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.
Thanks for the reference. I find it interesting that Horton advocates using bold. In printed text and in E-mail, when I see bold I feel as if I am being shouted at (all caps is worse, however). However, loving words as I do, I tend to read closely.
I do not mean to be a gadfly, and if you can not recall, I understand, but on what evidence does Horton base his assertions?
Thanks in advance!
Leonard Porrello
----------
From: Laurel_Y_Nelson
Sent: Friday, January 22, 1999 3:12 PM
To: TECHWR-L; LCPORREL
Subject: Re: Contractions & Style
Leonard Porrello wrote:
On what do you base your assertion that contractions are harder to read
on-line? And, if this is true, how do on-line font size, resolution, and
refresh rate effect play in? Leonard Porrello
______________________________
"The most easily misread online marks are punctuation marks. Do not use
contractions. They are too hard for users to read online. If you write *do
not,* make the *not* bold. Avoid using colons and semicolons within
sentences. However, use colons at the end of a sentence when introducing a
bulleted list."
I'm sure Horton wrote information about font size, etc., but I didn't take
any notes on that so I can't answer your other question.
