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Technical Writing in the Digital Age

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Technical Writing in the Digital Age represents the dynamic and evolving discipline of creating written materials that convey complex information, instructions, and technical concepts in the context of contemporary digital technologies. Its purview encompasses the creation, dissemination, and management of technical documents and content within an expansive digital landscape.

Major considerations revolve around adapting traditional principles of rhetoric to digital platforms, ensuring effective communication in an era defined by rapid technological advancements. Key factors include integrating multimedia elements, user-centered design principles, and ethical considerations like accessibility and inclusivity. This discipline also extends to collaborative writing processes and version control systems, acknowledging the necessity of teamwork in producing accurate and up-to-date technical documentation. The use of multi-modality and the interfacing of multiple media platforms and sources also plays a role in digital technical writing. In essence, technical writing in the digital age encapsulates the art and science of conveying technical information in a manner that is comprehensible and accessible to diverse audiences in our digitally driven society.

Overview

Types of Technical Communication

Common types of technical communication include instructions, user guides, reports, proposals, memos, and procedures.[1] [2]

Aims of Technical Communication

As much as technical communication is a discipline in and of itself, it also exists within many other disciplines. Examples of technical communication communities can be found among such fields as varied as education, business, and science. Technical documentation within any domain typically embodies a similar aim: to help its audience act toward some sort of task or goal. [3]

Characteristics of Technical Communication

Because technical communication is intended to guide an audience, it must be assembled in such a way that it is very easily understood. Successful technical documentation is accurate, logically sound, and appropriate. [4] Communication can be said to be accurate in two different understandings: accurate in description and accurate in content. Accurate descriptions are easy to understand. Accurate content provides for the intended result. Communication that is delivered logically is well-organized and clear and can be approached in a manner that will be coherent for most users. Technical information that is appropriate contains elements and steps that are suitable for the intended purpose and audience.

Features of Technical Communication

Technical communication involves conveying complex information to a specific audience. Key features include accuracy, attention to detail, visuals, and clear and concise organization to enhance user understanding. [5]

Accuracy

Standards Compliant

Many technical fields have industry-specific regulations and guidelines which are determined by governing bodies and that also have an impact on their technical communication. Adhering to company standards in technical documents is crucial for consistency, professionalism, and ensuring that communication aligns with company expectations. Many companies have a style guide that outlines preferred language, tone, and formatting.

Detailed

Accurate information that is delivered with precision and specificity is essential to providing communication that is unambiguous and free of inconsistencies. Reviewing and revising the document is a key aspect in attention to detail. This includes checking for any overlooked errors, inconsistencies, or areas that may need clarification.

Objective

Objective communication is presented in an unbiased and impartial manner and is free of personal opinions. It relies upon facts and evidence and avoids an overly emotional tone. This approach is particularly important in fields such as journalism, scientific reporting, and technical communication were accuracy and impartiality are essential.

Clear and Concise

Clear language is organized logically, is not unnecessarily involved, and is easily understood by the target audience. It will avoid needless jargon and complexity. Good technical communication expresses meaning in a way that is straightforward and that avoids redundant words or excessive explanations. It is easy to both absorb and process.

Soundness

Formatted and Organized

Technical documents should be formatted in a way that is consistent with the norms and standards of applicable professional fields. Additionally, formatting should adhere to guidelines which enhance usability. Information should be logically organized for easy reading comprehension. This may involve using headings, subheadings, bullet points, and numbered lists. A well-organized document enhances the effective transfer of knowledge.

Graphic

Technical communication utilizes visuals strategically to facilitate understanding of textual content. Visuals such as diagrams, charts, graphs or images can enhance understanding on a technical document. When presented properly, they can elucidate difficult concepts and make material accessible to a more diverse audience.

Appropriateness

Audience-specific

Where possible, technical communication should be customized to align with the knowledge and needs of its audience. Tailor the communication style, tone and level of detail to match the audience's knowledge and expertise. Consider factors like technical background, familiarity with the subject, and specific user needs.

Historical Context

Technical Writing Profession

Joseph P. Chapline is considered to be one of the first technical writers, having written in 1949 the first ever user manual for the Binary Automatic Computer (BINAC), an early personal computer.[6] In the 1950s, technical writing as a distinct profession began to take shape when technical writers founded formal organizations, academic programs, and conferences dedicated to the art. One of these key writing associations was the Association of Technical Writers and Editors, also formed in the 1950s. Several of these groups eventually merged, forming the Society of Technical Communication in 1960.[7]

The need for paperwork ushered in by World War II served as the driving force for the technical writing profession in the United States. [8] This was a time years before the computer and photocopier became common office equipment. At that time the role of the technical writer revolved solely around words, their primary work tools consisted of either a pencil or ink pen and paper. Upon the technical writer writing words on paper, a typist or clerical worker would then type the words with a typewriter.

