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Policy on using the Official Languages on Electronic Networks

1. Effective date

The present document contains the policy as approved on March 13, 1997.

2. Definitions

External electronic network (réseau informatique externe) - means an electronic network that does not belong to institutions subject to the Official Languages Act.

Hypertext link or hyperlink (lien hypertexte ou hyperlien) - means a word, phrase, symbol or comparable device in a text that permits access to another part of the same text or to another text.

Internal electronic network (réseau informatique interne) - means an electronic network internal to institutions subject to the Official Languages Act.

Site (site) - means the introductory page and content accessible at a location on an electronic network (e.g., an address on the World Wide Web) but does not include the hardware (e.g., a server) that provides access to them.

3. Policy objective

To set out the official languages obligations of institutions subject to the Official Languages Act when they use electronic networks to provide services to, and communicate with, the public or their employees.

4. Policy statement

It is government policy that institutions subject to the Official Languages Act comply with all applicable official languages requirements when using electronic networks to provide services to, or communicate with, the public or their employees.

5. Application

This policy applies to all federal institutions except the Senate, the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament. It also applies to other organizations when an Act or another legal instrument stipulates that the Official Languages Act or parts IV and V of the Act apply to them.

6. Policy requirements

6.1 Service to the public

6.1.1 Offices designated as bilingual

(a) When an office designated as bilingual for service to the public (see paragraph 1.1 in the Policy on Communications with the Public) posts information on its site on an external electronic network as a service to, or a communication with, the public, the information must be posted in English and French at the same time.

(b) In keeping with the principle of an active offer (see the Policy on Active Offer), the introductory page for the site, on an external electronic network, of an office designated as bilingual (e.g., a "home page" on the Internet) must have the following features:

Appendix A contains a model introductory page that meets the official languages requirements set out in this paragraph.

(c) On the introductory page, the two official languages appear as follows in the signature, greeting, and the language selection buttons: on sites used by offices located outside Quebec, the English appears on the left; on sites used by offices located in Quebec, the French appears on the left (see Appendix A).

(d) If an office designated as bilingual sets up a contract or agreement for a third party to provide communications to the public on an electronic network on its behalf, the contract or agreement must state that the information must be posted in both official languages.

(e) An office designated as bilingual may post in one official language only information that is clearly intended for an individual member of the public. If an office does this, it must state that the information is directed at a specific person and must be able to prove that it has determined the official language of the individual. If information is posted for the members of a known group of individuals, the office must likewise determine their individual official language preference and provide the information to each person in the required official language. An office designated as bilingual must ensure that it has adequate reason to post material in one language only.

(f) Offices designated as bilingual may post in one official language only material that originates with, or is made available by, organizations not subject to the Official Languages Act. When a bilingual office posts such material, it must not alter the content. (Rewriting or abridging the material, or adding text or illustrations to it, alters the content. Electronic treatment for the purpose of posting the material is not considered an alteration of the content.) The material must be preceded by a bilingual notice advising the public of the fact that it does not come from an institution subject to the Official Languages Act. Appendix C contains a model of such a notice.

6.1.2 Unilingual offices

(a) Sites of offices that are not designated as bilingual must have the following features:

(b) A unilingual office is not required to post in both official languages information that is intended for the public in the area it normally serves. A federal institution may use the site of a unilingual office to post information that, by its content and purpose, is clearly intended for the public in an area larger than the office's normal service area, or in an area that includes the service areas of designated office. In such cases, the institution must post the information in both official languages.

6.1.3 General

(a) The introductory page on an internal network must show the institutional signature in both official languages and respect the principles set out in 6.1.1(c). On both internal and external networks, if the FIP or comparable signature is used as a header on content pages, the order of the two official languages in the signature must reflect that of the official language of the content. Thus, on the site of a bilingual office, English will be on the left when the content is in English, and French will be on the left when the content is in French. If a site provides information in only one official language, that language will appear on the left.

(b) Federal institutions exempted from the FIP must respect the principles set out in 6.1.1 to 6.1.3 for their own signature and the presentation style of the two official languages on the sites that they use.

(c) If offices designated as bilingual make sites on internal electronic networks accessible to the public (e.g., through computer terminals located in a federal office or elsewhere), the user's instructions to the system and all content originating with institutions subject to the Official Languages Act that is available on these sites must be in both official languages.

