Technical Authors / Technical Writers. The work of Documentation.

Technical Author Services

A Technical Author is a specialist who can put together a good book.

In general, a Technical Author is someone who has the instinct to put a book together about a product or service, and pitch it just right for the readers. For many target groups, the text must be jargon-free and in non-technical language.

We cover all kinds of technical and commercial subjects, including software applications - computer hardware - help desk procedures - electronic / electro-mechanical equipment - pensions procedures - pharmaceutical dispensing systems - internet financial services - radio communications equipment - data retrieval and analysis systems - flight computer systems - environmental monitoring - medical blood analysis equipment etc.

The objective is for the reader to find information quickly, easily and with good understanding.

Technical Author : Documentation in various formats

Technical Author :: Manuals

The traditional way is to produce a Manual, which can be worked through, studied, borrowed, taken home, lost, found etc etc... Some people even promise to bring them back!

Technical Author :: Online Help Guides

You will be familiar with the online Help Guides on computers. Click on a Help button, or press F1, and a help file is launched which provides the Help information. It includes a structured Contents section, plus a thorough Index of key words, and finally a full Text Search for any word in the help file. Readily available whether on one computer or across a whole network. Requires a browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, and these are installed on most PC platforms these days.

Technical Author :: PDF format

This is a file which contains the manual in printable form, so that you can print good quality copies as required. Readily available whether on one computer or across the whole network.

However, search facilities are limited and slow compared with online Help, and it needs the special Adobe Acrobat reader software installed on each PC to read it. (This can be downloaded from the internet if you do not already have it.) Owing to these limitations, only a small percentage of clients request this format.

What do we offer?

Technical Author :: writing in a style that is easily understood, and substantial user feedback supports this view.
Technical Author :: output as printed manuals or computer Help files - the choice is yours.
Technical Author :: targets the end-users, whether technical or non-technical.
Technical Author :: step-by-step approach means that users can follow the application by themselves and with confidence. This reduces involving external staff in training.
Technical Author :: thoroughness in covering all aspects of your product.
Technical Author :: photographs or screen shots included where appropriate.

This means that there will be fewer support calls, which has to be good news for you when support calls cost around 30 a go. If good documentation saves you as few as 10 support calls a month, this represents cost savings of about 3,600 a year.

Faster learning curve, reduced support calls, happier customers and increased profits.