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.
Howard Rauch wrote:
>
.... The company is currently putting together a team to modify the
training materials for use in the European Community, initially the
United Kingdom. Do any of you know whether the European Community or its
member countries have publication standards that would apply to a
project like this?
...
You will want to find out whether the product falls under the "CE mark"
jurisdiction. I may be making this too simple, but the CE mark is an
approval process where the product meets minimum standards under all
sorts of criteria. It looks to me like anything manufactured goods sold
in Europe must bear the CE mark.
For the CE mark, I know of two requirements regarding documentation.
First, you have to have it. The manual is part of the product and
without the manual you do not get the certification. Second,
documentation must be in English as well as the native language for the
target country. I've seen several pieces of documentation for products
with the CE mark and most of them have a bunch of languages (English,
French, Danish, Russian, Sweedish, Norwegian, Polish, Italian, German,
Swiss, and several others). If you are only dealing with Great Britain,
I think you can get by with English (unless you want to include Gaelic
<g>). Maybe someone will correct me on that.
Our company is working with a consulting firm that specializes in
helping manufacturers secure CE marks for their products. It has been
very interesting and helpful. Your customer probably is working with a
similar consultant, or should be, unless they've gone the CE route
recently. The CE mark requirements change frequently and having someone
who keeps abreast of the changes can save a lot of aggravation. Try to
find out if your client is working with one of the consultants.
Hopefully you can avoid doing the same research that might be just a
phone call away.
--
Tom Johnson
tjohnson -at- grandtraverse -dot- com
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
