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: Labels on forms: Abbreviate or use symbols? From:"Meryl R. Cohen" <merylster -at- gmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com, Cheryl Magadieu <cmagadieu -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:10:53 -0500
Maybe I'm missing something in your question. Why don't you simply have a
column header that takes up two lines?
Meryl
On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 10:57 AM, Cheryl Magadieu <cmagadieu -at- gmail -dot- com>wrote:
> My company's usability standards team has a question about the style for
> abbreviations and symbols in form labels. Our company's product is online,
> and the user interface often uses two-column tables to display forms. The
> forms include sections where users enter data such as patient names,
> addresses, and phone numbers. Sometimes the form labels are so long that we
> can't fit them into the allotted space without abbreviating them or using
> symbols. For example, one label is "Patient Account Number." We're debating
> whether to abbreviate it as "Patient Account No." or to use the pound
> symbol: "Patient Account #". Which usage do you think would be more
> familiar
> to users, both in the U.S. as well as internationally? I checked a few
> style
> guides to see if they provide any guidance, but the only guidance I could
> find was to avoid abbreviations whenever possible.
>
> Cheryl
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Use Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word, or HTML and
produce desktop, Web, or print deliverables. Just write (or import)
and Doc-To-Help does the rest. Free trial: http://www.doctohelp.com
Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at: http://www.ModernAnalyst.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
