Overview
When your website is ready for publication, you must submit a Request to Go Live for review by the Web Governance Committee. This ensures your site meets ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ web standards for quality, accessibility, branding, and technical compliance before launch.
Before you submit
Before requesting go-live, ensure your site is complete and ready for review:
- content has been reviewed and approved by all required stakeholders
- site follows ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ web standards and guidelines, including compliance with branding, AODA, privacy, and security requirements
- site is compliant with quality and accessibility considerations outlined the Launch Checklist
- the Siteimprove report for your account has been reviewed and identified errors corrected
- You have identified a preferred URL
- Content is free of broken links
- Content is optimized for web reading:
- Content is left-aligned and follows an F-pattern layout.
- The homepage clearly explains the site's purpose and includes a strong value proposition.
- Sentences and paragraphs are concise
- Key information appears near the top of each page
- Lists and tables are used effectively
- Acronyms and initialisms are defined on first use on every page
- Content adheres to ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ writing style
- Content is free of spelling and grammar errors
- Issues identified by the on-page Sa11y accessibility tool have been resolved
- Issues identified in Siteimprove accessibility report have been resolved
Overall compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements and applicable legislated accessibility standards, including:
- Use of proper semantic HTML, including a logical heading structure
- Meaningful alt text provided for all informative images
- Accessibility of all linked PDF documents
- Information not conveyed by colour alone
- WCAG-compliant colour contrast
- Minimal use of all caps; when used, capitalization is applied through the CSS text-transform property
- Web-optimized images
- Descriptive image captions, where applicable
- Captions and/or transcripts provided for video and audio content
- Descriptive link text, unique to the page
- Tables built with proper semantic HTML and used only for tabular data
- Logical site structure
- Clear and descriptive navigation labels
- Sort, concise URLs with no repeated words
- Properly nested URLs that reflect the site structure
- Mobile-friendly, responsive page layouts
- Images optimized and appropriately cropped for responsive viewing
- Clearly labelled form fields
- Site-specific footer content
- HTML is free of proprietary code
- Design adheres to brand/visual identity standards
- Pprivacy and security requirements are followed
- Content and metadata are optimized for search engines
- Copyright and permission are secured for all multimedia content
Governance review process
Once your request is submitted, the following process takes place:
- The Web Governance Committee reviews your site
- Feedback is provided within 2–3 weeks
- You complete any required revisions
- The Committee reviews revisions if needed
- Final approval is granted
The review timeline may vary depending on:
- Site size
- Site complexity
- Volume of required revisions
Site launch
Once your site is approved and a URL is confirmed (if applicable), your site will be scheduled for launch.
You will be notified when the site is live.
URL review and approval
If you have requested a website URL, it will be reviewed during the governance process.
URL approval is based on:
- ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ domain naming policies
- Consistency with the existing ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ web structure
- Clarity, usability, and best practices
Final URL decisions are made by Web Governance to ensure consistency across ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ web environments.
After your site launches
After launch, you are responsible for ongoing site monitoring and maintenance.
Monitor site performance and quality
- Use to identify accessibility and quality issues
- Use Google Analytics to review traffic and user behaviour
Maintain site information
- Ensure content remains accurate and up to date
- Update pages as needed following ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´ web standards
Administrative requirements
- Submit your site’s contact information to the