Designing Effective Online Help

Writing with internationalization in mind

While you can produce effective online help by following the suggestions I've mentioned in this article, you must keep one thing in mind. These suggestions are based on creating online help for domestic, not international, use. If you find yourself producing online help for an international audience, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

First, avoid humor. While it's a good idea to avoid humor in general, it's especially important to leave it out of documentation that is for international audiences. Humor is often culturally specific, so what might be funny in one country may be completely offensive in another. Moreover, jokes may loose their meaning in translation, leaving international users wondering why something is included in the online help.

You should also avoid slang and culturally specific references. (Yes, I realize that I don't do this on my web site, but I'm okay with that.) Much like humor, these items may not translate into the new language or may not make sense to international users.

Finally, if you're writing in English, you should attempt to always use Latinate vocabulary. For instance, you should write "examine" instead of "look into," or "accelerate" instead of "speed up." While this is counter to the guidelines set out by the Plain English Network, research shows that international users have an easier time understanding Latinate vocabulary. (see Emily A. Thrush's "Plain English? A Study of Plain English Vocabulary and International Audiences" Technical Communications, Volume 48, number 3)