RE: icons vs. buttons?

["Keith Hansen" <KRH -at- weiland-wfg -dot- com>]

Janice wrote:

<<Click the OK button (indicated by a thumbs-up icon).>>

Let's assume the button does NOT have a thumbs-up icon. It just has the
letters "OK" on it.

Is it necessary to say "Click the OK button"?

Or is just "Click OK" acceptable?

What is the consensus?

Keith

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+krh=weiland-wfg -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+krh=weiland-wfg -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Janice Gelb
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 4:39 PM
To: Tracy Taylor
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: icons vs. buttons?

Caveats: I don't know if there is an industry standard and I am *not* an
interface professional. However, my personal take on this from the usage
I've seen in our documentation and documentation from other products is
that the button is what initiates the action, and the icon is the pretty
picture that enables you to identify the button. A link is active text
that takes you to another location.

    Click the OK button (indicated by a thumbs-up icon).

    Click the Probe Actions link for more information about
    the actions available to probes.

-- Janice

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