ARCHIVED - Common Look and Feel Standards - Crosswalk Table Policy Requirements - Navigation and Format

All GC Web pages must include the common menu bar, placed at the top of every Web page, to facilitate navigation through and between GC sites. The GC menu options must appear in this order and include: Language (English/French) for bilingual sites only, Contact Us, Help, Search and Canada Site.

The institution contributes to consistent and predictable navigation on all Government of Canada Web sites by consolidating key functions in the form of a common menu bar that must appear on every page of its Web site except Welcome Pages and Server Message pages.

All GC Web pages must incorporate an institutional menu similar in design and placement to the common menu bar. The number of buttons and choice of terminology should represent plan language descriptors of the organization's program and services.

The institution must not implement secondary or institutional menu bars on its Web sites.

All GC Web sites must adopt the following five metatags as a metadata standard for description of Web resources: Title, Originator, Language of Resource, Date and Controlled Subject.

Duplicates TBITS 39

TBITS 39 - The elements Title, Creator, Language, Date and Subject are mandatory. Additional Dublin Core elements such as Coverage or Relation are optional.

All GC Web pages must have a date indicator to signal to users that they have reached the end of that page and to signify the currency of the content. All currency indicators must use the ISO standard for all-numeric date display (YYYY MM DD) and use one of the following formats: Date published, Date Modified, or Last updated.

As Government of Canada sites are used to obtain valid, accurate and up-to-date information for personal and professional use, it is vitally important that the institution provide a clear date indicator for the resources placed on its Web sites. The institution must implement a content date indicator immediately below the colour strip in the footer, in the form "Date Modified: YYYY‑MM‑DD" to follow the ISO standard format for all-numeric date display that has been incorporated into the Federal Identity Program policy. "Date Modified" ("Date de modification" in French) is the most recent date on which the document was formally issued, substantially changed or reviewed.

The indicator must be aligned with the left margin of the page and must form part of the final line of content. The default font for the text is Verdana specified by a Cascading Style Sheet and the alternate font is sans serif. The text elements must be presented using a white (#FFFFFF) background colour and a foreground colour that achieves high contrast, when viewed by someone having colour deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.

All GC Web sites must use only standard 216-Web-safe colours for Web site elements, including menu bars and navigation aids, typography and background, and for simple graphic components.

The institution must ensure that there is sufficient contrast between textual elements and background colours or images when the page is viewed by someone having colour deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.

Frames must only be used on GC sites as an alternative format.

Redundant with Part 2, R1.

Web analyzer tools must be the standard means of collecting site usage data. Counters must not be used to perform this function.

The institution ensures that important Web site statistics are gathered unobtrusively by using Web analyzer tools to collect site usage data. Counters must not be used to perform this function.

All GC institutions must apply HTML validators to existing Web sites to assess accessibility status and HTML validations must be applied to new GC sites prior to posting.

The institution respects universal accessibility guidelines by employing a validation methodology to assess the accessibility, interoperability and usability of its Web sites. All sites must be tested with a variety of browser software, platforms and technologies to ensure that Web pages remain accessible and interoperable.

Validating Web pages on both existing and future sites against XHTML 1.0 Strict document type definition (DTD) or a similar format that is a recommendation of the W3C will ensure they are syntactically correct. The World Wide Web Consortium provides a validation methodology.

Testing with site visitors, current or potential, is also critical and must cover ease of use, navigation, comprehension and user satisfaction.

All GC Web sites should incorporate Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or similarly sized tables to achieve consistent presentation of content.

To ensure content will be available to site visitors regardless of the technical configuration of their system or device, the institution must establish XHTML 1.0 Strict and Cascading Style Sheets 1.0 as the baseline technologies for Web page markup, layout and design.

Common Menu Bar

To complement the use of these mandatory GC metatags,...

Refer to IMRC and TBITS.

It is useful to establish a standard marker that signifies that users have reached the end of any given Web page.

A strip of colour measuring 760 pixels wide by 15 pixels high must be the first element in the footer. The strip must be presented using a single colour in the Web-Smart colour palette and complements the design scheme of the institutional banner. Graphics must not be used in the strip.

Black text on a white background provides high contrast and utility with respect to on-screen and printed information, and provides numerous accessibility advantages.

216 Web-safe colour options
Effective Colour Contrast http://www.lighthouse.org/color_contrast.htm
Making Text Legible: http://www.lighthouse.org/print_leg.htm
Vischeck: http://www.vischeck.com/
Vischeck can show you what your image looks like to people who are colour blind, people with glaucoma or macular degeneration, elders and children.

The colour of the open space surrounding the Web page must be set at white (#FFFFFF).

All pages must be displayed in the centre of the browser window. The background colour of the 760 pixel wide page must be set as white (#FFFFFF). The institution may apply an optional coloured background using a colour in the Web Smart palette in the open space surrounding the Web page to complement its institutional colour scheme. Images must not be used for the optional background.

The default font for text elements in the content area and side menu(s) specified using a Cascading Style Sheet is Verdana. These elements must be presented with foreground and background colour combinations that achieve high contrast when viewed by someone having colour deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.

Layout and presentation

To ensure content will be available to site visitors regardless of the technical configuration of their system or device, the institution must establish XHTML 1.0 Strict and Cascading Style Sheets 1.0 as the baseline technologies for Web page markup, layout and design.