Update history for the Canada.ca Content Style Guide: Canada.ca design

We updated the subsection Titles, headings and subheadings to clarify that punctuation should not be added at the end of table captions and headers. This is already noted in the French guidance.

We also updated section 4.6 Numbers to provide guidance on when to spell out numbers versus using digits, and included specific examples.

Related to this, we updated the subsection Hyphens and dashes to allow for the use of en dashes in a span of fiscal or calendar years in English. We consulted with the Accessibility, Accommodation and Adaptive Computer Technology (AAACT) program for this update. They tested all uses of hyphens and dashes with numbers using various screen readers. We also added a new subsection for hyphens and dashes (traits d'union et tirets) in French.

We updated section 2.0 Communicate clearly with plain language to better align with the plain language standard developed through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This update was done in collaboration with plain language experts and communications professionals from across the Government of Canada.

As of January 2024, The Canadian Style and Le guide du rédacteur were archived, with their content integrated into Writing Tips Plus and the Clés de la rédaction. We updated references and links in the following sections:

• purpose section: removed references to The Canadian Style and replaced with Writing Tips Plus
• section 4.2 Underlining, bold and italics: replaced links to archived content with links to current articles
• resources section

We updated the inverted pyramid image in section 2.1 Start with the most important information. We removed most of the words from the image and worked it into the page content to make the section easier to read.

In section 4.4 Abbreviations and acronyms added quick reference links to help users find information related to abbreviations. This includes:

• update to specify that abbreviations should be accompanied by their long form the first time they're used on a page
• new subsection Styles of address, which includes:
  • how to abbreviate, punctuate and format titles, degrees and distinctions with personal names (for example, PhD, Ph.D. Dr.)
  • styles of address and honorific titles

We added a subsection Use parentheses for contextual information under section 7.2 Write descriptive links to clarify how and when to add additional information inside hyperlinks. This new section integrates the content from section 7.4, which is no longer necessary.

We added a separate page for the update history for the Canada.ca Content Style Guide.

We made the following updates:

• improved the Figure 5 functional image example in the Functional images section
• updated the example in the Decorative images section and added information about using null alt text
• improved the simple table examples in section 5.3 Use tables to organize data
• updated the text under Use of the style guide to highlight that the Directive on the Management of Communications is the official source for who must use this guide
• updated the text under the heading Writing for inclusivity to reflect the new inclusive writing guidelines and resources
• added an example for when to capitalize public service under 4.1 Capitalization and punctuation

We added "Writing for inclusivity" to the Writing principles for web content section.