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.
Has anyone had a debate on which term to use for the four keys on your
keyboard with the symbols that point in different directions? My department
has looked in several software user guides and style manuals and found many
inconsistencies. These keys are called direction keys, arrow keys and cursor
control keys (to name the most common). Their use is just as inconsistent
(press, use, move...).
The final vote was five against one to use "arrow keys" because we feel our
users are most familiar with that term (That is who we are writing for,
aren't we?).
For example: Use the DOWN ARROW key to blah, blah, blah.
There may be times when this phrase does not work, depending on what we want
the user to do and how we want to tell them to get there.