6.2 Language of work

(a) An office located in a region designated as bilingual for language of work that posts information that is intended to serve as one of the following must provide the information in both official languages at the same time, whether the site used is on an internal or external network:

(b) When posting minutes of meetings and drafts of documents for consultation purposes intended for employees in a bilingual region, offices must take into account the practices exemplified in the Appendix to the Policy on Language of Work in "Bilingual" Regions. When minutes of meetings contain documents intended as work instruments, 6.2(a) also applies.

(c) Institutions subject to this policy must consider the requirements of the Policies on Language of Work in "Bilingual" Regions, Language of Work in "Unilingual" Regions, and Communications Between Regions in determining whether there are other circumstances that justify posting information in both official languages.

(d) If an office posts information (e.g., a work instrument) intended for the sole use of employees of federal institutions situated in a particular language of work region, an appropriate statement to that effect must precede the information. The information and the notice must be in both official languages if they are intended for employees working in a region that is bilingual for language of work.

(e) Federal institutions must ensure that regularly and widely used software for gaining access to material on electronic networks (e.g., software for browsers and local search engines) is available in both official languages to employees working in bilingual regions for language of work. The software's capabilities must be comparable in both official languages. In unilingual regions, this software must be available in the language of work of those regions. Employees required or entitled to use French texts must be able to view and print them with accented characters.

6.3 Other requirements

(a) Hyperlinks on a site of an office designated as bilingual for service to the public that give access to texts found on sites of other offices do not automatically create official languages obligations for the latter. However, if these hyperlinks refer to texts that are clearly intended as part of the service the bilingual office is required to provide to the public, these texts must be available in the official language of the user.

(b) If the site of an office provides a hyperlink to information intended for employees working in bilingual regions, the requirements of 6.2(a) to 6.2(c) apply where relevant.

(c) Communications provided to the public or employees of federal institutions via electronic mail, mailing lists and newsgroups are subject to the provisions of sections 6.1 to 6.3, where relevant.

(d) An office required to post information in both official languages, whether for service to the public or for language of work, must ensure that:

7. Monitoring

(a) The Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat will monitor and audit the implementation of this policy.

(b) Institutions subject to this policy will report on its implementation in their annual reports submitted to the Secretariat as part of the official languages accountability framework.

8. References

8.1 Relevant legislation

Official Languages Act, parts IV, V and VIII.

Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations.

8.2 Treasury Board Secretariat publications

Policy on Communications with the Public.

Policy on Active Offer.

Policy on Use of Media.

Policy on Language of Work in "Bilingual" Regions.

Policy on Language of work in "Unilingual" Regions.

Policy on Communications Between Regions.

Government of Canada Internet Guide, Ottawa, 1996.

9. Enquiries

Please direct enquiries to the person responsible for official languages in your institution. This person may then address policy interpretation questions to the:

Official Languages Division
Human Resources Branch
Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat

Appendix A
Models for offices designated as bilingual

Model for the introductory page of sites of offices outside Quebec designated as bilingual.

Note:

The official languages aspects of this model are mandatory.

The organizational title (HRDC) is used for illustration purposes only.

The message "Manitoba Regional Office" does not necessarily refer to a specific office.

Model for the introductory page of sites of offices in Quebec designated as bilingual.

Note:

The official languages aspects of this model are mandatory.

The organizational title (HRDC) is used for illustration purposes only.

The message "Quebec Regional Office" does not necessarily refer to a specific office.

Appendix B
Models for unilingual offices

Model for the introductory page of sites of offices outside Quebec designated as unilingual.

Note:

The official languages aspects of this model are mandatory.

The organizational title (HRDC) is used for illustration purposes only.

The message "Human Resource Centre" does not necessarily refer to a specific office.

Model for the introductory page of sites of offices in Quebec designated as unilingual.

Note:

The official languages aspects of this model are mandatory.

The organizational title (HRDC) is used for illustration purposes only.

The message "Centre des ressources humaines" does not necessarily refer to a specific office.

Appendix C
Model message

Model message for use by offices designated as bilingual posting unilingual text from organizations not subject to the Official Languages Act (see paragraph 6.1.1(f)):

"The following material originates with an organization not subject to the Official Languages Act and is available on this site in the language in which it was written."

«Le texte suivant provient d'un organisme qui n'est pas assujetti à la Loi sur les langues officielles et il est mis à la disposition du public dans la langue d'origine.»

If the notice needs to be used in the English version of a bilingual site for a French-only text, the English notice must appear first, or be to the left of, the French notice; the opposite order applies if the notice needs to be used in the French version of the site for an English-only text.

 

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