L&L pleased to see greater focus on software documentation

VEENENDAAL, 20100721 -- Well-designed, user friendly documentation plays a key role in ensuring that software is used properly. A new standard published by the international standardisation committee ISO/IEC JTC1 will help to ensure that users of software receive consistent, complete, accurate and usable documentation. The translation and documentation company L&L welcomes this new standard.

The new standard, NEN-ISO/IEC 26513:2009, offers guidelines for testing user documentation for software products. The new standard follows on from the previously published NEN-ISO/IEC 26514:2008, which sets out requirements for the design and development of software user documentation.

According to ISO-certified documentation and translation company L&L, these international standards underline the growing realisation that user manuals are more than just a costly burden. Director of L&L Bert Bourgonje: "We have 25 years' experience in writing and translating user documentation, and in recent years we have noticed that requirements for user documentation are becoming stricter. We are very much in favour of this development. Good quality, user-friendly documentation is not only very important in terms of customer satisfaction, it also benefits the image of the brand and the product."

In the introduction to the new 26513:2009 it is explained that user documentation is often the first thing the user will see, so it can influence the first impression the user of a product will gain. Well-designed documentation not only helps users to familiarise themselves quickly with the product and cuts down on training and support costs, it also reinforces the name of the product, the manufacturer and the suppliers. The new standard therefore requires that the documentation process, including testing of the documentation, should form an integral part of the development of the product and not be regarded as a separate entity.

"Users will no longer put up with user guides that have been produced on the cheap and that have not been given proper thought. If the product is good, they expect to have a good manual, and vice versa. A good Burgundy does not come in a screw top bottle," says Bert Bourgonje.

It is hoped that the publication of these international standards on documentation will finally herald a new era in which complicated software manuals are a thing of the past. The guidelines of 26513:2009 also apply to testing and evaluating the translation of the software documentation. This will doubtlessly be followed shortly by guidelines for documentation for other products, so we will no longer be able to make fun of badly worded manuals that come with cheap products from abroad. So before they disappear altogether, here's one for a bike stand:

a) You don't climb or hang from BIKE TOWER-3100. And keep out small babies from BIKE TOWER 2. It is your duty that you always adjust the degree of the Frame Hook Beam when you hang another bicycles.
b) If you felt any troubles about your BIKE TOWER-3100, you must stop using soon.
c) When you waste metal parts, keep away from small children to prevent from some injuries by them.*

About L&L (Languages & Localization)
L&L is an international documentation and translation company that offers organisations a full range of services in writing and translating technical texts and software in more than 35 languages. L&L works for clients in many different sectors, such as IT, telecommunications, automotive industry, financial services, education/e-learning, cartography and communication technology for the shipping industry.

For more information, please visit the L&L website at: www.landl.com.

* blog.glennf.com/mtarchives/004444.html

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