Advances in technology thrust the technical writing profession into a new era. The work of the technical writer may now also include not only text, but also images, drawings, and computer-based media. The current role of the technical writer is not only to write, but they may also be involved in research and information gathering, speaking with technical experts, and selecting document mediums and project tools. [9]

The projects of today's technical writers can be as varied as writing instructions to assemble a living room chair to creating websites. [10] And the titles of today's technical writers may vary as well. They may be referred to by names as diverse as information architects to documentation specialists. [10]

Digital Technologies and Technical Writing

With the rise of digital technology, technical writing has had to adapt to the needs of a digital era. The predominant impact of such a revolution was that it made technical communication more accessible by increasing the breadth of its viewers. The world-wide web is public, and thus, it can be accessed by anyone with access to the internet. Such a phenomenon can be exploited to increase the audience of a virtual document.

There are several web-based tools and techniques which allow digital documents to be more easily shared. Online word processors such as Google Docs and SharePoint allow documents to be easily disseminated. Comment capability allows audience members to interact about a document with one another as well as with the document author. Relationships created by such online interaction fosters an environment whereby online authors might choose to utilize hypertext to link the works of various others to their personal websites and vice versa. In all, technical documentation posted online can grow a considerable audience over time. However, many aspects of effective technical writing, such as clarity, conciseness, completeness, and correctness, still need to be applied to technical writing created for digital interfaces. [11]

Personas in Digital Writing

Personas in the context of digital writing refer to semi-fictional characters that encapsulate the characteristics, behaviors, and needs of target audience segments. They align closely with the principles of user-centered design (UCD).[12] There are myriad ways to integrate user-centered thinking into the creative process of UX design, and personas are one of the most effective ways to empathize with and analyze users.[13]

Rhetorical Strategies in the Digital Age

Rhetoric is a communication strategy whose primary goal is to persuade an audience. It is grounded in three foundational concepts first defined by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. These concepts are logos, which engages with the reader’s sense of logic or reason; pathos, which appeals to the reader’s emotions; and ethos, which addresses the audience’s values and the writer’s credibility. Within this framework, writers utilize specific techniques or devices to influence and engage readers. Examples include appealing to an audience’s sense of logic by using factual examples to support a point or evoking emotion through descriptive visual language. [14]

In today’s digital age, writers can use digital technologies as rhetorical devices to influence the reader. Electronic images and informational graphics can be incorporated into digital and online documents to illustrate or reinforce points made in the text.[3] Hyperlinks can be used to provide additional information that supports the author's ideas. Nevertheless, the writer's basic task of informing and persuading an audience is the same in digital communication as in other forms of writing.[15]

Rhetorical analysis involves analyzing the demographics and habits of an intended audience. The information gathered allows writers to craft messages that appeal to the target audience. In the digital age, websites and social media platforms convey rhetorical messages.[16]

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO refers to the practice of optimizing online content to enhance its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs), making it a crucial skill for digital writers.[17] To optimize content for SEO means to have the goal of SEO in mind at the time of designing, creating, and writing a web page for publication. Using keywords and alt-text are two examples of optimizing content for SEO. [18]

Using Keywords

Keywords are the words that search engines crawl a website for and index as the page's most important words. Based on other pages using the same keywords, the website is added into the search engine results pages from best matches to worse matches. Depending on where the website falls in that scale based on the specific keywords being searched by a user, influences where the website pops up in the associated search results.[17] To optimize a website's keywords, you should begin with researching keywords on your own website and ensure that you have an XML sitemap so search engine's such as Google can crawl your web pages for updated information. In addition to using keywords, updating a page's metadata information can also help with showing up on SERPs. Using title and header tags as well as meta descriptions for content also helps optimize a website's ratings in SERPs.[17]

Using Alt-Text

Alt-Text (alternative text), or Alt Attributes, is a practice that increases the usability and accessibility of a web page for users. Alt-Text is often used for visual elements that cannot be displayed in a different format but still provides description of the element for screen readers or users that may have a disability. Alt-Text also improves a website's SEO as a form of content optimization.[17]

