CLF for the Internet - Important Notices

Guideline 5.1

Guidelines are not mandatory with respect to this policy but are provided to help institutions carry out government policy efficiently and effectively.

Rationale

Institutions that choose to host or make links to externally sourced information on their Web sites may want to protect themselves from liabilities associated with the accuracy or reliability of such information.

However, institutions are cautioned against the overuse of disclaimers as they have the tendency to discredit the product and the information source.

Best Practices

If a disclaimer is used it must be directly attached to the externally sourced information and must describe the information to which the disclaimer applies.

The following are examples of disclaimers:

• Third party information hosted on the institutional Web site
  This information has been provided by an external source. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy, the currency and the reliability of the content, [name of department] does not offer any guaranty in that regard.

• For links to other Web sites not under the control of the institution
  This link is provided solely for the convenience of [department] Web site users. [Department] is not responsible for the information found through this link.

Guideline 5.2

Guidelines are not mandatory with respect to this policy but are provided to help institutions carry out government policy efficiently and effectively.

Rationale

All works of substantive originality are covered by copyright protection, regardless of whether or not the Crown copyright symbol is applied © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Year. Application of Crown copyright is most often intended as an assertion of ownership, rather than as a blanket prohibition on the reproduction or use of the materials. The use of the copyright tag is primarily an exercise in branding, thereby ensuring credit for the author institution. However, Web sites typically contain some examples of information that cannot sustain Crown copyright because they lack sufficient originality (i.e. databases,) or were produced jointly with organizations outside the GoC and are therefore subject to third-party copyright. In addition, much information remains useful to the public long after its original copyright has expired. For all of these reasons, it may be inappropriate to assert Crown copyright vis-à-vis individual GoC sites in their entirety.

If there is no legal basis or practical reason to affix Crown copyright legends with respect to GoC Web sites per se, the practice should be discouraged. That being said, it leaves the discretion to the individual institution to apply Crown copyright notices on elements of GoC Web sites that are capable of sustaining it.

Best Practices

The copyright-tagging practices have been updated and made more consistent with the hallmarks of the Federal Identity Program. Rather than identifying Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as the copyright holder, the guideline suggests clear identification of the actual information provider, by naming of the institution in the copyright tag - © Department / Agency X, date or © Government of Canada, date.

Guideline 5.3

Guidelines are not mandatory with respect to this policy but are provided to help institutions carry out government policy efficiently and effectively.

Rationale

While the vast majority of notices and disclaimers required on GoC Web sites serve to help users understand the roles, responsibilities and legal obligations of information providers and GoC Internet site users, the Exit Notice is distinct both in purpose and in placement. Unlike the elements included in the Important Notices hyperlink at the end of each GoC Web page, the Exit Notice should be an automatically generated message that pops up on the screen when users have chosen a link that takes them beyond the realm the gc.ca domain. The purpose of the Exit Notice is to clearly establish the boundaries at which GoC roles, responsibilities and legal obligations cease to apply. The Exit Notice will also minimize confusion resulting from inconsistencies that become evident when users transfer from GoC sites to privately developed sites.

Interpretation

There is no mandatory CLF Standard for Exit Notices to appear on GoC Internet Web sites. One of the underlying principles behind introducing a common look and feel for all GoC Internet sites is to provide our clients with a more unified visual and navigational approach that promotes immediate visual recognition of GoC information on our Web sites. Therefore, the use of Exit Notices may become somewhat redundant in that it should be obvious to users when they are leaving and/or no longer on a GoC Web site.

In general, departments may wish to use an Exit Notice to reinforce the fact that the user is leaving a GoC site. This could be to emphasize that GoC standards such as those related to Official Languages and Accessibility will not apply, or it could be to emphasize that the site definitely does not carry any GoC endorsement. However, these situations may not always be the case and it is left to the discretion of the institution under what circumstances and situations to use the Exit Notice.

Best Practices

The following is an example of an exit notice that could be used.

a) You are now leaving the (Title of the Institution) of Web site. Please be advised that the legislation and policy governing Government of Canada Web sites, including official language requirements do not apply beyond this point.