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.
In case you missed it, I did preface my post with a disclaimer. At any
rate, I was merely stating my opinion that I find TW work (at least the
kind I do) to be very visual. And just for the record, I had a co-worker
and good friend for years who was blind, and she was incredibly good at
what she did (programming), and also wrote excellent specs. HOWEVER, no
matter how good someone is at interviewing, writing, project management,
etc., there is no escaping the fact that many TWs deal with HW products
that must be handled, inspected, played with, etc. in order to be
understood well enough to be written about - and with a minimum of
engineer interviews, too. In addition, many of us also handle document
design, page layout, and graphics work along with our writing and
editing duties. I'm sorry, but I honestly don't think a visually
impaired TW is a good fit in every single situation.
Sorry if I ruffled your feathers, or offended anyone else.
Chris Welch-Hutchings
Senior Technical Writer
Home Wireless Networks, Inc. mailto:cwhutchings -at- homewireless -dot- com
Sorry, but your post was somewhat inappropriate and
showed considerable ignorance of what blind writers
are capable of accomplishing.
I personally know and worked with a blind writer who
kicks my butt in terms of interviewing skills, writing
skills, project management, and product evaluation.
She uses software that reads menu items out loud,
and allows her to interact with and use a wide variety
of applications. She delivers her work on time and
to spec.
Soooo, before I get too off-topic, I'd just like to say that
before you judge what a blind writer is capable of, work
with one.
-----Original Message-----
From: Hutchings, Christa <cwhutchings -at- HOMEWIRELESS -dot- COM>
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Date: Thursday, July 02, 1998 10:57 AM
Subject: Re: Visually impaired technical writers
>Boy, David, this is a tough one! Not being visually impaired, it's hard
>to make a judgment call on what is or is not within their capabilities.
>However, TW is a very visually-oriented profession. It requires an
awful
>lot of "looking" at stuff - inspecting products/applications
first-hand,
>reading specs, etc. Then you have other issues, such as page layout,
>illustrations, etc. to deal with. It seems to me that a visually
>impaired TW would require an awful lot of hand-holding and I wonder how
>many engineer/programmers are out there in geek-land that would be
>willing to patiently describe (over and over) exactly how their gizmo
>works. It's hard enough sometimes to get them to explain things to
>someone who can see and play with the gadget.
>
>Just my $.02.
>
>Chris Welch-Hutchings
>Senior Technical Writer
>Home Wireless Networks, Inc.
>mailto:cwhutchings -at- homewireless -dot- com
