Dramatically improve your end-user’s experience with embedded, dynamic help. Check out this month’s Doc-To-Help Tech Connection to find out how from Nicky, our Doc-To-Help Senior Information Developer, as she showcases the benefits of using the ComponentOne DynamicHelp control. You can also sign-up for an upcoming Doc-To-Help Webcast at no charge, download the latest Doc-To-Help software update, and find out about a future Podcast that highlights five ways Doc-To-Help can make your life easier.
It’s all inside Doc-To-Help Tech Connection.
In this economy, you need to be noticed. And now you can be. MadCap Software is offering certification for MadCap Flare. After taking a short test, submitting a small project, and paying $149, you can be Certified MAD! After you’re certified, you can use the Certified MAD for Flare logo on your blog, website, resume and more. For more details and to sign up, go to www.madcapsoftware.com/training/certification.
Ellis Pratt of Cherryleaf Ltd has started the “I’m a Tech Writer” project. From the website: “Technical Writers (aka Technical Authors, Content Wranglers and Documentation Managers) have an unfair image. This project aims to challenge this image, by showing technical writers in a different light. The photos below are of technical communications professionals, doing a variety of activities.”
Over 40 pictures have been uploaded so far. (Great shots, too!) As a general rules, technical communicators are considered introverts, but as these pictures show, we have lots of interests. And we really like to travel!
Visit the I’m a Tech Writer project and submit your picture today!
MadCap Software has announced free webinars for next year for anyone who is interested. Most of the webinars are tools-independent:
- Sharon Burton will present Topic-based Authoring: Doing more with less on 15 June.
- Sarah O’Keefe will present DITA 101—Why the Buzz? on 5 February.
- Bonni Graham will present Moving to Topic-based Authoring: Making the Business Case on 12 February.
- Eddie VanArdell will present Planning for Content Reuse: Best Practices for Legacy and New Content on 24 February.
- Neil Perlin will present Can your HAT be a Content Management System? on 12 March.
In addition, Mike Hamilton will present Advanced Publishing Techniques in Flare V4 or Blaze V1 on 29 January.
All webinars take place at 9 am Pacific Time. Use the World Clock Meeting Planner to add the webinar to your schedule. (Be sure to register first!)
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has released the working draft dated 24 November 2008 of the Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG 2.0). Because it is a working draft, it does not succeed ATAG 1.0.
This working draft specifies the guidelines for authoring tools that want to be more accessible and includes several changes to ATAG 1.0. “An authoring tool that conforms to these guidelines will promote accessibility by providing an accessible user interface to authors with disabilities as well as enabling, supporting, and promoting the production of accessible Web content by all authors.” Their definition of “authoring tool” includes those that are used to edit HTML (such as Dreamweaver or Notepad) and those that are used to publish to HTML (such as Microsoft Word), in addition to the authoring tools listed on HAT-Matrix.com, plus more (such as whiteboards and chat programs).
Comments on this draft are due by 6 January 2009.
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