Social Media Presence

Sharing content from a website across different social media platforms is another way to create SEO optimization. This technique can help with being seen as legitimate and improves visibility of the website overall. Additionally it can drive traffic and enables back-linking to occur when other websites have the ability to also link to the website.[17]

Digital Documentation

Digital documentation is the conversion of physical documents into digital files, enabling easier access, retrieval, and sharing of information. It includes features like searchability, version control, and security measures to ensure data integrity and confidentiality.[19]

Characteristics of Digital Documents

Accessibility

Website content should be designed in accordance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure that individuals with disabilities are able to access the same information as those without disabilities.[20] It is a legal requirement to include accessibility features in website design.[21] There are four different types of impairment that can affect how a user interacts and perceives digital documents: vision, mobility, auditory, and cognitive.[22]Digital documents will need to be optimized so that information can be accessed by hardware and software tools used by people with disabilities.[23]

Readability

Digital documents rely on the "Seven Cs" of precise writing to be effective and increase readability. Forms of technical writing must have readability. Readability is a term used to determine whether the content has clarity, conciseness and courtesy.[24] The other four Cs are coherent, concrete, correct and complete.[25]

Scannability

A document's scannability is determined by the ease in which it can be scanned to determine meaning. Readers often scan pages for words and phrases that align with their task or interests, as well as for trigger words that are deeply ingrained.[26]The most effective web content is concise and simple to scan, making it easy for users to find the important information. Breaking up text into interesting, easy-to-read sections helps users quickly find information. [27]

Hyperlinking

Hyperlinking is a quick and efficient method for directing readers to relevant information in digital documents, facilitating seamless navigation between sections, references, and external resources.[28]

Multimedia

Digital documents can incorporate multimedia elements like images, audio, video, and interactive content, enhancing engagement through visual and auditory elements. Multiple media formats work best when sharing new, complicated ideas.[29] Increasing multimodality on a website improves engagement, usability, and accessibility. This can improve the impact of the website's standings in SERPs.[30]

Version Control

Version control is a characteristic of digital documents that allows for the tracking of edits and revisions to digital documents. In collaborative writing, version control helps maintain the document with accountability and transparency.[31]

Remote Collaboration

One form of collaborative technical writing is a wiki, which is a "Web site developed collaboratively by a community of users, allowing any user to add and edit content.[32] One of the predominant elements of a wiki is that it is defined as being open source. As a result, anyone can modify it regardless of their geographic locations.

Examples of Digital Documents

In technical and professional writing, digital documentation takes various forms. These methods streamline the sharing of technical information, enhance collaboration, and ensure easy accessibility within professional settings, contributing to efficient communication and knowledge dissemination.

Infographics

Infographics, shared as digital documents, typically combine text, graphics, and illustrations to convey complex concepts or data in a concise and visually appealing format. Infographics are often used to simplify information, making it more accessible to a broader audience, and are found in presentations, reports, websites, and educational materials. [33]

Presentations

Presentations created with PowerPoint or Google Slides are vital for professional communication and knowledge sharing. They condense complex information into visually appealing slides for effective presentations by using photos, videos, graphics, charts, and graphs. [34]

User Experience

User experience is how a product works from the perspective of the user. Digital documents can be created with efficient user experiences by focusing on user-centered design. [35]

User-Centered Design

The approach of user-centered design (UCD) in technical writing consists of the following methodology[36]:

User Research

User research is the act of conducting thorough research through surveys, interviews, and usability testing to gain a better understanding of user needs and experiences when using a digital document.

Ideation and Prototyping

Ideation and prototyping refers to the process of creating digital designs and prototypes to assist with exploring possible solutions to meet user needs.

Usability Testing

Usability testing refers to the act of having users interact with digital document designs and recording and adjusting the design based on user feedback.

Implementation

Implementation is the stage in which the design is implemented after making adjustments from prior testing.

Evaluation

Evaluation refers to the stage in which the digital document is assessed to ensure that it is meeting user needs.

Maintenance and Updates

Maintenance and updates are required in order to maintain a digital document based on user feedback and changing needs.

Ethical Considerations

In technical workplaces, resolving ethical dilemmas will be part of one's job. Resources, time, and reputations are at stake, so one will feel pressure to overpromise, underdeliver, bend the rules, cook the numbers, or exaggerate results. Technical fields are also highly competitive, so people sometimes stretch a little further than they should. Ethical dilemmas can force one into situations in which all choices seem unsatisfactory[37].

