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Jill's point about taking into account the needs of users with a wide range
of systems is well taken. In fact, I took the liberty of forwarding an
excerpt of her message to the committees, of which I am a member, that do
the STC pubs and EDOC competition judging for the Boston Chapter. (Hope
that was OK, Jill.)
***RANT WARNING***
This is an argument I have had with Bill Horton before. I think you need to
take into account the needs and expectations of users and the influence of
the platform(s) or media through which they experience the documentation.
Bill tends to argue for a more absolute standard of goodness. (Gross
oversimplification on both sides, I admit.) The "correct" interpretation,
of course, probably lies somewhere between the two.
We also have to keep in mind that we are not creating great art or
literature here. Our purpose is to create something useful. And our
ultimate product is not a book, a web site, or a multimedia piece. Our
ultimate product is an empowered user.
***End of Rant***
That's my $0.02, anyway. Thanks to Jill, Suzette, and the survey
respondents for bringing up such good points.
Marguerite Krupp
Founder of the FIRST Electronic Documentation Competition
