Technical writing newsletter 3: December 2003
Document status: archived
Documentation standards
Experts from around the world are developing ISO 18019, a new international standard for software documentation. The standard has just been approved for publication, subject to minor editorial changes. Mike Unwalla is on the editing team.
Consumers need clear technical documentation for the goods they purchase. Guidelines to help small manufacturing companies to produce user-friendly instruction manuals are being developed under the SecureDoc project. TechScribe is participating in this project.
Every year the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators holds a competition to find examples of the best documentation. This year the ISTC awarded Mike Unwalla a commendation for the Bransom Stock Control User Guide. See www.techscribe.co.uk/techw/press-documentation-award.htm.
Community involvement
Lowtech is a Sheffield-based community organization that uses redundant IT equipment to provide free computer training. TechScribe is supporting this project. See www.techscribe.co.uk/techw/press-community.htm.
Resources
National Plain English Day is on Tuesday, December 2. The event has been organized by the Plain English Campaign. Their website (www.plainenglish.co.uk) has an excellent set of resources to help non-specialists write clear English.
Finally, do you know anyone who wants to export to the Middle East? Export2Gulf is a low-cost route to promoting products and services in the Gulf region.
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