Help

Our Web site provides you with different ways to find information about the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada. This page provides navigational information allowing you to quickly locate the pages and documents that you are looking for.

If you need assistance to locate information or use features on our site, please try one of the links below.

• Accessibility
  • Increasing text size
  • Client-side CSS for enhancing accessibility
• PDF files
• Navigational Help
• Printing Pages
• Contact Us

Accessibility

Web Accessibility

This Web site is designed in accordance with the Government of Canada's Common Look and Feel 2.0 accessibility standard, which complies with W3C Accessibility Initiative (priority 1 and 2 checkpoints of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).

While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accessibility of this site, some content or services found here might be inaccessible to some visitors. In those circumstances, the contact information for someone who can assist you has been provided.

Accessibility Features

In order to make this site more accessible, the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada has employed templates which:

• are XHTML 1.0 Strict conformant, to improve compatibility with adaptive technologies, handheld devices, browsers and search engines;
• have been successfully tested on a wide range of adaptive technologies and browser/platform combinations to ensure that Canadians can access Web pages regardless of the technology used;
• include major components, such as the common menu bar, side menu, and content area that are properly marked up with headings to simplify navigation with a screen reader;
• employ table-less layout and design to simplify screen reader navigation by reducing the structural complexity of Web pages;
• improve accessibility by allowing visitors to configure visual elements to meet their accessibility needs;
• use scaleable fonts and text-based navigational elements to improve accessibility and simplify navigation using adaptive technologies;
• provide printer-friendly functionality in the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to render pages more compatible with printers and to prevent printing unnecessary page elements;
• separate visual presentation from the document structure;
• avoid truncated and overlapped elements at very large font sizes;
• display the title value when a link gains keyboard focus; and
• employ skip navigation links at the beginning of the page for quickly moving to the content or the institutional links. These skip navigation links become visible when a mouse pointer hovers over top or when selected using a keyboard or other alternate input device.

Increasing Text Size

To increase the text size on our Web pages, you can change the settings in your Web browser. Just follow the instructions below based on the browser you are using or see your browser's help for details.

Internet Explorer

1. Select "View" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Text Size".
3. Select "Larger" or "Largest".

Mozilla Firefox

1. Select "View" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Text Size".
3. Select "Increase".
4. To increase the text size further, continue selecting "Increase".

Opera

1. Select "View" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Zoom".
3. From the menu, select the size with which you would like to view the Web site.
4. To increase the text size further, increase the percentage.

Netscape

1. Select "View" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Text Size".
3. From the menu, select the size with which you would like to view the Web site.

Client-side CSS for enhancing accessibility

The design of the Web pages on this Web site are flexible enough to allow you to configure the visual presentation to meet your accessibility needs by using a client-side Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file.

Most browsers provide the ability to specify a client-side CSS file, which would be applied to every Web page on this Web site that you visit. To take advantage of this feature, perform the following steps:

1. How to create a client-side CSS file, and
2. How to configure your browser to use the client-side CSS file

PDF Files

Viewing a PDF File

Some of the documents are available in Portable Document Format (PDF). This is a universal file format that allows you to read, print or download an online document while maintaining the fonts, graphics and general layout of that document.

Downloading PDF Reader

To view and print PDF documents, you will first need to install one of the free PDF reader software programs from the list below:

• Adobe Reader
• Foxit Reader
• Xpdf Reader
• eXPert PDF Reader

Converting PDF Files Into HTML Format

Alternatively, you can have the PDF file converted to HTML or ASCII text by using an online conversion service such as the one offered by Adobe or Google's "View as HTML" feature. The Adobe Systems Incorporated Web site has an online tool to help make PDF files accessible to people with visual disabilities. The tool converts PDF files into HTML format so that they can then be read by screen readers. To convert PDF files, visit www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html.

Downloading a PDF File

To download a PDF file:

1. Locate the document you want to download.
2. Right click on the link to the PDF document and select "Save Target As" (Internet Explorer) / "Save Link As" (Netscape) in the drop-down menu.
3. Indicate the directory you want to save the file in and click "Save".
4. You can then view the document offline using your PDF reader software.

Navigational Help

Tool Bar

The first tool bar on the top of the page, the Common Menu Bar, is mandatory for all Government of Canada Web sites according to the Treasury Board Secretariat's Common Look and Feel Standards. It enables you to perform navigational tasks that are frequently necessary on all government sites, including:

• Français: Toggles the page you are viewing between English and French.
• Home: Goes to the main menu page of the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada Web site.
• Contact Us: Contains information on how to contact the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada.
• Help: Provides information on navigation and accessibility features.
• Search: Links to the Search page and provides tips on searching.
• canada.gc.ca: Links to the home page of the Government of Canada's main Web site.

Navigation Path

The navigation path or “breadcrumb trail”, found just beneath the common menu bar, shows where you are on the Web site and helps you to move quickly around the site.

Left Menu

The left menu is the key navigation tool for the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada Web site. From the Home Page, it enables you to immediately identify the section of the site that interests you and provides a link to it. Once you are in a new section, this menu will be adapted to the new topic, providing you with new hyperlinks related to your subject.

The content on the left menu bar is grouped into several sections.

• About FJA
  • Our Role
  • Organizational Structure
  • Strategic Plan
  • Publications & Other Official Documents

• Federal Judicial Appointments
  • Introduction
  • Process for an Application for Appointment
  • Considerations which apply to an Application for Appointment
  • Judicial Advisory Committees
  • Personal History Forms
  • Authorization and Release Forms
  • Number of Federal Judges in Canada

• Federal Courts Reports
  • Overview
  • Search Reports
  • Advisory Committee
  • Obtain Reports

• Judge's Language Training
  • Overview

• International Cooperation
  • Overview

• Resources
  • Links
  • Site Map

• Proactive Disclosure

Right Menu

The right menu, which is available on the home page, provides access to the following resources:

• Features: New features available on the site.
• Links: Links to the Canadian Judicial Council Web site, the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission's Web Site and the National Judicial Institute's Web site.

Footer

The footer is displayed on every page, except the welcome page and server message page, to signal to site visitors that they have reached the end of the Web page. The footer contains the following information:

• Date Modified is the most recent date on which the document was formally issued, substantially changed or reviewed — shown in YYYY-MM-DD format.
• The Top of Page arrow returns you to the top of the page you are currently viewing.
• The Important Notices page contains information relating to privacy, official languages, hyperlinks and copyright.

Printing Pages

To print any page, select “File”, then “Print” on the top menu bar of your Web browser. The printed version will include the same content as the Web page but without any of the navigation menus from the top and the left side of the page. It will also include the Court's signature, the navigation path, as well as the date that the page was last modified.

Contact Us

We hope the information on this site will be useful to you. If you do not find the information you require, please contact us. We welcome all comments and suggestions.