Introduction: Four Carrots and a Stick  

We must understand that if we graduate engineering students who have a full complement of communication skills, we will better prepare them to be more effective professionals as well as highly valued citizens. Clear communcation and clear thinking are mutually reinforcing. Together they are a powerful combination that will serve well the individual, our nation and world in the exciting years ahead.

Dowell, Earl H. LLAD (1999). Careers>Collaboration>Professionalism>Engineering

Is Messiness Conducive to Productivity?

I've heard several times that the most productive people work on messy environments. I’ve seen at least two cases where this is true. My college dean probably still stacks of paper piled up all over his desk, but manages to keep an entire department running smoothly despite having additional responsibilities as a Jesuit priest.

Contract Worker (2008). Articles>Management>Professionalism

Is there life after "Reveal Codes"?

There is nothing in Word directly comparable to Reveal Codes in WordPerfect. There is a very good reason for this. WordPerfect can be thought of (and I understand is) basically a text stream with codes interspersed (for more on this, see John McGhie's article on Word vs. WordPerfect). This is what you see when you Reveal Codes. You have codes or markers that turn on and off certain formatting characteristics. Word, on the other hand, is a series of nesting containers, characters inside words inside paragraphs inside sections inside documents. The formatting of these is by styles and by pointers at the beginning and end of the document.

Barnhill, Suzanne. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word

Is Universal Design Really Universal?

Today, as I write this article, my Google search found “about 13,200,000” references. There is no denying that the concept of Universal Design has gained widespread use. But what does it really mean?

Salmen, John. uiGarden (2008). Design>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability

JavaScript and Accessibility

On this page I give a short introduction to the accessibility issues surrounding the use of JavaScript. It is by no means a complete tutorial; I just want to offer a few rough guidelines and some bits of information. Nonetheless the information on this page seems to be clearer and more complete than the average 'JavaScript and accessibility' page on the WWW.

Koch, Peter-Paul. XS4ALL. Design>Web Design>Accessibility>DHTML

Joe Clark's Answers -- in Valid XHTML

An extremely interesting but rather long read -- answers each question thoroughly and, there is plenty of discourse following the piece itself.

Clark, Joe. Slashdot (2002). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>XHTML

A Journey Through Accessibility

Identifies web accessibility problems throughout the web generations, and summarises where we are now, and what we can expect for the future.

Scano, Roberto. Juicy Studio (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability

Kast deg ut i Tilgjengelighet

Denne boka vil besvare to spørsmål. Det første spørsmålet er «Hvorfor bør jeg gjøre nettstedet mitt mer tilgjengelig?» Om du ikke har et nettsted, så er ikke denne boka for deg. Det andre spørsmålet er «Hvordan kan jeg gjøre nettstedet mitt mer tilgjengelig?» Er du ikke overbevist av svaret på det første spørsmålet, vil du nok ikke være interessert i det andre.

Pilgrim, Mark. Dive Into Accessibility (2002). (Norwegian) Books>Web Design>Accessibility

Keeping Your Microsoft Word Documents Healthy  

My documents keep crashing in Microsoft Word. What can I do?

Alroy, Faye. Intercom (2004). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word

Keyboard Accessibility Techniques

Keyboard accessibility is one of the most important aspects of disability access. Blind people generally cannot use a mouse because they cannot see where to click. They use their keyboard almost exclusively.

WebAIM (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

Landmarks, Links, and Search Engines: Designing Websites for Sex and Gender Navigation Differences  

Although there is myriad research on the Internet and the web, there is limited research on sex and gender differences in web use, especially regarding navigating websites. As a step towards understanding possible differences, I draw from an extensive research study on sex and gender differences in web use. From this study, I present three key areas of sex differences in web navigation and two key areas of gender differences. Along with these differences, I provide several implications for web design. I recommend technical communicators consider not only these differences, but other possible differences to better create truly 'users'-centered design.

Bowie, Jennifer L. STC Proceedings (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Gender

Latest Isn't Always Greatest

The more time I spend browsing various Web sites, the angrier I get with those developers who take liberty with the amount of software I need to view their pages and navigate their site. I realize that developers want to stay on top of what is cool and unusual and eye-catching and create a site that is visually appealing, engaging and all that. But do they realize that your average member of the browsing public doesn't care at all about these things?

Strom, David. Software Development Times (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

Laws, Regulations and Other Governmental Efforts for Universal Usability

A directory of laws and regulations to support accessibility in new media.

