Useful Tools & Information

Writing resources

The Canadian Style

“The Canadian Style gives concise answers to questions concerning written English in the Canadian context”—and it’s easier to use it online than to go find your old dog-eared copy. TCS is part of Terminuim, the Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic bank, which includes a listing of other hand language tools (Frech and English reources).
http://www.termium.com/tpv2guides/guides/tcdnstyl/index-eng.html?lang=eng

Plain Language Network

While rules and formulas won’t necessarily make bad writing good, it’s a good idea to review some of the better guidelines every so often. William D. Lutz’s Rules for Writing Plain English – How You Can Write Plain Language by Just Following These 39 Steps is a good starting point for anyone who wants to write clearly. The site also has online tutorials for those who want to take it further.
http://www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/Resources/

Content Providers Guide: Writing for the Web

The European Commission has an EU Internet Handbook that includes a section on writing for the Web. It covers the basic principles of Web writing, addresses structure and presentation, and includes a checklist and links to additional resources. And it asks the content creator all the right questions, right at the top. An excellent and concise guide to Web writing.
http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/content/tips/index_en.htm

The UVic Writers Guide

Many universities have similar guides to help students develop good writing habits. This one has been around for a while and is showing its age in terms of design, but it can’t be beat for comprehensive content. (Please send a message if you know a better one.) The Dictionary of Usage corrects a number of common errors.
http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/

Web / software resources

W3C

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. Essential reading to keep up with evolving standards and an indispensable tools for technical reference, site validation and optimizing accessibility.
http://www.w3.org/

Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird

The Mozilla project is described as “a global community of people who believe that openness, innovation, and opportunity are key to the continued health of the Internet. Since 1998, we’ve worked to ensure that the Internet is developed in a way that benefits everyone.” Firefox has been gaining share in the Web browser market for a while and the new version of Thunderbird offers a feature-rich e-mail management environment (and migrating is easy).
http://www.mozilla.com/

OpenOffice Suite

OpenOffice.org is a product and an open-source project. Its mission is to create the leading international office suite. Is it there yet? We’re not ready to uninstall our commercial software because we need it to ensure compatibility with our clients and comply with contract conditions—but we’re using the OpenOffice alternatives more and more. Full install on a new PC in 10 minutes. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board switched to OpenOffice last year to take advantage of the cost savings.
http://www.openoffice.org/

Web Album Generator / Araneae

Montreal’s Orangeline Interactive Incorporated has a nice set of donation-ware programs. We’ve used the Web Album Generator to create our album pages. It’s simple to use, easy to customize, and saves hours and hours of time, compared to coding with a text editor. Speaking of, their Araneae text editor is also simple and efficient, for those who like to get their hands in the code.
http://www.ornj.net

Gizmo’s freeware reviews

Gizmo’s Freeware is a non-commercial community Web site staffed entirely by volunteers. The recommended freeware programs are selected by independent editors for their quality and performance. While we’re not recommending that you replace your commercially licensed software, Gizmo’s is a really handy resource for checking out other products and solving the occasional specific problem. Some of the free programs are very elegant and extremely stable.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/

Online Privacy 

Here are two excellent Canadian resources for children and youth (and their parents).

YouthPrivacy.ca

myprivacy.mychoice.mylife – The focus of this Web site is to help young people understand how technology affects their privacy, and what they can do to build secure online profiles while keeping their information safe. Developed by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
http://www.youthprivacy.ca/

Media Awareness Network

Resources and support for everyone interested in media literacy and digital literacy for young people.
http://www.media-awareness.ca/

The Be Web Aware initiative includes a comprehensive Web site, developed by Media Awareness Network, that is full of information and tools to help parents teach their children to handle the potential risks associated with going online.
http://www.bewebaware.ca/