Simplified
Technical
English
1974-2010
Clear
Communication
Quality Assurance
Standardization
Cost Savings
What do we communicate?
User Guides
Maintenance Manuals
Service Bulletins
Online Help
Instruction Guides
Parts Catalogs
Wiring Diagrams
Bulletins
Illustrations, Graphics
1974-2010
Animations and
Simulations
Parts Catalogs
User Guides
Installation Manuals
Operation Manuals
Training Manuals
Screenshots
GUIs
Etc.
2
Butwhat do we
communicate?
Content control:
Do you manage your terminology?
Do you have a style guide?
Do you communicate clearly and
efficiently?
1974-2010
We have controldont we?
Words with multiple meanings
Check, ensure, be sure, validate, verify, examine, make sure
Should, may, might, could, would
Follow the procedure, do the procedure, obey the procedure
Press Power On button, push Power On Pushbutton, press Start button, press Power ON
Switch, turn, push, de-energize, press, start, stop
Remove power, disconnect power, pull Emergency Stop switch
Long-noun clusters
The minimum password length Properties dialog box
Clean the turret dome chassis thermal window securing screw threaded holes
Long sentences
1974-2010
Clean the turret dome chassis thermal window securing screw threaded holes and the thermal
window 16 securing screws of all previously used sealant using solvent.
And what if we dont control?
1974-2010
Confused and frustrated readers
High translation costs
Bad translations due to unclear source
Safety risk
Damage
Potential for legal liabilities
Higher support costs
Ineffective customer service
The larger costs of not
getting it right..
A power transformer company was sued for $5M after a transformer blew up due to badly worded
and confusing documentation.
The largest single problem area for Google in internationalizing their service was language /
translation issues - accounted for 35% of all reported issues.
EMC estimates it was spending $762,000 on internationalization errors in just one product set.
Failure to convert English measures to metric values caused the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter, a
spacecraft that smashed into the planet instead of reaching a safe orbit. Total project cost: $327.6M.
An FAA survey of aircraft technicians revealed that, although user evaluations of the accuracy and
quality of technical manuals are generally good, the manuals themselves were noted as having poor
usability.
Using the wrong word in an accounting system cost the New York City Department of Education
$1.4M
A badly worded sentence in a contract cost a Canadian utility company $2.3M.
Several medium sized engineering companies going out of business because they lost customers
due to either poor quality documentation, or after they stopped producing any docs at all to save
money.
1974-2010
Soavoid miscommunication
Consider your
audience
Write unambiguous
Write consistent
Provide your
customer with quality
1974-2010
Simplified Technical English
STE makes technical English
easy to understand
Writing rules:
Keep it simple, be specific, be
consistent
Core dictionary:
3000 words
Add company-specific
terms to core dictionary:
One word = one meaning
STE can help you reduce
80,000 words to 8,000 words
1974-2010
Writing Rules
Grammar & Style
Approx. 60 rules
Core Dictionary
approved words
non-approved words
Company
Dictionary
Company specific
terminology
Benefits
Quality assurance and improvement
Standardized way of writing (ASD-STE100, Plain
English, Corporate Style Guide, Grade Level, MIL SPEC,
etc.)
Improved safety
Efficient authoring
Reduced time to market
Improved customer experience
Facilitates content management, XML
Facilitates structured authoring (Information Mapping,
DITA, S1000D)
Considerable cost savings
Cheaper, faster and better translations (up to 40% per
language!)
