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I conclude that there is ample authoritative support for
either position, but that this is probably of little import
compared to political power in such matters.
We (Tech Pubs) revisited our decision against giving GUI
elements any special treatment, and we still don't think
it's worthwhile. (Further, we've now established a large
body of work that would require gradual revision over
several years if we changed our style.)
As the department editor, it's good to know the writers are
solidly behind me on this decision, whether or not we're
overwhelmed by powerful novices.
It was also good to get some new (to me) ideas about
treatments that were less splotchy-looking that bolding.
(Italics, faces, I-caps.)
The following are my personal opinions, based on my personal
experiences as a reader. (Did I emphasize the personal
nature enough?)
I don't subscribe to the idea that an expert reader could
skim the bolded terms in a procedure. This sounds like a
good idea, but we don't read with our minds, we read with
our eyes. So good ideas don't always measure out as improved
readability. In other words, I've never skimmed that way.
I do think that in some cases we could save stumbling over
"natural language" labels by bolding or otherwise
distinguishing GUI elements. (Thanks for reminding me RGC.)
In other words, I have stumbled over long GUI element names,
trying to discover where the name ended and the discourse
resumed.
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