The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is the world's oldest professional association dedicated to advancing the field of technical communication.[38] The STC promotes adherence to a list of ethical principles. They are legality, honesty, confidentiality, quality, fairness, and professionalism.[39]

Technical communicators also have to be careful to avoid plagiarism, or taking ideas, thoughts, or words from someone else and passing them off as one's own.[40]

Technical communicators have ethical standards to which they must abide. The standards are divided into three primary categories. They are the employer, the public, and the environment.[41]

The Employer

Obligations to one's employer include competence and diligence, honesty and candor, confidentiality, and loyalty.[41] The technical communicator must adhere to these obligations so that he/she does not harm the reputation or operation of the employer.

Technical communicators may occasionally work for an organization with strict privacy policies that prohibit them from using the documents they create outside of the organization. It is important for ethical communicators to follow the privacy policy for their organization because unauthorized release of information could lead to consequences up to and including termination.[42]

The Public

Organizations are obligated to treat customers fairly. Technical communicators must convey that the products or services an organization sells are safe and effective.[41]

The Environment

Technical communicators have an obligation to the environment. This obligation includes alerting their supervisors, managers, and executive leadership to products or processes that are detrimental to the environment. Protecting the environment can be costly, however, and organizations may consider ignoring legal guidelines to save money.[41] Yet, failure to adhere to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations also has financial implications. For example, the penalty for mishandling hazardous waste is five years and/or up to $50,000 for each day of the violation.[43]

Disinformation

One major ethical concern in all forms of writing, but especially in digital writing, is the creation and spread of disinformation. Disinformation, often referred to as "fake news," is information that is purposefully spread as false or misleading and is a sub-type of misinformation.[44] Modern communication technologies allow for the spread of information to occur at a fast pace. Social media is one area where the spread of disinformation occurs regularly. Some social media sites, such as Facebook, have begun to flag certain articles posted on the site as being questionable in their representation of facts or occurrences. Despite the widespread understanding and use of disinformation available today, digital writers need to be aware of their intent and the audience's needs and wants from their digital communication.[45] Ethical considerations regarding citing sources, cross-referencing information, and using primary sources are good practices for maintaining ethical standing and credibility as a digital writer.

To help mitigate the problem of disinformation, technical writers should utilize gatekeepers. These individuals verify the accuracy of the information before it is distributed to primary readers. This helps protect the author from any ethical and/or legal issues.[42]

Pedagogical Approaches

Barriers to teaching technical communications include the speed at which digital tools evolve and the complexity of software. [46]

Informal writing, such as some emailing, instant messaging, and texting, has crept into academic writing. In a study conducted by the Pew Internet & America Life Project, almost half of the respondents admitted to omitting proper punctuation and capitalization. Others even used emoticons. Colleges and universities now must focus on educating students on the different forms of written communication and when best to employ them.[40]

Future Trends and Challenges

Future Trends

Between 2022 and 2032, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics is projecting a 7% job growth for technical writers. [47]

Challenges

Among others, a prominent barrier to technical writers is the dependency on input information accuracy. Outdated, incorrect, or inconsistent data delays the publication, requires more reparative efforts, and decreases productivity. [48] Also, Technical writers often have to contend with complex, outdated or unsuitable tools. This can make their job more difficult and time-consuming, and can lead to frustration and errors.[49]

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence programs, utilizing natural language processing, are capable of producing technical writing and have advanced in recent years becoming more adept.[50] One such program is ChatGPT, which uses machine learning to produce texts with human-like style and tone. [51] Another leader in this area, Contentbot, uses a WordPress plugin which gives blog writers ideas to enhance their posts which are shared via email. [52]

Plagiarism

Because of the ability of chatbots to imitate human-like language, some education administrators have taken precautions to minimize the occurrence of students passing off artificially generated texts as their own. In some instances, educators have taken the view that material drawn from artificial intelligence software must be handled in the same way as sources from human authors. [53] In such cases, students who incorporate artificially generated text into their work have been made to denote credit for the artificial intelligence program utilized.