1974-2010
How to implement
Three steps:
1. Standardize corporate terminology
2. Train writers on writing rules
3. Check your documentation with HyperSTE:
Quality assurance / quality control / quality
measurement
Writing Rules
Faster time to market
HyperSTE
Efficient Authoring Core Dictionary
Company
Dictionary
1974-2010
10
HyperSTE 2009 Survey
Results
A survey amongst HyperSTE users in 2009 showed that the
use of HyperSTE resulted in the following benefits:
Up to 30% in cost savings on translation and
localization
Up to 40% in reduced word count
Quality improvement in writing and
translations
Up to 30% in reduced product cycle
time
Up to 40% reduction in overall
documentation cost
Efficient conversion of legacy
documents
1974-2010
11
Case Study Rolls-Royce
The challenge
To standardize documentation in compliance with the Simplified Technical English specification ASD-STE100
To improve quality and readability of manuals
To reduce cycle time
The solution
Tedopres developed a dictionary containing Rolls-Royce standardized terminology and trained Rolls-Royce technical
writers and editors on the rules of ASD Simplified Technical English (ASD-STE100) and how to use the HyperSTE
software.
As part of the implementation process, Rolls-Royce uses the HyperSTE checker software to ensure that all manuals
comply with ASD Simplified Technical English (ASD-STE100), including the use of standardized and consistent RollsRoyce terminology.
The results
Compliance with ASD Simplified Technical English (ASD-STE100)
Better quality and readability of manuals
Reduced cycle time
Better reusability of text
Standardized terminology and style
1974-2010
12
Case Study Elekta/Impac
The challenge
To standardize documentation in compliance with corporate style guide EASE (Elekta Approved Simplified English)
To improve quality and readability of manuals
To save translation cost
The solution
Tedopres developed the EASE dictionary containing Elekta standardized terminology and trained Elekta technical writers
in the UK, Sweden and US on the rules of EASE and how to use the HyperSTE software.
For IMPAC, Tedopres developed the IMPAC dictionary containing IMPAC specific terminology which can be used together
with the EASE dictionary.
Elekta uses HyperSTE to ensure compliance with EASE.
The results
Up to 30% in translation cost savings after one year
Better quality and readability of manuals
Reduced cycle time
Overall documentation cost reduced by 20%
Better reusability of text in XML environment
Standardized terminology and style
1974-2010
13
Case Study Electrolux
The challenge
To standardize terminology and style guide
To improve quality and readability of manuals
To save translation cost
The solution
Tedopres developed the Electrolux dictionary based on thousands of pages of content, including translation
memory software
Electrolux uses a server based solution for HyperSTE
Tedopres trained Electrolux authors worldwide in France, Poland, Sweden, Germany and Italy
The results
Up to 50% in translation cost savings in over 30 languages
Better quality and readability of manuals, from 40% to 95%
Less phone calls to Customer Service
Time to market reduced by 30%
Overall documentation cost reduced by 20%
Reduction of words by 25%
Standardized terminology and style
1974-2010
14
About Tedopres
Established in 1974
Offices in the Netherlands, Germany,
USA, Singapore and Japan
One-stop shop for technical
documentation: technical writing, translations,
illustrations, software
130 employees worldwide
A leader in the technical documentation industry
1974-2010
15
Tedopres Services
1974-2010
Writing & Editing
Simplified Technical English
Technical Translations
Graphic Design
Technical Illustrations
Animation & Simulation
Patent Documentation
Augmented Reality
HyperVision
16
Tedopres HyperVision
Technology to support the efficient creation,
maintenance and publication of content.
1974-2010
HyperSTE Simplified Technical English checker
HyperSTD Simplified Technical German Checker
HyperTerm Multilingual Terminology Management System
HyperSales Sales Support System
HyperParts Parts Catalog System
HyperSTI Simplified Technical Illustrations
HyperDoc Content Management System
HyperSIS Service Information System
HyperAsset Asset Maintenance Management System
HyperVoice System for Voice Support
HyperTraining Application for Training
17
Some of our Customers
1974-2010
18
Thank you
For more information, please contact your local Tedopres
representative:
Tedopres International BV (headquarters)
The Netherlands - Tel.: +31 (0)40 84 84 050
Tedopres International, Inc.
USA - Tel.: +1 512 306 8601
Email: [email protected]
Tedopres Japan K.K.
Japan - Tel.: 81-(0)43-297-2589
or visit our website at:
Tedopres Asia Pte. Ltd
Singapore - Tel.: +65 65154318
www.simplifiedenglish.
net
1974-2010
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