>Gary Robinson wrote: > >I am authoring online help and adjunct documentation for a client. In a >meeting with the prime contractor today I was instructed that there should >be no graphics in any of the documentation produced for the client. Their >rationale (irrationale?) was that if the documentation ever needed updating >it would be too much work to update the graphics. We are using a well >known screen capture untility and an authoring tool that is built to reuse >every element in the documentation with ease. I pointed out it may take >only 2 minutes a graphic to update them if needed (these are mostly screen >captures with no formatting other that resizing and a hairline border) but >to no avail. I am allowed no contact with the client so I can't ask them >their opinion on this directive. Has anyone else produced graphicless >documentation? If so, what was the rationale? Inquiring minds, etc.
Oh boy, you might be facing an uphill battle. First (and this is for everyone), there are several great books out there that show that documentation with *mostly* graphics makes for easier reading: http://tinyurl.com/yxmpqq I did produce documentation with no graphics several years ago. The rationale then was that since it was going to be an internal doc, and the engineers knew precisely what I would be writing about, graphics would be irrelevant. The engineers concurred. Once I completed the manuals and presented them to the engineers, they all looked like students in an English as a Second Language class. Their #1 complaint was: "How are we supposed to find a specific topic if we have to read all of this to find it?" (i.e., "We need graphics as a reference point"). My recommendation: Do whatever you have to do to change their collective mind, even if that means giving a mini-seminar on SnagIt (or whatever you're using). Good luck, Jim ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
