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.
Subject:RE: What do we call this button? From:Dannette Thompson <dthomps -at- foundationsoft -dot- com> To:'Scott Turner' <sturner -at- mail -dot- airmail -dot- net>, TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 18 Oct 2000 18:43:09 -0400
I'm sorry to do this folks ... but I can't resist. Maybe it's just because
I'm cranky because it's 6:30 p.m. and I'm still at work and don't see any
end in sight ...
But... why do our conversations about labeling/documenting screen items seem
always to turn into discussions about the design of the interface? We're
tech writers, and not all of us are blessed enough to have programmers who
accept our input and suggestions. Yes, it would be great if the [...] button
could say "Browse" instead. But it doesn't. And the poor person who asked
for suggestions probably doesn't have the leeway to have this changed. If
she did, she probably wouldn't have asked for our help!
I look at this as just one of the (great) challenges of our profession. In a
previous job, I documented microsoft products for training programs. It's
not like I could call up Bill and say, "I hate the dot-dot-dot you put on
that button. Would you please just change it because it's too hard for me to
write about it?" So you find a way to make the documentation work. You don't
gripe that "It's not my fault the docs are hard to read -- it's only because
the interface is difficult to understand!"
