Province of Manitoba
Website Development Standards
| July 2005 | Version 2.0.16 |
About These Standards
Manitoba government's Website Development Standards communicates the standards and guidelines for website development for provincial departments and agencies.
This document supports the Co-ordinated Services Unit's (CSU) work in co-ordinating the standardization of information and technology within the Manitoba government.
These standards were prepared to:
- help web developers design websites that meet the needs of our users within an accepted, uniform framework
- provide clear roles and governance in the area of website development
- help individuals responsible for varying levels of creation and maintenance of their websites
- help staff and support staff of CSM, MICT and the departments in understanding their responsibilities for website development and use
- educate staff/third-party vendors, who build web content aimed at the public and that will be hosted on Manitoba government servers, on the acceptable criteria for website development
Terms to know
| CHT | Culture, Heritage and Tourism |
| CSC | Co-ordinated Services Committee |
| CSM | Communications Services Manitoba |
| CSU | Co-ordinated Services Unit |
| EST | Energy, Science and Technology |
| MICT | Manitoba Information and Communications Technologies |
| W3C | World Wide Web Consortium |
| Web | World Wide Web |
| WWW | World Wide Web |
Introduction
The Manitoba government relies heavily on its website (www.gov.mb.ca also referred to as www.manitoba.ca) to deliver information and services to Manitobans, Canadians and people around the world. Each month, the website receives millions of visits from people looking to move to Manitoba, start a business or find employment, learn more about our agricultural sector or get information on highway conditions.
Internet use continues to grow in Manitoba and worldwide because it is easy, relatively inexpensive and provides 24/7 access to information.
Developing and maintaining a professional, informative, current and accessible website requires the co-operation of teams of dedicated individuals. Under the direction of CSU, web developers and publishers within departments are responsible for site content, MICT manages the technical environment and CSM oversees the copy and design elements, ensuring all content presents a strong corporate identity, flows naturally, is user-friendly and helps strengthen the individual and overall messages of the government. The website requires ongoing co-operation from all three areas to effectively meet growing public expectations.
The government of Manitoba has established the following standards for a variety of reasons, including:
- presenting important information distribution channels
- sharing and exchanging best practices
- maintaining awareness of developments in service delivery, universal accessibility, provincial issues and new procedures
Principles
- Content must be clear, accurate, current, responsive and consistent with government strategies, policies and priorities.
- Government of Manitoba websites are subject to legislation that includes The Public Printing Act, The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and The Personal Health Information Act, policies such as The French Language Services Policy, and corporate documents like the Manitoba Enterprise Architecture's ICT Standards.
- The Manitoba government website is part of public information and communication strategy.
- The website provides valuable information and services to citizens.
- These standards form part of the province of Manitoba Internet Policy.
Copyright
- All content on the website created by the Manitoba government, whether done so by departments, boards, commissions or agencies of the government, is the property of the Province of Manitoba and protected by Crown copyright.
- Content belonging to the government of Manitoba includes content created by government employees and by third parties on behalf of government. When third parties (ex: writers, designers, photographers, programmers) create the content on behalf of government, the province must ensure these individuals or organizations waive their copyrights to the material.
- Departmental websites that may include content copyrighted by another party, must get written permission to do so from the copyright holder. Failure to get permission is a violation of the federal Copyright Act. For help or clarification in obtaining proper copyright permission from a copyright holder, contact Manitoba Justice, Civil Legal Services.
Objectives
The objectives of this document are:
- to facilitate co-ordinated public communications by the Manitoba government
- to ensure that information on the website is clear and understandable
- to ensure the consistent use of visual identity guidelines, graphic elements and navigation standards throughout the website
- to maintain an attractive and functional Internet presence for the government of Manitoba
- to ensure content is sensitive to cultural issues, respects human rights and is consistent with the goals of the government
- to enhance the integrity and promote the popularity of the government website
Areas of Responsibility
- Manitoba Information and Communications Technologies (MICT) is mandated to support the province's strategic vision and direction for the use of ICT in government. MICT is responsible for developing and implementing the ICT Standards ensuring efficient use of technical resources and online security.
- Communications Services Manitoba (CSM) is the centralized communications agency for the provincial government, which gives the division the right of approval on all public communications activities, including the Internet. The division may advise departments to revise or remove any content which might be considered objectionable.
- Manitoba government departments are responsible for ensuring that the content on their websites is current and accurate, and complies with website standards.
- It is the responsibility of each department/division/branch to translate, maintain and update their French Pages within the site.
- For ease of navigation, French pages should be linked to the equivalent English page and vice versa. The French site should be comparable in content and appearance to the English site.
Website Standards
All departments, divisions and branches of the government of Manitoba must comply with the government's Website Development Standards and ICT Standards.
- Any websites operating at arms length from government, or jointly with an outside agency, are not required to follow the standards. Prior to implementation, all sites should consult with CSM to see if they fall into this category. Organizations with links to the Manitoba government should clearly identify their relationship to the Manitoba government on their home pages.
