Re: Information needed

[Carter Hansen <chansen -at- CWIS -dot- UNOMAHA -dot- EDU>]

"Sandy, Corinne"  writes:
> I was on an interview when the perspective employer asked whether I was
> familiar with standards regarding  the formatting of screens, the best
> colors to choose for ease of viewing, etc.    She didn't know the name and
> her description of the relative standards was vague (she said "it's called
> something like 'workflow'").   Can anybody help with this one?

> Also, would someone be so kind as to inform me what SGML is?  This was also
> brought up, and she stated that you can go to a  certification program or
> something to learn the standards.(?????)  Please advise.

If you are speaking of formatting application screens, IBM published some
presentation guidleines referred to as CUA (Common User Access?).  The
version most developers use is CUA'91 (for 1991), but I believe a more
recent version is available (CUA'94?).

Regarding standards for online documentation screens, I know of none
other than those "experts" in online or visual communication have
proposed (e.g., STC Fellow William Horton's _Designing and Writing Online
Documentation_).

As far as SGML standards, I would suggest getting a copy of some
SGML-compliant publishing software.  For example, the current version
of Corel Ventura 5.0 (nee Ventura Publisher) supports SGML documents,
I believe.  Simply using an SGML-compliant template would seem to force
you to comply with the SGML standards, since the standards are imbedded
in the document's style sheet.

                                                Happy Holidays!
                                                Carter Hansen
                                                CARTERCH -at- AOL -dot- COM