(was WinHelp on Vista - was a useful link) Now, what if...

[Bill Swallow]

W3C's recommendations for HTML apply to any and all HTML-based Help
formats, including CHM, JavaHelp, and OracleHelp, as well as the
various non-compiled formats. Clean and accessible HTML is clean and
accessible HTML. The TOC/IX/Search, however, is another story. There
are standards out there for these things, and they are provided by the
format owners (Microsoft, Sun, Orcale, etc.).

I don't think the W3C should or would consider informing Help format
design. Not all Help is web-based, and many use certain technologies
to work in certain environments. It would be  akin to asking the
Oxford English Dictionary (not to be confused with the lofty Uxbridge
English Dictionary) to inform how all publications should be printed,
down to paper composition and glue.

On 9/20/06, sbuckley <sbuckley at onlinewriter.com> wrote:
> I apologize for creating the storm that I did with my response. I really
> just wanted to provide a link to helpful information.  Now, maybe not.
>
> I liked the response below because it asked for something specific.  The
> problem is we, the technical communication industry, need to start providing
> the recommendations for what's needed and make them heard.  How?  I'm not
> quite sure.  Currently, and I know this from experience, if a tech writer
> says to a large company "this is what we need for an authoring tool and how
> to deliver the information in Help" at best we are not listened to or at
> least not completely.  Big companies can, sometimes have to, and do ignore
> us.
>
> What about the World Wide Web consortium?  They have standards on Web sites
> and how to deliver them for accessibility and localization.  There's also
> standards on making software fit these standards or similar standards.
>
> What if there were WWW3 standards on how to create and deliver Help for
> software?  Presently I can't find such standards.  Maybe I'm out of the loop
> and missed something on their site.  If so, please provide information.
>
> If not, we need to provide readability and other Help oriented usability
> information to WWW consortium to create standards for Help.  Then the large
> companies will have the information they consider official enough to create
> the tools we need to do our jobs.

-- 
Bill Swallow
HATT List Owner
WWP-Users List Owner
Senior Member STC, TechValley Chapter
http://techcommdood.blogspot.com
avid homebrewer and proud beer snob
"I see your OOO message and raise you a clue."