Getting the right information to the right people, at the right time, in the right format, and in the right language is the goal of every professional technical communicator. But, the pace of change is fast, and each and every step forward is often accompanied by two steps back. That’s because the speed of technological change is outstripping our ability to keep up. It seems we’re always playing catch up. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.
In this slide deck, Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler, showcases five powerful information technology innovations that, when harnessed by professional technical communicators, can help us future-proof our content and ensure we’re meeting – even exceeding – our goals.
#StandardsGoals for 2024: What’s new for BISAC - Tech Forum 2024
5 Revolutionary Technologies Technical Communicators Can’t Afford To Ignore
1. The Technical Communication
Futurist
aka Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler
5
Revolutionary Technologies
Technical Communicators
Can’t Afford To Ignore
Sunday, October 20, 13
#cmworld
3. about me
content strategist
conference organizer
faculty at Berkeley iSchool
columnist EContent Magazine
frequent presenter at industry events
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
5. out this January from XML Press
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Sunday, October 20, 13
6. before we start
a caveat
all of these topics deserve their own presentation
this is just the tip of the iceberg
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
15. The Technical Communication
Futurist
aka Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler
5
Revolutionary Technologies
Technical Communicators
Can’t Afford To Ignore
Sunday, October 20, 13
#cmworld
17. technology is the purposeful
application of scientific
knowledge in the design, production,
and utilization of goods and services
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
18. what technologies
can we not afford to ignore ?
I ll provide a basic overview of each and some key points for pondering
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Sunday, October 20, 13
24. automated translation is
a process that uses
software to translate
content from one
language to another
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Sunday, October 20, 13
31. Source: Nationalencyklopedin
less than 6%
of the world s population
speak English well enough
to understand your prose
and techcomm mumbo-jumbo
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
32. Source: Wikipedia
many people who
understand spoken English
cannot read English
in fact, many cannot read at all
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Sunday, October 20, 13
33. human translation
can be time-consuming and
expensive
many languages aren t supported due to lack of resources
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Sunday, October 20, 13
34. Source: Ethnologue
especially when you consider that
there are over 6,000
languages spoken
by the people of Earth
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Sunday, October 20, 13
36. recognize that today you write
for both humans
and machines
our content must be both human- and machine-processable to have maximum ROI
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
37. recognize that today you write
first for machines
then for humans
if content is not findable (by machine) or accessible (by machine) it doesn t exist
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Sunday, October 20, 13
38. of course the content you create
is destined for humans
but machines are
gatekeepers to success
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Sunday, October 20, 13
39. recognize that writing rules
were developed
long before technology
made instant global
communication possible
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Sunday, October 20, 13
42. recognize that writing rules
you learned in grade school
Language Arts classes
are no longer sufficient
for a world in which
Language Science is needed
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Sunday, October 20, 13
43. examine your content from
the vantage point of a
rules processing engine
and ensure it is optimized
for machine translation
some do this today by making content conform to XML specifications
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Sunday, October 20, 13
48. for many of the same
reasons automated translation
is needed AND the fact that video
content is not keyword searchable
without a transcription
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Sunday, October 20, 13
49. the content locked inside
of video is hidden from view
• CRM
• integration
• personalize
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Sunday, October 20, 13
52. use one of several
software providers
to create transcriptions
for your videos and post them
along with your videos
check out: koemei.com
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Sunday, October 20, 13
53. transcription files
can also be translated
and the translations used
as sub-titles in other languages
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Sunday, October 20, 13
56. terminology management
is the process of controlling
the words you use by organizing
them in a central repository
that contains a list of approved
terms and rules for their usage
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
57. the goal of terminology
management is to ensure that
the words that are most
closely associated with your
products, services, and branding
are used consistently
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Sunday, October 20, 13
58. terminology management
efforts result in a controlled
vocabulary that is made
accessible to all who need it
across your organization
as well as partners and service providers
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Sunday, October 20, 13
60. terminology management
helps ensure consistency
throughout your content assets
in both your source
and you translated content
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Sunday, October 20, 13
61. terminology management
can help ensure legal and
regulatory compliance, brand
consistency, enhanced content quality
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Sunday, October 20, 13
63. seek guidance from a
global content strategist
to help you craft a terminology management strategy
and look for opportunities
to standardize your content creation processes
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
67. adaptive content is
content that is structured
and designed adapt to
the needs of your customer
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
68. adaptive content changes
not just cosmetically,
but also in substance
and in capability
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Sunday, October 20, 13
69. adaptive content also adapts
to the capabilities of the
device it is viewed on
automatically, on-demand
if a GPS is available on a handheld device, the content will be able
to take advantage of location aware features of the device
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Sunday, October 20, 13
70. for example, an instruction
like click on a laptop
would be automatically
adapted to touch on a
smartphone and say in
an automobile GPS
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Sunday, October 20, 13
74. responsive designers
are the new webmasters
(and we all know what happened to them)
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
75. adaptive content
makes it possible for you to
publish to multiple-platforms
and to multiple-devices
̶ often, automatically
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
76. adaptive content
is consistently structured,
providing a predictable
customer experience
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Sunday, October 20, 13
77. adaptive content
is content separated from
formatting information;
allowing authors to focus
on what they do best
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Sunday, October 20, 13
78. adaptive content
makes your content
findable and reusable
by others who need it
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Sunday, October 20, 13
80. adaptive content
involves rethinking
how you create, manage
and deliver content; it s best
to seek advice from an experienced pro
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
81. there is no EASY button;
moving to adaptive
content involves work,
but the pay-off (ROI) can
often be realized in months, not years
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
84. component content management
is the creation, administration,
organization and governance
of small, discrete, re-usable
components of content
xml structured content is key
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
85. component content management
focuses on the storing of
content components that
are used to assemble documents
component content management systems are designed for this purpose
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Sunday, October 20, 13
86. components of content
come in various sizes and
types and can be as small
as a single word or as large as
many paragraphs
they can be recombined/remixed to create new deliverables
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
87. components of content
can take the form of
graphics, hyperlinks or
other repurposable content
your company logo, product description, value proposition, benefits
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
88. component content management
is about managing content
not about managing files
content versus files
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
92. structured content
combined with CCMS
supports personalized
content and targeted marketing,
increasing response rates
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
93. structured content
combined with CCMS
puts you in control of
your content and can help you
save BIG $ on translation
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Sunday, October 20, 13
94. because not all prospects
or customers
are the same
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Sunday, October 20, 13
95. you need component
content management
if you need to...
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Sunday, October 20, 13
96. provide different types
of content to different
types of prospects and customers
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
97. re-use content across
documents without
copying and pasting
the copy>paste reuse method is the most costly and error-prone
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
98. ensure content is
consistent across all
touch points, channels, and devices
single-sourcing: write it once, use it often is a best practice
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
99. translate content
once and have it
automatically reflected
wherever it is reused
translation savings alone can often provide return on investment
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
100. publish to multiple
output formats
without the need for
manual intervention
formatting content for multi-channel output occurs automatically
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
101. involve a variety of
people in the creation,
management and delivery
of content to those who need it
component content management systems are designed for this task
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
111. to mature as a discipline
we need content craftspeople,
content designers and
content engineers
to help us shape, refine
and grow digital content
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
112. in order to create
compelling content
experiences, we ll have
to leverage both
content AND code
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
113. and, we ll have to
start thinking more
like engineers and less
like writers and editors
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon
Sunday, October 20, 13
115. The Technical Communication
Futurist
aka Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler
5
Revolutionary Technologies
Technical Communicators
Can’t Afford To Ignore
Sunday, October 20, 13
#cmworld