#21890
Qualification or Certification for Technical Communicators
Technical communication as a profession should have some mechanism for identifying and validating the work that its professionals do. In many countries in Europe, professional societies have made some progress in this direction.
Rainey, Kenneth T. TC-FORUM (2001). Careers>Certification>Professionalism
#29680
The presenter describes a long series of technological assistive devices she has used to overcome a double disability--—blindness and deafness—--over the past 30 years in pursuing a highly successful career in technical communication. She also demonstrates the equipment and shows how it makes it possible for her to do her job.
Hogg, Maureen. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>TC>Accessibility>Universal Usability
#26750
Word can be very unforgiving! Once a document becomes too unwieldy, it starts to stagger and then collapses, wiping out all the formatting in the process. In some cases, you can recover the raw text but, as a rule, the layout and presentation is destroyed. However, there are several ways that reduce the likelihood of this occurring.
Klariti (2006). Articles>Software>Word Processing>Microsoft Word
#18633
Quick Tips to Make Accessible Web Sites
Ten tips for making Web sites accessible, available on a business-card sized reference card. Can be ordered from Web site.
W3C (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#24971
Reading Expository Text on a Computer Screen 
Issues of legibility, restricted screen space, and the resulting effects on reader efficiency have hampered efforts to bring expository text to the computer screen. Previous research focused on character-based displays, a technology that is rapidly being supplanted by equipment capable of improved resolution and visual symbol generation. These issues, which affect both authors and readers, need to be investigated in light of current screen and user interface technology. It may well be that linear expository texts are easily adaptable to contemporary computer screens.
Ham, Eardley L. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>Document Design>Accessibility
#29877
Redesigning the AccessAbility SIG Web Site for Accessibility
Assuring the accessibility of a Web site is an ongoing process. Hear how the Web team for the AccessAbility SIG redesigned the SIG's Web site to incorporate more accessible features and how they stay on the accessibility road.
Lockley, Cynthia A. and Ann Leslie Reed. STC Proceedings (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>STC
#26327
Regular expressions, sometimes referred to as regex, grep, or pattern matching, can be a very powerful tool and a tremendous time-saver with a broad range of application. As an extended form of find-and-replace, you can use a regular expression to do things such as perform client-side validation of email addresses and phone numbers, search multiple documents for strings and patterns you wish to change or remove, or extract a list of links from source code. Regex is supported by most languages and tools, but because there can be varying implementations, this article will cover basic principles that are commonly used.
Spruck, Chris. evolt (2005). Articles>Editing>Search>Regular Expressions
#25698
Replacing FrameMaker with OpenOffice.org Writer 
Replace Adobe FrameMaker with OpenOffice.org Writer? Most people's first reaction is amused disbelief. 'FrameMaker is a hugely capable publishing product,' my editor admonished me. 'OOo is a marginally competent word processor.' However, a functional comparison of several important desktop publishing features in both products shows that the products are more comparable than you might think.
Byfield, Bruce. NewsForge (2004). Articles>Word Processing>Software>OpenOffice
#19944
A Report from the STC Special Needs Committee: The Nature of Deafness
Deaf persons are not a monolithic group. Persons born deaf or who become deaf before learning the language of their environment (prelingual deafness) have a significant educational challenge as well as a communication challenge. Other deaf persons have a communication challenge. Deaf persons may be divided into five categories. For the purposes of this paper the categories are prelingual deafness, prelingual hard-of-hearing, postlingual deafness, postlingual hard-of-hearing, and presbyacusis. (oldage deafness) Each of these categories are discussed in detail including the characteristics of persons within the categories, and the nature of the problems they encounter.
Malcolm, Andrew. STC Proceedings (2001). Design>Accessibility>TC>Audio
#26413
Requirements Engineering: Closing the Gap Between Academic Supply and Industry Demand
In this economic situation, it is imperative that computer science students are well prepared before entering the work force; new graduates must understand what skills the IT industry is seeking.
Winbladh, Kristina. ACM Crossroads (2004). Careers>Workplace>Engineering>Professionalism
#20613
Research-Based Web Guidelines: Accessibility
Ensure that text and graphics are understandable when viewed without color. If designers depend on color to convey information, colorblind users and users with devices that have noncolor or nonvisual displays cannot receive the information. When foreground and background colors are close to the same hue, they may provide insufficient contrast on monochrome displays and for people with certain types of color deficits.
#18244
Technical writers are made up of complex individual personae. As a writer, you are expected to have knowledge of your subject. The more subjects you write about, the more knowledge you gain. (Supposedly.) Not every writer is like that, but most are, and they deserve to be congratulated for going the extra mile and actually learning a product they are going to write about. Most writers maintain knowledge about many systems and subjects, thus becoming an 'expert' in the technical writing field.
