Content Label

A Content Label is a file that contains Metadata, enabling search engines to make Segala-certified Web sites more prominent in search results.

Why Content Labels are useful

Visual Trustmarks provided by organisations such as VeriSign, GeoTrust and TRUSTe have limitied benefit. This is because you must first visit a Web site to see if it complies with an industry standard or code of conduct by displaying a Trustmark.

Content Labels on the other hand can be detected by search engines and browsers which means users can find out which sites have Trustmarks without having to visit them. This benefits you because the Web sites you Certify using our Trustmark will be more prominent in the future when Content Labels sees mass adoption.

Content Labels act in a similar fashion to SSL Certificates. However, SSL Certificates are restricted to making claims about an entire Web site for security and identification purposes. Content Labels can be used to make assertions about an entire domain, or specific Web pages. This is why you are able to certify sections of Web sites as accessibility best practices are adopted longterm.

Encouraging mass adoption for Content Labels

Below are just a few use cases to help encourage mass adoption for Content Labels

• W3C Web Accessibility Standards
• W3C Mobile Web Initiative Best Practices ‘mobileOK’
• Child Safety ‘ICRA’
• Identity (anit-Phishing)
• Copyright ‘Creative Commons’
• Privacy code of conduct
• E-commerce code of conduct
• Blogs code of conduct

Segala was instrumental in the creation of the W3C’s first ever incubator activity to help create Content Labelling standards for the Web, now known as POWDER. We helped to create the original charter and we are co-author of the final report with ICRA.

Content Labels will soon be ratified as a formal Recommendation. They will also replace an old Recommendations called PICS. PICS is the outdated W3C standard that is still in use by Internet Explorer today for filtering content using Site Advisor.

mobileOK

Web site owners who wish to make assertions about conformance to the W3C Mobile Web Initiative (MWI) Best Pracitces (mobileOK) will do so in the form of a Content Label. It won’t be possible for a Web site to be mobileOK unless it is proactive in making such a claim.

Segala is co-author of the mobileOK conformance document with Google so we’re in an excellent position to enable you to help clients build mobile-friendly Web sites.

Related links

• To learn more about Content Labels, visit our main Web site.
• Learn more about the Trustmark
• Learn more about the Certificate