name is terminated by a hyphen followed by the three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code representing the language of the supporting file (such as menu-spa.gif); or
      4. the three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code representing the language of the supporting file is a parameter or variable in one of the first three parameter/variable pairs of the query string (such as index.js?lang=spa)?
    2. Is the three-letter ISO 639-2/T language code representing the language of the supporting file (such as "spa"), the only code that conveys the language of the page in the URL (including the query string), that the browser uses to access the supporting file?

Compliance Criteria – Domain names for a site or sub site

Not included in the assessment of the domain names for a site or sub site