Re: Writing for Translation

[Beverly Robinson <beverly_robinson -at- datacard -dot- com>]

In the Digest I got this morning Gene Kim-Eng wrote:

<quote>Or, since your existing callouts are in text boxes and editable in Frame 
(if I read the original post correctly), if your existing users find the 
current layout the most usable you could hire translators who work in 
Frame and have them translate the callouts.

You should also run this past whoever does your safety reviews (in ALL 
your destination countries) to see whether there are potential 
regulatory, safety and/or liability issues with any scheme that 
introduces a disconnect between the arrowhead and the text that it is 
intended to indicate in a high-risk system. UL, CSA and CE requirements 
often differ, and the last thing you want is to have to explain in court 
that you changed from an arrow-direct-to-text scheme to an 
arrow-to-number, number-to-text-in-separate-table scheme that a 
plaintiff is claiming resulted in an injury or fatal accident because it 
was less expensive for the company and less work for you.</quote>

Yes, yes, and yes! I have never understood why the Technical Communication community puts the user's needs above our own convenience in every area except callouts on illustrations. Then the standard practice is for us to take the easy, less expensive path for us and usability has to take second place.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Beverly Robinson
NOTICE ? This message and any attachment(s) are for authorized use by the intended recipient(s) only and may contain privileged or confidential information.  Unless you are an intended recipient, you may not use, copy, retain, or disclose to anyone any information contained in this message and any attachment(s).  If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please immediately contact the sender and delete this message and any attachment(s).

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help  
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat