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.
** High Priority **
** Reply Requested When Convenient **
Seriously...doing what we do...isn't it more important to satisfy the needs
of the user/customer/employer than to have inner peace knowing that should the w3 consortium point their validator at the site, that it won't find any " border="0" " tags or unnamed image ALT tags?
Major snippage...
"My experience has been that sometimes we (and sometimes I) loose track of the ultimate goal and make the process of getting there more important." -John Posada
I tend to personally have a problem with this exact scenario. I spent so much time on the formatting and look of my first manual that I left out some very important information.
I'm currently working on a training registration page for our InfoNET that involves several other departments who do training. In our meetings, several people who attended bring up "1% of the time" possibilities, and want the site to address them. As a result, every meeting we've had brings us further from our original goal, and closer to total chaos.
I think that in all cases, we have to look at what is important, but FIRST we have to look at what's necessary. I learned in school (my computer course) that we would *always* get all the info first and then format. I think the same applies for a project.
As far as I'm concerned, as a Project Manager, I'd rather get 16 pages of info in Courier text which contains what I need than 32 pages of Times New Roman with lovely headers and footers that tells me nothing. (Just an analogy...)
Where do we go from here? I think (my *opinion*) that we need to look at upcoming projects in greater depth before starting them, and take extra time to determine the needs of our clients/customers/staff/employers and what tools and format will meet the needs adequately, do it adequately, and THEN worry about doing it WELL.
"If you ain't makin' waves, you ain't kickin' hard enough"
Lisa Comeau
IS Super-User/Trainer
Certification and Testing Division
Canadian Standards Association
Rexdale, ON
comeaul -at- csa -dot- ca
