#24208
Academic/Industry Relationships: A Challenge for Both Sides 
Emerging technologies create new challenges for academicians and practitioners alike. The two groups must have mutual respect and must strive for balance between academic principles and marketplace demands. Through shadowing, mentoring, internship programs (for faculty and practitioners as well as for students), collaborative research projects, and other means we can begin to share expertise and technology that will help bridge the gap between academe and industry.
Sutliff, Kristene. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Collaboration>Industry and Academy
#21846
More and more Web surfers are vision-impaired. Can they understand your site?
Williams, Maxine. Adobe Magazine (1999). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#23822
Accessibility and Cascading Style Sheets
An essay from an accessibility class, on the use of CSS to increase access to a page.
Bartlett, Kynn. HTML Writers Guild (1999). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>CSS
#19222
Accessibility and Learning Technology
Learning technologies offer excellent opportunities to make Higher and Further Education fully inclusive for people with many kinds of disabilities, as well as providing a better learning environment for all students. The drive to deliver ever-increasing quantities of visually attractive learning, support and service material, however, can lead to designs which embody insurmountable barriers to access by a range of people with disabilities. Issues of accessibility to disabled users are beginning to be addressed seriously, but there is a constant need to ensure empirically that materials, which are provided, are actually accessible.
Webb, Ian. TechDis (1999). Academic>Accessibility>Technology
#11798
An estimated nine to twelve percent of the male population suffers from some form of color vision deficiency, commonly called 'color blindness.' It is important for computer interface designers to take into account and eliminate, if possible, any potential confusions that can arise because of color vision deficiencies. There are two major types of color blindness. The most prevalent causes are confusion between red and green. This type affects approximately eight to ten percent of the male population. In another type, an additional one to two Percent of men suffer from a deficiency in perceiving blue/yellow differences. Less than one percent of women suffer from any form of color blindness. To understand color blindness better, it is helpful to be familiar with the ways in which colors differ from each other. One standard way to discuss color is to divide it into hue, saturation and brightness (HSB).
Hoffman, Paul. STC Usability SIG (1999). Design>Accessibility>Human Computer Interaction>Color
#22641
Achieving International Communication Success 
The world is getting smaller in terms of how fast information gets passed around and, at the same time, larger. Larger in the sense that there are new markets, new languages, and new cultures to understand, as we market and sell around the world.
Winters, Elaine. bena.com (1999). Articles>Business Communication>International
#18393
Affordance, Conventions and Design
Please don't confuse affordance with perceived affordances. Don't confuse affordances with conventions. Affordances reflect the possible relationships among actors and objects: they are properties of the world. Conventions, on the other hand, are arbitrary, artificial and learned. Once learned, they help us master the intricacies of daily life, whether they be conventions for courtesy, for writing style, or for operating a word processor. Designers can invent new real and perceived affordances, but they cannot so readily change established social conventions. Know the difference and exploit that knowledge. Skilled design makes use of all.
Norman, Donald A. JND.org (1999). Design>Usability>Standards
#24518
This article challenges the conventional approach to cross-cultural communication teaching that instructs students to adapt their communication styles to different cultures by providing them with details about the particular practices of these cultures. It argues for an approach that focuses on common principles of effective communication by pointing out some limitations of the current culture-specific approach and presenting a pilot study that indicates the commonality of communication needs. It suggests some ways to find a different approach for studying international communication and shows that some current research is, in fact, moving in that direction.
Goby, Valerie Priscilla. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1999). Articles>Business Communication>International
#18925
For fun, Asterisks.com shares some amusing blunders collected by editors.
Asterisks.com (1999). Humor>Language>Writing>Localization
#24528
"And Then She Said": Office Stories and What They Tell Us about Gender in the Workplace 
This article calls for a rhetorical perspective on the relationship of gender, communication,and power in the workplace. In doing so, the author uses narrative in two ways.First, narratives gathered in an ethnographic study of an actual workplace, a plasticsmanufacturer, are used as a primary source of data, and second, the findings of this studyare presented by telling the story of two women in this workplace. Arguing that genderin the workplace, like all social identities, is locally constructed through the micro practicesof everyday life, the author questions some of the prevailing assumptions about genderat work and cautions professional communication teachers, researchers, and practitionersagainst unintentionally perpetuating global, decontextualized assumptionsabout gender and language, and their relationship to the distribution and exercise of power at work.
Weiland Herrick, Jeanne. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1999). Articles>Collaboration>Workplace>Gender
#10022
Angels and Copy Editors Defend Us!
Tinkering with the author's words simply because 'I would not write them that way' is not discretion, but interference. Preserving the author's authentic voice is as important as enhancing its presentation so as to maintain the authority of the words. Of what, then, does the enhancing consist? And how does editorial discretion fit in?
Fothergill-Brown, Ann. Writer's Block (1999). Articles>Writing>Editing
#24220
Anything That Can Go Wrong: Lessons Learned from A Decade of Toolkit Documentation
Writing software toolkit documentation for programmers is a special challenge and opportunity for technical writers. Compared with writing software documentation for lay users, toolkit documentation is more demanding and exacting. Checking facts and finding tiny errors is like riding a motorcycle through a swarm of gnats. However, for me at least, toolkit writing has opened doors to a larger role and greater input into product design. Engineers treat me like a peer and I get to see into their culture. I know my readers and salespeople need me.
van Oss, Joseph E. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>SDK>Technical Writing
#22147
An Application of the Principles of Minimalism to the Design of Human-Computer Interfaces
Minimalism in information design, specifically as applied to user tutorials and manuals, was introduced in the early 1980s through the work of Dr. John M. Carroll, then a cognitive psychologist at the IBM Watson Research Center. Since that time, theorists and practitioners have further elucidated the principles of minimalism and have attempted to apply it to a variety of situations in which people attempt to learn how to use a software application. Most recently, a new exposition of minimalist principles and practices was published by MIT Press. This work, Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel, represents the work of leading theorists and practitioners in the field.
