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RE: 2 style questions -- colons before tables, and "radio buttons"
Subject:RE: 2 style questions -- colons before tables, and "radio buttons" From:Brian Gordon <elasticsoul2003 -at- yahoo -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 5 Oct 2005 11:40:56 -0400 (EDT)
--- Andrew Wurzer <techwr-l -at- baldingape -dot- net> wrote:
>
> "(1) In user guides, do you use the term "radio
> button," "option button," or
> something else to describe what are traditionally
> known as radio buttons
> among developers?"
> We call it a radio button.
>
For the general public, I generally say "Select the
option that..." or "Click on the option that..."
without referring to buttons. If your developers have
set things up that users can click on the label or
radio button, then this works well. Calling it a radio
or option button seems to confuse folks, who go
looking for what they think of as a 'button.' If the
users must click on the little radio button circle,
you're in trouble.
> "(2) When tables do not have captions, do you allow
> the tables to be
> introduced with a colon, such as in the phrase, "The
> X fields are described
> as follows:" -- and then a table list of fields
> appears?"
> That is acceptable in our style guide, though
> captions are preferred.
>
Yes. In fact, for the general public, I prefer
captionless tables - I use a leading phrase like
yours. It seems more intuitive for people not used
to books containing tables. If my audience was
different, though, I would use a different approach.
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