Taylor, Vicki M. Suite101 (2001). Careers>Advice>Professionalism
#23088
Responsive—and Responsible—Web Site Design for Disabled Users
Urges professors of technical communication to teach their students how to design Web sites that accommodate disabled users.
Hawkes, Lory. Intercom (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Education
#22037
It’s simple…Don’t lie! Don’t embellish! It’s not only unethical, but eventually you’ll get caught. You may get away with it for a time, but it will catch up with you. Whether technical skills, training, or particular accomplishments, keep it honest. It’ll work better for you.
#22966
Review: A Review of Free, Online Accessibility Tools
This article reviews eight, free, online web accessibility tools and examines the general characteristics of accessibility tools. The review provides a comparison between tools, and offers suggestions as to which tool would be appropriate for each of the following audiences: web designers, web developers and web evaluators.
Blair, Peter. WebAIM (2004). Articles>Reviews>Accessibility>Software
#28548
Review of Word 2007, Tool vs. Industry Experience, the Slow Movement, E-mail Tips, and More
In this week's Tech Writer Voices podcast, Heidi and I talk about some innovative research from Microsoft, Word 2007, convincing upper management you're not a cost, focusing on information users actually want, tool versus industry experience, the curse of knowledge, the slow movement, and a tip for handling your e-mail inbox.
Hansen, Heidi and Tom H. Johnson. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Podcasts
#20056
RNIB's Campaign for Good Web Design
There are two million people with sight problems in the UK - can they use your website?
RNIB (2003). Organizations>Accessibility>Web Design
#14910
The Role of the Professional Technical Communicator
To meet the challenge of addressing the needs of subject matter experts (SME) and non-experts, alleviating fears, and keeping the public informed requires knowledge of communication theory, subject-matter expertise, and adherence to a code of ethics. A model illustrating the professional technical communicator's knowledge base and relationship with the SME and non-expert is presented.
Gilliland, Gail. Orange Journal, The (2002). Articles>TC>Professionalism>SMEs
#27191
Ruler of All You Survey: How to Make the Best Use of Word's Rulers
If you work for a company of any size at all, then simply getting your staff to use the ruler properly will save them many hours every week, and significantly increase your company's profitability.
Barnhill, Suzanne and Dave Rado. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#27231
Running a Macro Automatically When a Document is Created, Opened or Closed
If you want a macro to be fired whenever any document is opened, regardless of which template the document is attached to, the simplest way is to write an AutoOpen macro and store it in Normal.dot.
Rado, Dave. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Programming>Microsoft Word
#26438
RusCHI serves as an inter-disciplinary group for the exchange of ideas and experience in the field of usability and human-computer interaction (HCI) by bringing together people working on the design, evaluation, implementation, and study of interactive systems.
ACM SIGCHI (2004). (Russian) Organizations>Human Computer Interaction>Regional>Russia
#24537
Russian Teaching Contracts: An Examination of Cultural Influence and Genre 
Teaching business communication in Russia involves operating in a high-context oral culture where few documents are created. However, this article analyzes two Russian teaching contracts, rhetorically comparing purpose and audience, culture, gender, and the role of the individual versus the state. For historical, political, and economic reasons, less documentation is used in business transactions in Russia than is used in the United States. Subsequently, communication scholars have been afforded little opportunity to analyze Russian business documents. This study uses anecdotal episodes as a framework for examining Russian culture and analyzing university teaching contracts, concluding that the contracts are not only brief and factual but also reflect a more oral, less litigious environment than Western countries like the United States.
Stevens, Betsy. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1999). Articles>Education>Regional>Russia
#22953
Safe Web Colours For Colour-Deficient Vision
Colour is increasingly used these days to help convey information. When one in twelve men have some measurable degree of colour vision deficiency, the use of certain colours in certain ways can cause difficulty when navigating web pages or software, and even total illegibility in some cases. The key issue is to know when you are using colours which some people will not be able to differentiate - because that (for them) removes the benefit of using colour for visual cues. Colour scientists have long known which colours are confused by colour blind people, but this tends to be expressed in a way difficult for designers to utilise.
BT Group (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Color
#20779
In considering the leakage of information through hidden text mechanisms in commonly used information interchange formats we demonstrate how to automate and scale the search for hidden data in Word documents. The combination of this scaling with typical behaviour patterns of Word users and the default settings of the Word program leads to an uncomfortable state of affairs for Word users concerned about information security. We discuss some countermeasures employable by users and note more general consequences of these effects.
Byers, Simon. User-Agent (2003). Articles>Word Processing>Security>Microsoft Word
#20661
This simulation will help you to understand what it is like for a person with visual impairments to access the Internet using a software program called a 'screen reader.'
WebAIM (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
