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RE: Paper documentation vs. online help?

Subject: RE: Paper documentation vs. online help?
From: "Susan W. Gallagher" <susanwg -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:44:24 -0700


At 01:53 PM 4/18/02 +0300, Erika Yanovich wrote:

...if a print manual is not needed and all we
have is online documentation, why choose PDF? The basis of PDF is a
"photocopy" of the print manual + a few more features added on top of that,
such as links, bookmarks, etc. If our media is the screen , why bother with
a print-to-online technology while you can author directly in a tool meant
for that?

It's never that a printed manual is not needed. Ask
the user! It's that a printed manual is an expense
that most companies choose to avoid.

Just because /our/target is the screen doesn't mean
that the screen is the /user's/ preferred delivery point.
Developing online help or HTML documentation provides
information that is easily accessed on-screen but is
extremely awkward to print out in any sizeable chunk.
And many users still prefer paper, especially when they
need to absorb highly complex technical info.

PDF is a compromise. We can deliver documentation that
meets the company's budget requirements (it's not as
costly as printing a book), provide information that
is easily accessible online, and still allow the user
to print out a chunk of information that has page numbers
and other paper-based user affordances.

My two cents.
-Sue Gallagher
susanwg -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com



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RE: Paper documentation vs. online help?: From: Erika Yanovich

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