Clearing the check marks

["Boudreaux, M (GE Healthcare, consultant)" <MadelynBoudreaux -at- ge -dot- com>]

Hi, all!

> When you are instructing a user that all checkboxes on a form or
> dialogue box need to be deselected, with no way of knowing if any of
> them may be selected at any given time, how do you write the step?
> 
> I'm assuming MSMoS preferences here. I'm more interested in syntax
> than in terminology (all suggestions are welcome, though). 
> 
> 1) Deselect all check boxes. (Simple, and active, but there may be
> none that need to be deselected.)
> 
> 2) Make sure all check boxes are deselected. (Is "make sure" a
> colloquialism that may not translate well? It's kind of folksy to my
> eye, and also passive.)
> 
> 3) Ascertain that all check boxes are deselected. (Is "ascertain" a
> two-bit word that sounds stuffy and may not be understood by all
> users? And passive!)
> 
> 4) Ensure that all check boxes are deselected. (Same problems as
> ascertain, plus I try not to use words that are easily confused with
> other words, such as "Insure," because someone will always ask if you
> used the right one, or worse, will use the wrong one later.)
> 
> 5) If any check box is selected, click it to deselect the option.
> (WORDY! I can think of a lot of similar examples.)
> 
> 6) Something else. Please state. 
> 
> To be honest, even with the issues, I like #4 best. 
> 
> Sincerely,
> Madelyn Boudreaux
> 
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