Standard on Web Accessibility

Ensures the uniform application of a high level of web accessibility across Government of Canada websites and web applications.
Date modified: 2011-08-01

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Glossary

activity (activité)
Is the work that is done to achieve an output, such as a product or service. It is a component of a program and may include several levels of activity (i.e., activity, subactivity and sub-subactivity) at the level of detail needed to manage a program and its services successfully.
applications (applications)
Are a subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly for a task that the user wishes to perform.
archived Web page (page Web archivée)

A Web page that is:

  • maintained for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes;
  • not altered or updated after the date of archiving; and
  • stored in a digital repository.

An archived Web page may be provided on the web, but must be clearly identified as being archived.

assets (biens)
Are tangible and intangible items of value that have a life span beyond one year, whether they are Crown-owned, leased or accessed through other arrangements.
chief information officer council (cioc) (conseil des dirigeants principaux de l'information (cdpi))
Refers to the forum for the departmental CIO or his or her equivalent to participate in shared decision making by recommending government-wide information technology options to the Chief Information Officer of Canada. This forum also ensures that departments collectively support decisions made by the CIOC. Details on its operations can be found in the CIOC's Terms of Reference.
client (client)
Is the intended recipient of a service. Clients may be external to the federal government (e.g., citizens, businesses, non-Canadians and non-profit organizations) or internal to government (e.g., departments).
cobit (cobit)
Stands for “Control Objectives for Information and related Technology” and represents a set of best practices that provide guidance for the management of IT processes. (Source: IT Governance Institute)
common service (service commun)
Is a service provided by a common service organization.
common service organization (organisme de service commun)
Refers to a department or organization designated as a central supplier of particular services that support the requirements of departments. Common service organizations are listed in Appendix B of the Common Services Policy.
conforming alternate version (version de remplacement conforme)

It is a version that:

  1. conforms at the designated level, and
  2. provides all of the same information and functionality in the same human language, and
  3. is as up to date as the non-conforming content, and
  4. for which at least one of the following is true:
    1. the conforming version can be reached from the non-conforming page via an accessibility-supported mechanism, or
    2. the non-conforming version can only be reached from the conforming version, or
    3. the non-conforming version can only be reached from a conforming page that also provides a mechanism to reach the conforming version

For further information and examples please consult the definition of conforming alternate version on the W3C Website

content (Web content) (contenu Web)

Information and sensory experience to be communicated to the user by means of a user agent, including code or markup that defines the content's structure, presentation, and interactions (Source: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Appendix A: Glossary.)

departments (ministères)
Has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act and includes all departments, agencies, branches and departmental corporations listed in Schedules I, I.1 and II of the Act.
Government of Canada Websites and Web applications (sites Web et applications Web du gouvernement du Canada)

Websites and Web applications for which the Government of Canada is accountable.

information technology (technologies de l'information)
Involves both technology infrastructure and IT applications. Technology infrastructure includes any equipment or system that is used in the automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission or reception of data or information. IT applications include all matters concerned with the design, development, installation and implementation of information systems and applications to meet business requirements.
interoperability (interopérabilité)
Refers to the ability of departments to operate in synergy through consistent IT management policies, practices, processes and technologies.
investment (investissement)
Is the use of resources with the expectation of a future return, such as an increase in output, income or assets or the acquisition of knowledge or capacity.
it decision making (prise de décisions en matière de ti)
Refers to the process and actions involved in making decisions on IT management.
it services (services de ti)
Are services that clients and end user recipients understand as IT service provider outputs. Services may be delivered by providers through one or more internal activities.
itil (itil)
Stands for “Information Technology Infrastructure Library” and represents a set of best practices that guide IT service management. (Source: ITIL)
management of information technology (gestion des technologies de l'information)
Is planning, acquiring, building, implementing and operating IT assets, systems or services, measuring their performance and arranging their disposal.
process (processus)

Series of user actions where each action is required in order to complete an activity.

For further information and examples please consult the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Appendix A: Glossary

relied upon (technologies that are) (dépendre [des technologies])

The content would not conform if that technology is turned off or is not supported. (Source: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Appendix A: Glossary)

service (service)
Refers to a means, administered by a program, of producing a final valued output that addresses one or more target group needs.
service catalogue (catalogue de services)
Is a database or structured document for users that is published by a service provider and includes a full description of individual IT services or, at a minimum, information on cost, quality and service levels. The service catalogue may also include service request processes and contact points.
service costing (établissement du coût des services)
Refers to cost estimating that assists senior management in making decisions on services. (See the TBS Guide to Costing)
shared service (service partagé)
Is a service that is shared by more than one client.
stakeholder (intervenant)
Is an entity that may be internal or external to the federal government, such as a citizen, business, service provider, service consumer, partner or employee, and has an interest in an IT service, project or organization or their related activities, resources or deliverables.
success criteria (critères de succès)

For each guideline, testable success criteria are provided to allow WCAG 2.0 to be used where requirements and conformance testing are necessary such as in design specification, purchasing, regulation, and contractual agreements. Additional information on WCAG levels can be found in Understanding Levels of Conformance and WCAG 2.0 Layers of Guidance.

sufficient and advisory techniques (techniques suffisantes et techniques recommandées)

For each of the guidelines and success criteria in the WCAG 2.0 document itself, the working group has also documented a wide variety of techniques. The techniques are informative and fall into two categories: those that are sufficient for meeting the success criteria and those that are advisory. The advisory techniques go beyond what is required by the individual success criteria and allow authors to better address the guidelines. Some advisory techniques address accessibility barriers that are not covered by the testable success criteria. Where common failures are known, these are also documented. See also Sufficient and Advisory Techniques in Understanding WCAG 2.0. (Source: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, WCAG 2.0 Layers of Guidance.)

technology (Web content) (technologie Web)

Mechanism for encoding instructions to be rendered, played or executed by user agents

Note 1: As used in these guidelines "Web Technology" and the word "technology" (when used alone) both refer to Web Content Technologies.

Note 2: Web content technologies may include markup languages, data formats, or programming languages that authors may use alone or in combination to create end-user experiences that range from static Web pages to synchronized media presentations to dynamic Web applications.

Example: Some common examples of Web content technologies include HTML , CSS, SVG, PNG, PDF, Flash, and JavaScript.

(Source: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Appendix A: Glossary.)

video content provided exclusively for reuse by media for broadcast purposes (contenu vidéo fourni exclusivement pour être réutilisé et diffusé par les médias)

Video content provided exclusively for reuse by media for broadcast purposes (e.g. B-roll, etc)

The video content must be clearly identified as being provided exclusively for reuse by media for broadcast purposes.

Web page (page Web)

A non-embedded resource obtained from a single Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) using HTTP plus any other resources that are used in the rendering or intended to be rendered together with it by a user agent

Note 1: Although any "other resources" would be rendered together with the primary resource, they would not necessarily be rendered simultaneously with each other.

Note 2: For the purposes of conformance with these guidelines, a resource must be "non-embedded" within the scope of conformance to be considered a Web page.

For further information and examples please consult: Web page, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Appendix A: Glossary

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