- Crown corporations can choose to use these standards, but if using templates, they must use them in their entirety.
- Government Internet services and servers are to be used only for government purposes. Publicly accessible Internet pages will not link directly to personal websites of employees and other people.
- Departments are responsible for checking all pages on the development server before requesting files to be uploaded to the live server. This includes spelling and grammar.
- Outside vendor names or links to vendor websites should not appear on any webpages.
- MICT must be involved in the process to provide online access to databases and/or applications.
Guidelines
The following subjects must be considered when developing a website.
Accessibility, Usability and Access Keys (keyboard commands)
For the purposes of this document, accessibility means that all webpages created must be accessible to users in spite of limitations due to physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities, work constraints or technological barriers. For more information, see www.W3C.org. The government of Manitoba has committed to providing information and services in a form that all Internet users can access. All Manitoba government websites will be accessible to people with disabilities by following W3C priority 1 and 2 standards, where technologies allow. For more information on accessibility in Manitoba, see the Accessibility, Usability and Access Key Guidelines.
Manitoba templates include the following access keys:
- Access key 1 - header navigation
- Access key 2 - side bar navigation
- Access key 3 - main body navigation
For additional information, review the Accessibility, Usability and Access Key Guidelines.
Refer to ICT Standards or contact Manweb at Webmaster@gov.mb.ca prior to developing applications for Internet sites.
Webpages published on the Internet must be able to be viewed using common external browsers, as indicated in the ICT Standards. To assist viewers, best-viewed specifications can be added to websites.
Date/Time (excluding metadata)
Only time-sensitive information should have date of posting and time displayed on the page. Due diligence is required to ensure that sites are reviewed and updated in a timely manner.
Department Template and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
The detailed information required to work with the department template can be referenced in the Department Template Guidelines. All Manitoba government templates must incorporate the government style sheets. The Manitoba government style sheets follow W3C CSS standards. For more information, see Department Template Guidelines.
To ensure e-mail is answered in a timely manner, a shared generic e-mail address is suggested. A postal address and toll free telephone number (if available) are optional.
Refer to the Electronic Forms Design Guideline for information.
Websites stored on government central servers are required to follow a set directory and file structure. Refer to File and Directory Structure Guidelines for information.
French Language Services Policy
Websites must adhere to policies outlined by French Language Services Guidelines Manual, specifically The Public Information Materials (Guideline15). See the French Language Services Policy at http://www.gov.mb.ca/fls-slf/03flspolicy.html
Please refer to the French Language Services Guidelines for additional information. Content providers should consult with their departmental FLS co-ordinator to determine the appropriateness of information to be translated. Corporate information will be translated where deemed appropriate by CSM and departmental FLS co-ordinators. If a department chooses to print a document in both French and English, it must also post both versions on their website.
Refer to the ICT Standards document for web development software.
CSM will determine where individual department signatures or visual identities can be used. For appropriateness of images and ownership information, check the government of Manitoba's Visual Identity Guidelines or contact CSM at webeditor@gov.mb.ca. Additional information is available in the Image Guidelines.
Incomplete or 'Under Construction' Pages
Do not use incomplete or 'under construction' pages. Any incomplete sites should be left on the development server until they are ready to go live. Links to sections of a live site not yet available should be removed from the site until the pages are ready.
When linking to websites outside the government of Manitoba domain, the Linking Guidelines should be referenced to ensure one of the acceptable options is in place.
Metadata is structured data or specific descriptors that describe the content of a webpage to simplify searches of electronic information. Manitoba's Internet metadata standard is based on the Government of Canada's Metadata Framework and MICT is presently reviewing the Province of Ontario's metadata standards for implementation. For additional information, refer to the Metadata Guidelines.
Multimedia refers to information presented in more than one format. This includes text, audio, video, graphics and images. Please consult the ICT Standards for acceptable multimedia formats. Refer to the Accessibility, Usability and Access Key Guidelines for additional information on multimedia formats.
Refer to the Operating a Website Guidelines for information on accessing government servers or setting up development accounts. For further assistance, contact Manweb at webmaster@gov.mb.ca.
Ultimate responsibility for site content belongs to departments. CSM is authorized to ensure that Manitoba government websites exhibit professional design and understandable, appropriate content. Tools to help staff achieve high-quality standards for their websites are available in the Quality Assurance Guidelines.
Any website within the www.gov.mb.ca domain will be automatically indexed. Sites outside the government domain must be added manually. Requests for this can be made by contacting webmaster@gov.mb.ca. Refer to the Search Guidelines for more information.
Refer to the Information Protection Centre for additional information on security.
Refer to the Submit and HTML Forms Guidelines for information.
Departments and Translation Services will co-ordinate the translation of website material into other languages. Translation Services will have the access and authority to approve all French content before it is posted on the website.