Credit

The advent of chatbots has complicated the issue of credit where creative work is concerned. Because chatbots can simulate human speech, their ability to create cinematic dialogues and other types of creative writing have threatened the credits and financial condition of professional writers. According to an article by Aaron Mok and Jacob Zinkula on Business Insider, writing jobs are among the top 10 roles that AI is most likely to replace. [54]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Lannon & Gurak 2022, p. 30.
  2. ↑ Mussack 2021.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Markel & Selber 2019.
  4. ↑ Perelman 1998.
  5. ↑ Smirti 2022.
  6. ↑ Malone 2008.
  7. ↑ Malone 2011, pp. 285-306.
  8. ↑ Rathbone 1958.
  9. ↑ Macari 2023.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Grimstead 1999.
  11. ↑ Carroll 2010, p. 24.
  12. ↑ Lucas 2023a.
  13. ↑ Goltz 2014.
  14. ↑ Gagich & Zickel n.d., pp. 34-37.
  15. ↑ Devos et al. 2010, p. 105.
  16. ↑ Lawrence 2022, pp. 6-14.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Lucas 2023b.
  18. ↑ Barr 2010, chpt. 17.
  19. ↑ Lucas 2014.
  20. ↑ WAI 2022.
  21. ↑ WAI.
  22. ↑ Robbins 2018, p. 42.
  23. ↑ Barr 2010, p. 103-104.
  24. ↑ Zeleznik, Burnett, & Benson 1999, p. 207.
  25. ↑ Last 2019.
  26. ↑ Krug 2014, p. 23.
  27. ↑ Barr 2010, p. 103.
  28. ↑ Carroll 2010, p. 79.
  29. ↑ Carroll 2010, p. 36.
  30. ↑ Carrol 2010, p. 280.
  31. ↑ Lucas 2023c.
  32. ↑ Lucas 2021.
  33. ↑ Lannon, John M.; Gurak, Laura J. (2020). Technical Communication Fifteenth Edition. United States: Pearson. pp. 292–293. ISBN 978-0-13-520322-4.
  34. ↑ Parkinson, Mike (2018). A Trainer’s Guide to PowerPoint: Best Practices for Master Presenters. United States: Association for Talent Development. pp. Chapter 4. PowerPoint Tips, Tricks, and Secrets.
  35. ↑ Garrett, Jesse James (2011). The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web and Beyond (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: New Riders. p. 17.
  36. ↑ Lucas, Gerald. (September 21,2023). "User Centered Design and Digital Documents." grlucas.net. MediaWiki. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  37. ↑ Johnson-Sheehan, Richard. “Managing Ethical Challenges.” Technical Communication Today, 6th ed., Pearson, Boston, MA, 2018, pp. 71–84.
  38. ↑ “About STC.” Society for Technical Communication, 19 May 2021, www.stc.org/about-stc/ Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  39. ↑ “Ethical Principles.” Society for Technical Communication, 20 May 2021, www.stc.org/about-stc/ethical-principles/ Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Carroll, Brian. Writing for Digital Media. Routledge, New York, 2010. p. 280.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 Markel, Mike. Technical Communication. 9th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, Boston, 2009. p.22-25.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 "Ethics" Balzotti, Jon (2022). Technical Communication: A Design-Centric Approach. New York. Routledge. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-003-00606-0
  43. ↑ "Criminal Provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act", United States Environmental Protection Agency, retrieved November 6, 2023
  44. ↑ Lawrence, Dan. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web. Broadview Press.
  45. ↑ Lucas, Gerald. (September 13, 2023). "Audience-Centric Style in Digital Writing" in From Reading to Writing: A Composition FAQ Textbook. Retrieved October 22, 2023. https://grlucas.net/grl/CompFAQ/Digital_Writing/Style
  46. ↑ Hovde, Marjorie; Renguette, Corinne (2017). "Technological Literacy: A Framework for Teaching Technical Communication Software Tools". Technical Communication Quarterly. 26: 395–411. doi:10.1080/10572252.2017.1385998.
  47. ↑ "Occupational Outlook Handbook". Bureau of Labor Statistics. September 6, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  48. ↑ Common problems in technical writing and how to resolve them (componize.com)
  49. ↑ [1]
  50. ↑ Marr, Bernard (January 23, 2023). "How ChatGPT And Natural Language Technology Might Affect Your Job If You Are A Computer Programmer". Forbes. Retrieved October 31, 2023.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  51. ↑ "Chat GPT: What is it?". University of Central Arkansas. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  52. ↑ Siddiqui, Zafar (January 2022). "Will Best Artificial Intelligence Take Over any Technical Content Writer?" The Writing Cooperative. https://writingcooperative.com/intricacies-of-ai-tools-can-ai-tools-take-over-the-jobs-of-technical-writers-af36836f625c
  53. ↑ Klein 2023.
  54. ↑ Mok 2023.

Bibliography

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