Technical Writing in the Digital Age: Difference between revisions

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.{{sfn|Lucas |2014| }}

===Characteristics of Digital Documents===

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.{{sfn|WAI |2022| }} It is a legal requirement to include accessibility features in website design.{{sfn|WAI || }} There are four different types of impairment that can affect how a user interacts and perceives digital documents: vision, mobility, auditory, and cognitive.{{sfn|Robbins|2018|p=42}}Digital documents will need to be optimized so that information can be accessed by hardware and software tools used by people with disabilities.{{sfn|Barr|2010|p=103-104}}

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.{{sfn|Carroll|2010|p=79}}

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.{{sfn|Carroll|2010|p=36}}

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.

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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 and designing the document with the user in mind. <ref> {{cite book | last = Garrett | first = Jesse James | title = The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web and Beyond | publisher = New Riders | edition = 2nd | date = 2011 | location = Berkeley, CA | page = 17}} </ref>

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.<ref name=":2" />

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.<ref name=":0">Markel, Mike. ''Technical Communication''. 9th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, Boston, 2009. p.22-25.</ref>

Technical communicators also have to be careful to avoid plagiarism, or taking ideas, thoughts, or words from someone else and passing them off as ones own.<ref name=":5" />   

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 "[[w:Fake news|fake news]]," is information that is purposefully spread as false or misleading and is a sub-type of misinformation.<ref>Lawrence, Dan. (2022). ''Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web.'' Broadview Press. </ref> 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.<ref>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</ref> 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.

One such program is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT ChatGPT], which uses machine learning to produce texts with human-like style and tone. <ref>{{cite web | url =https://uca.edu/cetal/chat-gpt/ | title =Chat GPT: What is it? | last = | first = | date = | website =University of Central Arkansas | publisher = | access-date =October 9, 2023 }}</ref> Another leader in this area, Contentbot, uses a WordPress plugin which gives blog writers ideas to enhance their posts which are shared via email. <ref>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</ref>

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. <ref>Klein, Alyson. “ChatGPT Cheating: What to Do When It Happens.” Education Week (Bethesda, MD), 21 Feb. 2023. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=pwh&AN=2W64116997758&site=eds-live&scope=site.</ref> In such cases, students who incorporate artificially generated text into their work have been made to denote credit for the artificial intelligence program utilized.

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 ''[https://www.businessinsider.com/ Business Insider]'', writing jobs are among the top 10 roles that AI is most likely to replace. <ref>Mok, Aaron, and Jacob Zinkula. “ChatGPT May Be Coming for Our Jobs. Here Are the 10 Roles That AI Is Most Likely to Replace.” Business Insider, 4 Sept. 2023, www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-jobs-at-risk-replacement-artificial-intelligence-ai-labor-trends-2023-02.</ref>