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.
One more point about skills needed for web design. . .
Subject:One more point about skills needed for web design. . . From:Heather Achtziger <hachtziger -at- ROCKTENN -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 29 Aug 1997 08:51:48 -0400
First of all, thanks to Kathy for summarizing and for the ones you
forwarded on to me. This is a good topic. . . to which I have one more
point to add!
While I haven't actually designed any web pages, I have done quite a bit of
research on designing documentation that's accessible by visually impaired
people. I've found some great information about making web sites
accessible -- specifically about adding graphics. You should consider
whether you'll have visitors who: 1) are blind and use screen readers or
text browsers (both of which only read text -- graphics make no sense to
them), 2) only use a text browser for reasons other than that they are
visually impaired, and 3) have opted to turn off the graphics display
feature on their browsers.
Your web site should be as accessible to as many people as possible --
especially if some of those people are customers. And believe it or not,
you can make some pretty simple modifications to ensure accessibility. And
these modifications don't have to alter your web pages to the extent that
they're unattractive to sighted people (i.e. you don't have to eliminate
all graphics). As far as graphics are concerned, the National Center for
Accessible Media has developed the Universal Access Symbol (that designates
that a web designer has made efforts to design accessibility into the site)
and the D Link (which you can place next to a graphic and that links to a
brief and concise textual description of the graphic). The UA symbol is
free to download and use. For more info, check out the UA symbol and the D
Link at NCAM's web site: http://www.boston.com/wgbh/pages/ncam/ncamhome.html
Also, for more accessibility techniques and issues, check out The Trace
Research and Development Center's web page at http://www.trace.wisc.edu/
Cool stuff!!
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
