Tech writing is changing, has changed, and the old ways won’t work any longer. Many of my posts over the past year address those considerations. Here they are.
Writing Styles
Smaller screens. Smaller devices. Smaller word counts, don’t you think?
Think Mobile When You Write
Cut, Cut, Cut Your Content and Procedures
Video and Touchscreens
Well, keyboards and Flash are perhaps [...]
(1-Yr Archive) New Writing Methodologies
May 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
(1-Yr Archive) Fav Post: Might We Become Walking Computers?
May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I’m going to be going through my archives from my first year (see other post) and present some again.
This archive post is a definite peek at the future. I had been reading about cool technologies either in place or in development. The post ties it all together, envisioning a time where we wear different components [...]
Think Outside the Computer: Touchscreens, HTML5, & Flash
May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Touchscreens are here to stay. Computers as we know them are gone already. Really. It’s time to fast-track the planning for delivering docs and content to these types of devices.
Forget a laptop or netbook. I have a computer I can fit in a pocket. That would be my iPhone. I look at it as a [...]
Tech Writer or Tech Communicator? Or TechWtr?
April 4, 2010 By 8 Comments
For some reason, I just started thinking of the age-old debate of using Technical Writer or Technical Communicator (or variations thereof). My preference is neither: it’s Tech Writer. Short & crisp. Snappy. Other reasons are listed below.
1. I don’t want to be known as a Communicator, or have to introduce myself as such. I’m a [...]
Might We Become Walking Computers?
July 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment
What do an article in Wired magazine about attaching a sensor to your running shoe and uploading it via iPod for data analysis, a camping trip, an article about wearing video screens, a scientist husband, a discussion about wildlife parks, office work, and work by a W3C working group have in common? If you can [...]
Think Mobile When You Write
July 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Always keep the small screen in mind when you’re preparing your docs. There are some W3C “mobileOK” guidelines to consider to ensure that your content meets requirements. Here are some highlights:
Tables
- No nested tables
- Tables must have more than one row and more than one cell per row
Page Titles
- There must be a Title element [...]
Use of Flexible Screens in Documentation
June 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Lately, I’ve come across two articles about flexible screens. One is for small touch screens, the other is about video.
What’s particularly interesting about the video flexible screens is that the article in Technology Review states that there is a possibility that such screens could be “worn on wrists, and plastered on clothes.” Now imagine this [...]
A New Doc Strategy
March 31, 2009 By Leave a Comment
In years past, a doc strategy was fairly straightforward: prepare print documents that were either in binders or printed into a book. Then came online help, so both were used. Then PDF was added as an option. For many, that’s as far as capabilities have progressed.
The new reality is that technology is rapidly changing and [...]