University of Wisconsin. Resources>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability

Learning Difficulties and Web Accessibility

Accessibility is about making it as easy as possible for all members of society to fully take part in that society. It is about removing barriers. It is about inclusion and empowerment. It is about creating the sort of world that we all want to live in - a message that should resonate with us all.

Fidgeon, Tim. Webcredible (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

Learning to Be Professional: Technical Classroom Discourse, Practice, and Professional Identity Construction    

Instruction in the technical and scientific disciplines gives students the technical skills necessary to succeed in industry. However, these disciplines also focus on socializing students into professional identities. This study examines one exemplar discipline, mechanical engineering, to see how classroom discourse and practice constructs professional identities for students (as future engineers) and their customers. Results suggest that although students' conceptions of the customer provided glimpses of professional identity, design processes in these classrooms were ultimately driven and shaped by academic communicative practices, audiences, and goals. Given this, instructional interventions are provided to integrate professionalization processes within classrooms where situated learning is apparent.

Dannels, Deanna P. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1999). Articles>Education>Professionalism

Legitimizing Technical Communication in English Departments: Carolyn Miller's "Humanistic Rationale For Technical Writing"    

Carolyn Miller's oft-cited "Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing," published in 1979, tries to give technical communication faculty more cultural capital in English departments controlled by literature professors. Miller replaces a positivistic emphasis in technical communication pedagogy with rhetoric. She shows how technical knowledge is produced by individual activity and social affirmation and not by objective descriptions of sensory impressions. Her "Rationale" is an attempt to change institutional and discursive structures by persuading literature professors that technical communication can have as much distinction in the academy as literature.

Moore, Patrick. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2006). Academic>Education>TC>Professionalism

Let Them Eat Cake

A growing debate pits accessibility against usability. From our point of view, it’s like pitting peanut butter against jelly. This article helps you create a page that is both usable and accessible, saving readers the trouble of scrolling with a little help from JavaScript and the Document Object Model.

Gustafson, Aaron. List Apart, A (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability

Let Users Control Font Size

Sometimes technological progress backfires, and the 'better' technology turns out to be worse for users. The Web is no stranger to this problem, and has experienced many innovations that would have been best avoided. Examples include frames, changing the color of browser scrollbars, and scrolling text. Another example of harmful Web technology comes with the increasing use of style sheets, which let web designers specify the exact size of text down to the pixel. Unfortunately, many designers are using this ability, leading to reduced readability of an increasing number of websites.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Accessibility>Web Design>Typography

Review: Lift NNg Edition

If you are serious about getting your web site accessible, you need to get the right tools for the job. Can Lift for Dreamweaver deliver the goods?

Accessify (2003). Articles>Reviews>Accessibility>Web Design

List Provides Way for Developers to Reach Testers with Visual Impairment

A mailing list now connects users with visual impairments willing to act as testers and website developers concerned with accessibility.

Light, Ann. Usability News (2003). Articles>Usability>Accessibility

Making Accessibility Part of Your Web Site Management Routine  

Making accessible design part of your Web site management routine is not simple. Habit, practicalities, and even your Web publishing software seem to work against you, making it easy to skip important aspects of accessible design. This paper attempts to outline a framework for including accessible design in your Web publishing routine. Accessible design is the result the interaction of seven design aspects and two management processes. The design aspects are standards, structure, alternative texts, labeling, timing, linearity, and usability. The management processes are site design and page design. Developing a workflow that incorporates the seven aspects into the two processes, dealing with each aspect appropriately within each process, is our objective.

Ells, Rick. STC Proceedings (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

Making Accessible Forms, Part 1

Learn how to make your online forms accessible in this HTML form tutorial

Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

Making Accessible Forms, Part 2

Learn more on how to make your online forms accessible in part 2 of this HTML form tutorial

Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

Making Ajax Work with Screen Readers

The accessibility community is understandably concerned about the accessibility of client-side scripting, in particular using Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) to produce Rich Internet Applications. Steve Faulkner of Vision Australia and founder member of the Web Accessibility Tools Consortium (WAT-C) and myself on behalf of The Paciello Group (TPG) have collaborated in an effort to come up with techniques to make Ajax and other client-side scripting techniques accessible to assistive technology.

Lemon, Gez and Steve Faulkner. Juicy Studio (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Ajax

Making Documentation Accessible to Users With Disabilities  

Good documentation takes into account the needs of people with disabilities. Such documentation is termed 'accessible' and provides support for the assistive technologies used by people with disabilities. For example, accessible documentation provides a text equivalent for each graphic element, such as a picture, flow diagram, or icon. This provision is necessary for users who rely on screen readers to read the documentation.

Chappell, Gail B. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Accessibility>Technical Writing