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

This list contains all changes made to the Canada.ca Content Style Guide since May 25, 2023.

August 6, 2024

We have 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’ve 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 updated

in section 2.1 Start with the most important information, we've updated the inverted pyramid image. 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
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 :

how to abbreviate, punctuate and format titles, degrees and distinctions with personal names (eg. PhD, Ph.D. Dr.).
styles of address and honorific titles

Under section 7.2 Write descriptive links, added a subsection Use parentheses for contextual information 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.

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

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

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