Guidelines on Making Communications Products and Activities Accessible
1. About these guidelines
- 1.1These guidelines support the Government of Canada’s direction to ensure that departments consider accessibility when planning and developing communications products and activities. A communications product is any product produced by or on behalf of the Government of Canada that informs the public about policies, programs, services and initiatives, as well as dangers or risks to health, safety or the environment. Communications products can also aim to explain the rights, entitlements and obligations of individuals.
2. Application
- 2.1These guidelines are intended for all Government of Canada departments subject to the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity.
3. Context
- 3.1The Accessible Canada Act aims to make Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040, by identifying, removing and preventing barriers in federal jurisdictions. To respond to the Act, the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada was launched in 2019.
- 3.2These guidelines support requirements for accessible communications found in the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity and the Directive on the Management of Communications.
- 3.3These guidelines apply to communications products and activities aimed at internal and external audiences.
- 3.4These guidelines should be read in conjunction with the Guideline on Making Information Technology Usable by All and the Canada.ca Content Style Guide.
4. Guidelines
The following information is intended to help departments when creating accessible communications products and activities.
Planning
Departments are strongly encouraged to:
- 4.1Ensure processes are in place to make communications products available in various accessible formats; and
- 4.2Ensure visual representation of Canada’s diverse society by including images of persons with disabilities in everyday situations, fulfilling various roles.
Designing and developing
Departments are strongly encouraged to:
- 4.3
Write for the widest audience in plain language by:
- 4.3.1Using simple and common words;
- 4.3.2Using short and simple sentences and paragraphs;
- 4.3.3Using the active voice;
- 4.3.4Putting statements in a positive form;
- 4.3.5Avoiding jargon, idioms and expressions;
- 4.3.6Using descriptive links;
- 4.4Consider translating the summary of communications products into American Sign Language (ASL) and langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) (for example, executive summary of a departmental plan);
- 4.5
Use clear and consistent layouts by:
- 4.5.1Using fonts and font sizes that are easy to read;
- 4.5.2Using colours that provide high contrast between the text and the background;
- 4.5.3Using titles and headings that describe the topic or purpose;
- 4.5.4Starting with the most important information;
- 4.5.5Avoiding the use of emojis instead of text;
- 4.5.6Using short, bulleted lists when possible;
- 4.5.7Using tables to organize complex data;
- 4.5.8Using more than colour when conveying information visually, for example, using patterns for different areas in charts and graphs;
- 4.5.9Limiting flashing elements in visual products and ensuring that products do not have anything that flashes more than three times in one second;
- 4.5.10Capitalizing each word in a hashtag;
- 4.6
Build in accessibility features for audio and visuals products by:
- 4.6.1Writing alternative text (alt text) for informative visuals;
- 4.6.2Including null alternative text (alt text) for decorative visuals;
- 4.6.3Writing long descriptions for complex visuals when the information is not fully captured in the surrounding text;
- 4.6.4Providing audio descriptions or text descriptions for videos when important visual information is not fully captured as part of the audio;
- 4.6.5Including closed captions when posting videos to websites and social media, and open captions when closed captions are not an option; and
- 4.6.6Writing transcripts of audio and video products.
Testing
Departments are strongly encouraged to:
- 4.7Consult with accessibility subject-matter experts to have users with lived experience test content and provide feedback on best practices; and
- 4.8Use automated tools to analyze accessibility features.
Implementing
Departments are strongly encouraged to:
- 4.9Inform audiences that alternative formats are available; and
- 4.10Consider using a real-time speech-to-text interpreting service such as communications access real-time translation (CART) for events about government policies, programs, services and initiatives.
5. References
- 5.1
External standards and specifications
- 5.2
Legislation
- 5.3
Related policy instruments
- Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector
- Policy on Communications and Federal Identity
- Policy on Access to Information
- Policy on Official Languages
- Policy on Service and Digital
- Directive on the Management of Communications
- Standard on Web Accessibility
- Government of Canada Digital Standards
- Guideline on Making Information Technology Usable by All
- 5.4
Government of Canada resources
- Nothing Without Us: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada
- Canada.ca Content Style Guide
- Office of Public Service Accessibility GCpedia page (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)
- Digital Accessibility Toolkit
6. Enquiries
For questions, contact Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Public Enquiries.
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the President of the Treasury Board, 2022,
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