Visual Metadiscourse: Designing the Considerate Text
http://www.attw.org/TCQarticles/9.4/9-4Kumpf.pdf
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  peer-reviewed

Kumpf, Eric P.
Technical Communication Quarterly
2000

Abstract:

Visual metadiscourse can provide design criteria for authors when considering the needs and expectations of readers. The linguistic concept of meta-discourse is expanded from the textual realm to the visual realm, where authors have many necessary design considerations as they attempt to help readers navigate through and understand documents. These considerations, both textual and visual, also help construct the ethos of authors, as design features reveal awareness of visual literacy and of the communication context. Visual metadiscourse complements textual metadiscourse in emphasizing the necessity of rhetoric in technical communication.