Hackos, JoAnn T. ComTech Services (1999). Design>User Interface>Human Computer Interaction>Minimalism
#23839
Applying Hypertext and Hypermedia to Scholarly Journals Enables Both Product and Process Innovation
Early uses of hypertext technologies were associated with scholarly communication. New electronic-only journals have been quick to adopt hypertext/hypermedia technologies. Existing print journals have also started to adopt such technologies as they make the transition to parallel delivery. The widespread uptake of the World Wide Web has enabled journals to improve, enhance and transform what they do. This paper surveys these developments and places them in context.
Treloar, Andrew E. ACM Computing Surveys (1999). Articles>Publishing>Hypertext
#20757
Architecture of Designing Documents
Both parks and document design share the same goal: to satisfy patrons and entice them to return. The common characteristics - available for many activities, easy navigation and circulation, appropriate equipment, effective use of space, and patron safety - are applied to document design. So take a walk - in a park - to find out about document design.
Lisberg, Beth Conney. STC Proceedings (1999). Design>Document Design>Information Design
#21140
Are You Creating a Path of Resistance?
I've been watching people type in web site addresses for a long time now. However, I only started watching people closely about 4 weeks ago. I recorded 75 observations of people typing in URLs in the address bar (I kept a notepad with a running tally). I'll be the first to admit that this was not scientific and, as you might guess, I was acting in a biased manner. Nevertheless, I think the results are somewhat useful as a starting point. I found that in about 20 of the 75 observations, when people typed in a new URL they first tried the address without the 'www'. So, my findings indicate that about 27% of the time, users did not use the 'www'.
Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Design>Web Design>Usability
#23395
We can't halt the flow of incoming email messages, but we can give you some suggestions that will help you become a better email communicator.
Blicq, Ronald S. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#24217
Lights! Action! Sound! There's a certain mystique associated with the design and development of multimedia. A multimedia developer is not quite a movie director, but.... If you're a technical writer, you may already have considered multimedia as a career option, but you may not know what's involved or how to get started. Having the information you need always makes a change easier, so perhaps this information will help you make that career move!
Currie, Cynthia C., Carmie Boutin and Linda Mandra. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Multimedia>Technical Writing
#29028
Aristotelian Rhetorical Theory as a Framework for Teaching Scientific and Technical Communication
Classical rhetorical theory has been used for relatively discrete, practice-oriented purposes in its application to teaching Scientific and Technical Communication. However effective these appropriations are, they isolate these resources from a comprehensive framework and from that framework's role in shaping disciplinary practice. Because these theoretical assets are integral to each student's preparation to be an effective, responsible practitioner, I have developed and taught an upper level rhetorical theory course for STC majors that is grounded in Aristotle s <em>On Rhetoric</em> and in his understanding that effective communication is a systematic <em>tekhne</em>/art.
Newman, Sara. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Education>TC>Rhetoric
#23799
Ask the Indexer: Get Answers to your Indexing Questions from Experienced Technical Indexers
After brief introductions by 4 panelists who are all members of the Indexing SIG (and experienced indexers and technical writers), we plan to discuss Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about indexing, and allow plenty of time for questions.
Bonura, Larry S., Dick Evans, Joan K. Griffitts and Peg Mauer. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Indexing>Technical Editing>FAQ
#30080
Assembly Instructions for a Correct Sentence: The Sentence Diagram
This workshop explores the whys and hows of sentence diagramming. Knowledge of the time-honored technique can aid editors, writers, and instructors in preventing and correcting pesky errors in sentence structure, including dangling modifiers, misplaced modifiers, and faulty parallelism. Diagramming offers the familiar look of technical drawings, the comforting feel of pencil on paper, and unmatched analytical potential.
Jennings, Ann S. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Writing>Grammar
#14994
Assessing Web Site Usability from Server Log Files
White paper on how to glean usability data from web server log files and how to use that data.
Tec-Ed, Inc. (1999). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#19904
The bibliography committee began the year with three goals: (1) explore the development of an online database for the bibliography, (2) survey members of ATTW at the annual meeting, and (3) continue to publish the annual bibliography in TCQ.
ATTW (1999). Resources>Bibliographies>TC
#18763
Authoring and Viewing Hybrid CD-ROMs
Hybrid CD technology, which allows publishing documents on CD-ROM and placing updates on a Web/FTP server, is the solution of choice for the delivery of time-critical, large technical documents requiring frequent updates.
Lanyi, Gabriel. STC Proceedings (1999). Design>Multimedia>CD ROM
#10193
With the advent of powerful networked desktop computers and the World Wide Web, authors have for the first time acquired control of the technology for scholarly communication. That radical change prompts the question of how authors have in the past fared under copyright law, and how they might fare in the future. Anglo-American copyright law has always attempted to regulate the interests of three parties: the author, the publisher, and the public. Before there was a formal copyright law, royal patents granted to the Stationer's Company created printing monopolies and facilitated state censorship. The concerns of authors were hardly considered. The 1710 Statute of Anne, our first formal copyright law, left printers the dominant power in relations between printers and authors. What is most remarkable about the Statute of Anne is that the state's interest began to shift from censorship toward the creation of a public domain for intellectual property.
Bennett, Scott. Journal of Electronic Publishing (1999). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>History