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Subject:Re: know your ... who? From:jlshaeffer -at- aol -dot- com To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:10:29 -0500
Lauren wrote:
For example, a document prepared for recent high school graduates should be
written for that audience, so the writer should know how to write for high
school graduates. Such documentation should not contain complex terms that
require a college education to understand. A writer doesn't need to meet
every high school graduate that uses the document to know how to write for a
high school graduate. So I really don't understand the issue here. Writers
must know the audience of their documents.
End quote
Sounds good, but for many questions that are answered on this list with a "know your audience," that model does not work.
For example:
Does the recent high school graduate prefer a textual link or an iconic button?
Does the recent high school graduate use the Index or the Table of Contents or the Search button first?
Does the existence of 4 or more heading levels help them follow the material?
Which is proper, "an SQL ..." or "a SQL ... ?
I'm running out, but I'm sure there are even better counter-examples in the archives.
Jim Shaeffer
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