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Sunday, February 17, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The value of rules in Simplified Technical English
Rules regulate the choice and use of words, building phrases and sentences, the use of articles, the verb tenses
that can be used and (to some extent) the punctuation. Some of the rules are
specific to procedural or to descriptive text. Part of the rules is generally
known to professional communicators, but the overall set is in general rather
nicely balanced while going beyond most corporate and general style guides.
Some examples of rules are:
• Keep procedural sentences as short as possible
(20 words maximum).
• In an instruction, write the verb in the imperative
(“command”) form.
• Keep sentences in descriptive writing as short as
possible (25 words maximum).
• Start a warning or a caution with a simple and
clear command.
Each rule comes with an often lengthy explanation.
If I could only pick one rule that has a lot of
positive impact on readability and re-use, it would be rule 1.1, which
basically tells us that we can only use approved words (yes, that’s right
–every single word we use has to be approved), and that these words can come from
three sources: the general approve vocabulary listed in the specification, Technical Names and Technical Verbs. The latter two are
determined by the user, based on industry, company and product.
Copyright © 2013 Shufra, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express
written permission from the author, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all
pertinent questions to Shufra Consultancy.
Monday, February 11, 2013
How is STE different from company style guides?
Company style guides often include:
·
Writing rules
·
Company-specific terminology
·
Rules on formatting
STE includes:
·
66 writing rules
·
Guidelines on company-specific
terminology (nouns and adjectives known as “Technical Names”)
·
General vocabulary (approx. 900
approved words as well a large number of commonly used words that are not
approved in STE)
The main difference between STE and the average corporate style guide thus is the addition of general vocabulary, while providing for flexibility regarding company- and industry-specific terminology – a very powerful concept that greatly facilitates adaptation to a company’s specific requirements.
As STE was developed by people from
different companies (including for example Boeing and Airbus), countries (USA,
Canada, various European countries) and professional background (writers,
linguists and engineers), the rule set and vocabulary are rather well-balanced
rather than to reflect the views of a single person or company. Moreover, the
rules and vocabulary were validated against actual content from relevant
manuals.
Since development of the specification
started some 30 years ago, it has seen regular updates, in part based on change
requests from users in the field. The current release is Issue 6, released in January 2013. The specification is maintained
by ASD (formerly AECMA), the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of
Europe.
About the author
Dr. Frans Wijma has a background in electrical engineering and linguistics.
He has been working as a consultant with customers
in various industries worldwide and is widely regarded as the leading
expert in Simplified Technical English, aviation documentation
and multilingual documentation, providing training and consultancy
services to customers worldwide. In addition, he is a regular speaker at
language and industry events, fluent in 10 languages and a commercial
pilot.
Over the years, Frans Wijma was responsible for the development and implementation of STE checker tools for compliance with ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (Simplified Technical English, formerly AECMA Simplified English).
He has also worked with the checker tools MAXit (Smart Communications),
BSEC (Boeing Simplified English Checker) and acrolinx IQ.
Frans Wijma was the project manager for many
translation and development programs for customers worldwide, including
Boeing, Embraer, Black & Decker, Rolls-Royce and Fuji Heavy
Industries.
In 2001, Frans Wijma was presented with the prestigious Pride @ Boeing award in recognition of exceptional performance in supporting the development of the multilingual Longbow Apache IETM for Korea.
Copyright © 2013 Shufra, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express
written permission from the author, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all
pertinent questions to Shufra Consultancy.
This site is no longer maintained
You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.
International training workshops can be found here:
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Advanced ASD-STE100 course in Bangalore, India
Shufra invites you to a 2-day ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training in Bangalore, India
Join this professional training opportunity to learn about international documentation standards and achieve:
- Cost savings
- Reduced translation cost
- Professional improvement
- Quality assurance
- Compliance
- Competitive advantage
- Shorter time-to-market and downtime
Topics
Simplified Technical English will greatly improve the quality of your documentation and help you achieve considerable time and cost savings. This standard regulates the language used in technical publications, making text easier to understand, less ambiguous and more consistent. STE greatly improves translation quality and provides a perfect basis for multilingual translation, saving cost while achieving optimum quality.See our case study to learn more about the cost savings associated with Simplified Technical English.
When
The standard STE course will be held on 11 and 12 March 2013, from 9.00 till 16.00 h.An advanced STE course (for students with relevant knowledge and experience) will be held on 14 and 15 March 2013, from 9.00 till 16.00 h.
Where
Bangalore, IndiaWho we are
Shufra is an international consultancy firm. It was founded by seasoned industry experts who work according to international standards and have extensive experience in many industries, including aerospace, defense, electronics, machinery, medical equipment, banking and telecommunications.Please contact us for more information or to register.
ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English Training in Pune, India
Shufra invites you to a 2-day ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training in Pune, India
Join this professional training opportunity to learn about international documentation standards and achieve:
- Cost savings
- Reduced translation cost
- Professional improvement
- Quality assurance
- Compliance
- Competitive advantage
- Shorter time-to-market and downtime
Topics
Simplified Technical English will greatly improve the quality of your documentation and help you achieve considerable time and cost savings. This standard regulates the language used in technical publications, making text easier to understand, less ambiguous and more consistent. STE greatly improves translation quality and provides a perfect basis for multilingual translation, saving cost while achieving optimum quality.See our case study to learn more about the cost savings associated with Simplified Technical English.
When
The STE course will be held on 18 and 19 March 2013, from 9.00 till 16.00 h.Where
Pune, IndiaWho we are
Shufra is an international consultancy firm. It was founded by seasoned industry experts who work according to international standards and have extensive experience in many industries, including aerospace, defense, electronics, machinery, medical equipment, banking and telecommunications.Please contact us for more information or to register.
This site is no longer maintained
You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.
International training workshops can be found here:
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
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Saturday, February 2, 2013
Shufra appoints Jordan representative for the Arab world
Shufra is pleased to announce that Mr Fahad Altaher recently joined its team as its local business representative and
documentation expert in the Middle East.
Mr Altaher’s role is to utilise his
valuable experience and in-depth understanding of local business needs and
practices to introduce and provide standardised multilingual content solutions,
including ASD-STE 100 Simplified Technical English training and services that help
to reduce text volume and offer cost savings for small businesses and large
corporations alike. He will also consult with companies from the IT, aerospace
and defence, machinery, automotive and electronics industries to address their
business needs for safety, compliance and relevant vendor-agnostic solutions.
About Shufra
Shufra is a full-service technical
documentation provider. Together with our partner network, we can help you
implement a future-proof information management environment that will let you
work more efficiently and accurately.
We provide scalable, flexible and vendor-agnostic
solutions for a range of industries from airlines, MROs, aerospace and defence
to automotive, shipping, IT, electronics and construction.
Our customers include:
·
Boeing, Honeywell, Parker
Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, GMF AeroAsia (aerospace)
·
BAE Systems, Patria, TAI (defence)
·
Mazda, Kubota, SEAT,
Volkswagen, Volvo, Sandvik (automotive)
·
Black & Decker, Electrolux,
Tetra Pak (machinery & appliances)
·
ABB, Philips, Samsung
(electronics)
·
Microsoft, Check Point, ECI
Telecom, Huawei (IT)
This site is no longer maintained
You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.
International training workshops can be found here:
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