TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I'm finding myself deeply amused by this discussion. Techwhirlers who'd
pitch a manual in the trash because they found three typos? As if none of
them ever left a typo in a document. Techwhirlers who consider grammar
unimportant? Order word accord verb irrelevant is? (Hey, at least all the
content in that sentence is right.) Techwhirlers who think readability and
usability are unimportant so long as the content is correct? Speaking of
content and usability: Mumble mumble mumble 12 V, 200 amp mumble mumble plug
in frammistat while holding keyboard in left hand and monitor in right hand.
Perfectly accurate and complete, therefore very good writing, huh? Of
course, nobody ever uses an index or table of contents, so let's not even
mention them.
C'mon, people, let's get realistic here. Typos happen, particularly when the
developers come by and ask for 200 words to be changed 5 minutes before you
burn the CD to send to the printer. Who has time for a spell check under
those circumstances? If the content is wrong, the docs are useless. If the
text is unreadable, the docs are useless. If the docs are readable but take
"too long" to read and decipher--an entirely subjective measure, but you can
bet your readers are pissed if they actually have to consult the
documentation--the docs are useless. ("Disarming the bomb. Reading about
this procedure should take you 120 seconds, and performing it should take
about 20 seconds. If the timer reads less than 140 seconds, start running
now. Hope you didn't take more than a few seconds to read this preamble!")
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html
"I vowed [that] if I complained about things more than three times, I had to
do something about it."--Jon Shear
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