#21843
SVG is fun, sophisticated, and full of possibilities - and one day it'll change the way we view the Web.
Blatner, David. Adobe Magazine (1999). Design>Graphic Design>Standards>SVG
#22199
Some Thoughts about SOAP versus REST on Security
REST is the underlying architecture of the World Wide Web and its two core specifications, URIs and HTTP. It has been proposed that instead of using new-from-scratch Web Services technologies we can get much more bang for our buck by understanding the full generality of what we've got. A community has arisen around this idea and we spend our time proving that what the Web already has is better than what is being developed. This page addresses the security weaknesses of the SOAP approach.
#22516
Specifications and Standards Resources
A collection of dozens of online resources for writers of standards and specifications.
#23396
There are several ways of spelling English – the English/Canadian style, and the American style. Both are correct.
Dobsen, David. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Style Guides>Standards
#28241
The Lesser (or Badged) Standardista will include badges on their site to indicate which level of automated testing their site has passed, whereas the Greater (or Smug) Standardista frowns on the use of badges, and insists on double-checking every checkpoint manually.
Pickard, Jack. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Standards>XHTML
#22566
The quest for seamless file exchange in the graphic arts continues. Graphic Arts Monthly takes a look at what CGATS is doing to develop file format standards.
Strashun Whitcher, Joann. Graphic Arts Monthly (2003). Articles>Graphic Design>Standards
#26127
A government organisation in New Zealand wants to create standards for graphs, especially online graphs. Until now, we haven't been able to find any existing standards, so we will have to start from scratch.
McAlpine, Rachel. Quality Web Content (2005). Design>Web Design>Standards>Charts and Graphs
#30777
Standards in an Uncertain World 
Today, Help authors take HTML for granted. But XML is starting to displace HTML, bringing with it new technologies like DITA and Web 2.0, as well as the potential for disruption. Perlin examines how to prepare for the change through adhering to standards.
Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2008). Articles>Documentation>Standards>Help
#31957
The Standards Way to Do Dynamic Data
Somewhere in between presenting static information graphics and complex, interactive data dashboards there’s a need for a way to visualize moderately dynamic data on the web. Oftentimes the solutions you see implemented are clunky, for example, manually creating multiple frames of various data points and uploading them by hand.
Madden, Sean. Vitamin (2008). Articles>Web Design>Standards>Interaction Design
#27915
About ten years ago, a handful of highly specialised consultants were trying with missionary zeal to establish SGML as the basic format in technical communication; today, the XML-standard is no longer something that can be dispensed with, and is, in fact, even mandatory in many projects. This article takes a look in hindsight at the beginnings of SGML and XML, and the current developments and standards around XML, and also hazards a guess at what the years to come might hold in store.
Rath, Hans Holger. tekom (2006). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML
#30651
Standards: A Strategic Business Issue
Are you overlooking a strategic business issue? You may be, if you are not involved in the development of standards that may impact your business.
Printing Impressions (2007). Articles>TC>Standards
#24199
As technologies like XML, content management software (CMS), and single sourcing continue to seep into technical communication, they bring demands for cost-effective development, faster time-to-market, and automation. Meeting these demands will require standards for coding, language, metadata, and other such elements. The good old days of 'winging it' in documentation are coming to an end.
Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2004). Design>Web Design>Content Management>Standards
#30077
Strategies for Usability: Putting ISO Standards to Practice
Is your documentation and training a solution for complex product design? Whether designing software, hardware, documentation, online help, or a telecommunication network, a strategy for usability is essential to user-friendly design. Every organization has a product life cycle but not every organization is user-focused because of absence of a usability process. Where do you begin? This paper describes two ISO standards that I have used as a strategy for usability, and accompanies a presentation that demonstrates how to put the standards to practice.
Dick, David J. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Standards
#18593
We were asked recently if we knew of any research on 'standard' ratios between developers and technical authors. We decided to carry out some research and this article covers our preliminary findings.
Cherryleaf (2003). Careers>Project Management>Standards>Surveys
#21622
A Survey of XML Standards: Part 1
The world of XML is vast and growing, with a huge variety of standards and technologies that interact in complex ways. It can be difficult for beginners to navigate the most important aspects of XML, and for users to keep track of new entries and changes in the space. In this series of articles, Uche Ogbuji provides a guide to XML standards, including a wide range of recommended resources for further information.
Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2004). Design>Information Design>Standards>XML
#29689
Syntax or Sin Tax: Which Should an Editor Choose?
Proficiency and accuracy are necessary to edit technical communication, but both can be diminished by the conflict of standards and rules from respected sources. This difficulty is further compounded with the differing expectations of audiences, employers, and companies. To resolve potential problems, editors need to refresh their basic skills through workshops, professional journal articles, and the study of updated authoritative sources. Editors then need to address their audience expectations by developing appropriate style guides. By focusing upon the needs of the audience, editors draw upon a variety of sources, some of which may not agree upon the same standards and rules. In such cases, the editor may also break or bend rules to achieve the consistent, accurate communications that best serve the individual audience.
Ball, Valerie M. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Editing>Technical Editing>Standards
#22842
Tackling IS0 9000 Documentation
The IS0 9000 series of Quality Standards redefines how business will be conducted into the next century. The series is designed to measure the effectiveness of the Quality System in place, thereby ensuring both customer and company needs are always satisfied. The foundation of a robust Quality System is its documentation: problems in this area represent the largest single cause of registration failures. Quality System documentation also forms the basis upon which the 3rd party registrar builds the audit plan for your company.
Robinson, Ralph E. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Standards>Policies and Procedures
#24456
Tackling the ISO 9000 Documentation Monster
The ISO 9000 series of Quality Standards redefines how business will be conducted into the next century. The series is designed to measure the effectiveness of the Quality System in place, thereby ensuring both customer and company needs are always satisfied. The foundation of a robust Quality System is its documentation: problems in this area represent the largest single cause of registration failures. Quality System documentation also forms the basis upon which the 3rd party registrar builds the audit plan for your company.
Robinson, Ralph E. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Standards>ISO 9000
#22931
During the past few months, two new initiatives have been launched which could significantly affect everyone involved in website accessibility: EuroAccessibility and UKDeAN.
Kessler, Dennis. Accessify (2003). Articles>Accessibility>Standards>Europe
#27451
Technical Communications Standards: New Directions in Innovation
The management of high technology communications companies often view public technical standards, as mechanisms that may reduce their market control and profit margins. This viewpoint has considerable historical precedent, but declining validity today. By reviewing the history of technical standards and identifying its relation to communications technology, this paper identifies new ways to use public standards as a means to enhance, rather than reduce, the inventor's advantage in communications systems.
Krechmer, Ken. Communications Standards Review (1999). Articles>Communication>Standards
#14834
The overall aim of Terminologicentrum TNC is to meet all kinds of terminological needs of users of languages for special purposes.
#30650
The Trouble with Web Standards
You may mistrust web standards because of bad experiences with buggy browsers. Or you might have converted a site from HTML to XHTML, only to discover that their layouts suddenly looked different in standards-compliant browsers. Don't give in to the dark side! Web standards are here to stay.
Zeldman, Jeffrey. Creative Pro (2007). Articles>Web Design>Standards>XHTML
#30886
They Shoot Browsers, Don't They?
Standards-aware developers, by their very nature, will object to adding a line of unnecessary markup to their documents just to get one single browser to behave as it should by default.
Keith, Jeremy. List Apart, A (2008). Articles>Web Design>Standards>Web Browsers
#27674
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 were published in 1999 and quickly grew out of date. The proposed new WCAG 2.0 is the result of five long years’ work by a Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) committee that never quite got its act together. In an effort to be all things to all web content, the fundamentals of WCAG 2 are nearly impossible for a working standards-compliant developer to understand. WCAG 2 backtracks on basics of responsible web development that are well accepted by standardistas. WCAG 2 is not enough of an improvement and was not worth the wait.
Clark, Joe. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Standards
#13671
To Use or Not to Use: An XHTML Roadmap for Designers
The problem with XHTML 1.0 isn't a matter of strength, or of importance. XHTML is both strong and important--and not just for markup snobs and hardcore developers. It's not that XHTML 1.0 has a particularly high learning curve. It doesn't--in fact, it's quite easy to learn. And, it's not that XHTML 1.0 doesn't display in browsers both current and past. When written with awareness of cross-browser considerations--just as with HTML, it does. The problem lies in the fact that XHTML is, quite simply, misunderstood.
Holzschlag, Molly E. Digital Web Magazine (2001). Design>Web Design>Standards>XHTML
