technical writing

Documenting Campus Spaces: The Collaborative Accessibility Guide Assignment

Accessibility, Assignments, collaboration and group work, critical thought and analysis, genre and discourse community, professional writing, technical writing, visual/multimodal rhetorics /

Marie Pruitt Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description The Collaborative Accessibility Guide (CAG) assignment was originally designed for an upper-level writing course, Technical and Scientific Writing, taught at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) and large public research university. However, this assignment can easily be adapted for any technical or professional writing course. Over the course […]

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Framing Bad News: Hedging, Voice, and HR Memos

Activities, collaboration and group work, Critical Language Awareness, drafting and revising, genre and discourse community, grammar and mechanics, peer review, professional writing, reflection, rhetorical situation, technical writing /

Chris Mayer Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This two-class sequence, which is an ideal fit for professional writing or business communication courses, helps students see how grammatical and lexical choices shape the ethical and practical work of workplace communication. The project culminates in students drafting a one-page memo delivering bad news through announcing policy

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Brand Style Guide Assignment

digital literacy, professional writing, rhetoric, rhetorical appeals and argument, technical writing, visual/multimodal rhetorics, writing technologies /

Madeleine Sorapure Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description The Brand Style Guide (BSG) is a common genre for organizations both large and small. It establishes a verbal and visual style that employees can apply in print and digital communications, yielding consistency across different expressions of the brand. Creating a BSG is therefore a good fit

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Let’s Party: Composing a Review of the Literature on a Technical Topic

Process, professional writing, research, secondary source research, Synthesis, technical writing, Volume 6 /

Daniel P. Richards Volume 6 Chapter Description A literature review can take many forms and can be found in a wide array of academic, scientific, technical, and workplace documents spanning all fields and disciplines. Sometimes it is the full document; sometimes it is but part of a document. From essays in philosophy to journal articles

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Composing Technical Documents for Localized Usability in the International Context

cultural awareness, digital literacy, professional writing, technical writing, Volume 6, writing in global contexts, writing technologies /

Keshab Raj Acharya Volume 6 Chapter Description Culture matters in defining your behaviors, norms, values, and belief systems. These cultural factors affect how audiences in the international context perceive and react to the message you share with them. These cultural factors also mean that writing for international audiences is different from writing for your domestic

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How to Write for Global Audiences

cultural awareness, digital literacy, professional writing, technical writing, Volume 6, writing in global contexts, writing technologies /

Birgitta Meex Volume 6 Chapter Description In today’s globalized world, the demand for high quality localized content is growing. Localization entails translation of source content into one or more target languages and adaptation of the translated content to the needs and cultural specificity of the local market (locale). Source text quality together with internationalization is

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Designing Multimodal Technical Instructions for Cross-Cultural Resonance Using a Culturally Inclusive Approach

cultural awareness, digital literacy, professional writing, technical writing, visual/multimodal rhetorics, Volume 6, writing in global contexts, writing technologies /

Audrey G. Bennett Volume 6 Chapter Description The culturally inclusive approach introduced in this chapter can be used to design multimodal technical instructions that resonate cross-culturally by 1) representing culture competently from knowledge gleaned by conducting primary and secondary research and 2) enabling cross-cultural interpretation through interactive aesthetics. The approach aligns with a curriculum that

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Basic Approaches to Creating Accessible Documentation Projects: What Is Accessibility, and What Does It Have to do with Documentation Projects?

Accessibility, digital literacy, professional writing, technical writing, Volume 6, writing technologies /

Cathryn Molloy Volume 6 Chapter Description In this chapter, you’ll learn basic considerations for accessible documentation projects. The chapter will allow you to begin to approach documentationprojects with fundamental accessibly in mind. In order to do so, we’ll cover topics such as: considering colorblindness, considering dyslexia, and other conditions that alter visual abilities, creating documents

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“Not So Fast”: Centering Your Users to Design the Right Solution

Accessibility, digital literacy, professional writing, technical writing, Volume 6, writing technologies /

Candice Lanius and Ryan Weber Volume 6 Chapter Description User-centered design can help avoid assumptions about what audiences need and help avoid creating products, such as documents, websites, infographics, etc., that individuals cannot use. By placing the user of a product at the center of the design process, user-centered design makes the processes of design,

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Beyond Audience Analysis: Three Stages of User Experience Research for Technical Writers

Accessibility, digital literacy, identity, linguistic difference, linguistic diversity, professional writing, technical writing, Volume 6, writing technologies /

Joanna Schreiber Volume 6 Chapter Description UX research is central to technical writing work. The three phases of user experience (UX) research—background, primary, and usability testing—presented in this chapter are intended to help you see research as both a fundamental and ongoing part of technical writing. This chapter provides a foundation for building your knowledge

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