#28951
Change vs. Stability in Web Usability Guidelines
A remarkable 80% of findings from the Web usability studies in the 1990s continue to hold today.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Standards
#21536
Character Entities in HTML and XHTML
This area includes a variety of references and tools such as: reference charts; important articles; and helpful tools.
#21798
Choosing the Best Graphics Sources 
A guide to using different types of graphic file formats.
Dawson, Colin. Info Action (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Standards
#27012
Color Theory for Digital Displays: A Quick Reference: Part I
This article is Part I of a quick reference on color theory for digital displays. It is the first in a series of articles about the use of color in application program user interfaces and on Web sites.
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2006). Design>Web Design>Standards>Color
#27013
Color Theory for Digital Displays: A Quick Reference: Part II
This article is Part II of a quick reference on color theory for digital displays. It is the second in a series of articles about the use of color in application program user interfaces and on Web sites.
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2006). Design>Web Design>Standards>Color
#29056
Committees within international standards organizations write standards. Prior to approval, these standards must pass through several reviews for technical accuracy and stylistic appropriateness. The style considerations are based on documents published by both the umbrella organization (International Organization for Standarization, or ISO) and the various committees and subcommittees within it. Because authors and editors who use these documents frequently do not have English as a first language, the documents must explain unambiguously just how committees should prepare their documents. This study looks at a sample of those instructional documents using Restricted and Elaborated Code and metadiscourse analysis to determine how easily users can read and understand the material. The findings suggest that the documents do not send a clear message to authors and editors and can be stylistically hard to understand. Consequently, the approved standards themselves are hard to read and interpret.
Warren, Thomas L. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Standards
#26849
Communication Challenges in the WC3's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 
In the first part of this article, we analyze a number of communication challenges and relate them to problems in conveying the November draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. Based on our analysis, the second part of our article offers a number of recommendations for improving the comprehensibility of the WCAG 2.0 for its various intended audiences. Although our discussion has the November draft as its focal point, the recommendations are more widely applicable to other complex documents with diverse audiences. In the final part, we propose a new vision for the WCAG.
Brys, Catherine M. and Wim Vanderbauwhede. Technical Communication Online (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Standards
#21385
Comparison of Online Help Formats
This article lists the basic differences between WinHelp version 4, Microsoft compiled HTML help, WebHelp and pure HTML help. Samples are available.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation>Standards>Help
#22622
Content Management and the Electronic Common Technical Document (eCTD)
The XML eCTD DTD (Document Type Definition) defines the overall structure of the submission. The purpose of the XML backbone is two-fold: (1) to manage meta-data for the entire submission and each document within the submission and (2) to constitute a comprehensive table of contents and provide corresponding navigation aids.
Rockley, Ann. Rockley Group, The (2004). Articles>Content Management>Standards>XML
#23640
Creating Graphics for Both Web Pages and PDA Displays
Today, the most common graphic file format used on web pages is raster, which has certain limitations. A new technology called Scalable Vector Graphics is emerging as the raster alternative. SVG files contain all the traits of normal vector graphics. Their unique properties make them more suitable for mobile product displays. By comparing and contrasting SVG and raster traits, one can best determine the correct file format for specific end output displays.
Kubik, Sara. STC Proceedings (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Standards>SVG
#11817
Creating Standards and Strategies
I have been asked to document the standards and strategies of usability. Given my company's interest to achieve ISO 9000 certification, I thought of the benefits to have a standard and strategy that conform to an ISO standard. My research led to two standards, ISO 13407 and ISO 9241, which have become invaluable to me.
Dick, David J. Usability Interface (1998). Articles>Usability>Standards>ISO 9000
#23815
A quick reference table for the css properties!
PageResource.com (2003). Reference>Web Design>Standards>CSS
#24033
Several years ago, four new prefixes, for representing very large and very small measurements, were introduced into the International System of Units (Système International d'Unités, or SI): yotta, zetta, zepto and yocto.
Ivey, Keith C. Editorial Eye, The (1996). Articles>Style Guides>Standards>Scientific Communication
#20860
Web data (mainly in the form of pages) should live much longer than Web hardware and software. Even though most users go to the newer pages, older pages will still be of interest to some users.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1997). Articles>Web Design>Standards
#18250
Inadequate document control/documentation causes most ISO 9000 audit failures. For certification in ISO, QS 9000 and related standards, quality programs must be clearly documented through a series of controlled, sequential documents. This paper will overview how to do it successfully.
Paradis, Gerard. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Workplace>Standards>ISO 9000
#22944
Review: Designing With Web Standards
Jeffrey Zeldman shows us how we should be doing things, plain and simple.
Accessify (2003). Articles>Reviews>Web Design>Standards
#30146
Developing Interface Standards: Compliance From a Corporate Perspective
This paper discusses the role of an information developer in defining application interface standards and ensuring compliance across all applications. An interface, such as an application screen or system-generated report, should be consistent to enhance ease-of-processing for the end users.
Davis, Sondra K. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>User Interface>Standards
#20303
In 1985, the writing and editing group at Los Alamos National Laboratory established four levels of edit for technical reports. When a survey in 1994 showed that both authors and editors felt the levels were not meeting author needs, we set about revising them. Our goals were to simplify the editing process, focus editing on improving technical clarity, and ensure that value was added in editing. This paper describes our revision process and product--—three author-based levels of edit.
Prono, Judyth, Martha DeLanoy, Robert Deupree, Jeffrey Skiby and Brian Thompson. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Editing>Standards
#29571
Digital Libraries and the Need for a Universal Digital Publication Format 
Reports have revealed low uses of e-books and other lengthy texts held in digital libraries. In this article we claim that one of the main reasons for the lack of interest is the current multitude of end-user text formats, some oriented towards print, others proprietary, and few optimized for sustained reading of text-intensive publications. We note IDPF's reluctance to develop a common digital publication format, discuss requirements for a universal, open-standard end-user format, and present the effort to establish such a format by the OpenReader Consortium. The main objective of the article is to examine the pros and cons of a universal, reader-oriented text format for different types of critical text editions and digital libraries.
Hillesund, Terje and Jon E. Noring. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2006). Articles>Publishing>Standards>Online
#27278
Digital Object Identifiers for Scientific Data
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a system for identifying content objects in the digital environment. DOIs are names assigned to any entity for use on Internet digital networks. Scientific data sets may be identified by DOIs, and several efforts are now underway in this area. This paper outlines the underlying architecture of the DOI system, and two such efforts which are applying DOIs to content objects of scientific data.
Paskin, Norman. Data Science Journal (2005). Articles>Publishing>Standards>Online
#29391
DITA Users is a membership organization that includes: individuals learning DITA; organizations moving to single-source authoring and multi-channel publishing; vendors of XML Editors and XML Content Management Systems.
#26193
Docbook Frequently Asked Questions
This is a collation of some Frequently Asked questions regarding Docbook. The initial focus will be on the XML version of the DTD, and the XSLT based stylesheets.
dpawson.co.uk (2005). Articles>Documentation>Standards>DocBook
#26307
DocBook: An Introduction for Technical Writers
A set of slides that gives a brief introduction to DocBook and why it is useful for technical writers. Also available in PDF format.
Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2002). Presentations>Documentation>Standards>DocBook
#19827
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 (1999). Articles>Documentation>Standards>ISO 9000
#15118
Documenting ISO 9001 Compliance
Describes how technical writers can make their documentation comply with ISO 9001, the latest quality management system from the International Organization for Standardization. The article includes a list of suggested readings.
Parr, Kelly A. Intercom (2002). Articles>Documentation>Standards>ISO 9001
