Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL)
Supporting Official Languages in Canada: OCOL goes from Outdated to Outstanding
The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) plays a vital role in promoting the equality of English and French across Canadian federal institutions and society. As an agent of Parliament, the Commissioner supports language minority communities, upholds the Official Languages Act, and ensures that federal institutions meet their linguistic obligations.
OCOL’s legacy website, however, was no longer capable of supporting its mandate effectively. The platform was running on outdated technology, content was difficult to navigate, and users regularly encountered technical issues. To modernize its digital presence and align with Government of Canada web standards, OCOL partnered with Ngage Technologies for a full redesign, migration, and ongoing support of its web platform.
Exceptional Multi-language capabilities
Drupal 11 was chosen as the CMS platform for ASC’s digital transformation due to its ability to meet government, accessibility, scalability, and extensibility needs. Its Web Experience Toolkit (WxT) distribution is built to align with Canadian government standards for accessibility, usability, and interoperability. Drupal’s modular architecture and flexible theming ensure compliance with web accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1), the Official Languages Act, and other federal web guidelines. Deployed on a Microsoft Azure cloud-based infrastructure, the platform offers scalability, high availability, and enterprise-grade security. In addition, Drupal’s extensive ecosystem supports advanced features such as enhanced search, social media integration, improved security, and workflow management.
Ngage Technologies was selected thanks to its proven experience in architecting and delivering complex Drupal solutions within federal environments. The team brought specialized knowledge in accessibility, DevOps, cloud-based hosting, and Government of Canada compliance requirements.
Modern and User-Friendly
Ngage Technologies began by conducting a thorough analysis of the existing website to understand its current state, identify essential functionalities, and determine the most suitable modules for implementation. Based on this assessment, the team selected Drupal 11 as the content management system (CMS) to provide a modern, secure, and scalable foundation for the new site.
The project goals focused on developing a new, modern, web accessibility-compliant design for the site, along with a user-focused IA and navigation strategy, and building a stable, secure platform using Drupal 11. The approach emphasized full compliance with WCAG 2.1, W3C standards, and Government of Canada web standards, while also automating content migration to ensure both high accuracy and accessibility compliance. The new platform was further enhanced to support dynamic content delivery, advanced data visualization, and multimedia integration, as well as seamless interoperability with third-party services. To provide long-term reliability, a Microsoft Azure cloud-based hosting solution and a CI/CD pipeline were established, enabling continuous updates, support, and scalability for the organization’s evolving needs.
Clean, Modern Design paired with Dynamic Functionality
The newly launched OCOL website has been recognized as a major success, delivering a cleaner layout, accessible design, and dynamic functionality that better support OCOL’s communications objectives. Stakeholders, including the Commissioner, highlighted the platform’s clarity, ease of use, and comprehensive structure as key strengths.
The site now offers a seamless, bilingual user experience that reflects the Commissioner’s mission and serves the diverse needs of Canadians. Built on Drupal 11 and hosted on Microsoft Azure, the platform provides a secure, scalable foundation designed for long-term sustainability. Ngage continues to provide ongoing support, ensuring the website maintains the highest standards of accessibility, performance, and content quality.
