CLF for the Internet - Navigation and Format
All Government of Canada Web pages must have a date indicator to inform visitors of the currency of the content and signal that the end of that page has been reached. All currency
indicators must use the ISO standard format for all-numeric date display (YYYY-MM-DD) and use at least one of the following date labels: "Date published:", "Date modified:", or "Last
updated:".
Version Histories
Rationale
The date indicator informs the users of the date of the original posting (issuance
or publication) to the Web site or the date of last update (modification) of the
resource. Because of its positioning at the bottom of the page, the date
indicator can also signal to the users that they have reached the end of that page.
As GoC sites are increasingly used to obtain valid, accurate and up-to-date
information for personal and professional use, it is vitally important that GoC
institutions provide clear date indicators for the resources placed on their Web
sites.
Including a currency indicator is recognized as an industry best practice that
users have come to expect, and use of the ISO standard (YYYY-MM-DD) will enhance
conformity among GoC sites.
Interpretation
The standard provides for two kinds of dates: "Date published" and
"Date modified". The dates must be represented in the ISO all-numeric date
standard YYYY-MM-DD. The two dates are defined as follows:
"Date published" is the date of formal issuance (i.e., posting to the Web site) of
the resource.
"Date modified" is the most recent date on which the document was substantially changed
and re-posted to the Web site. "Last updated" is alternative wording. Use of "Date modified"
is preferred.
Either 'Date published' or 'Date modified' must be used, as applicable in
accordance with the definitions above.
These definitions are consistent with the Common Look and Feel Metadata
Standard Definitions and HTML Examples used in Standard 6.3. Encoding for the date
value is defined in a profile of ISO 8601
[W3CDTF] and follows the YYYY-MM-DD format.
It is useful to establish a standard marker that signifies users have reached the
end of any given Web page.
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Standard 6.4