One of the growing issues in Technical Communication is the need for collaboration from non-technical writers. SMEs (subject matter experts) have knowledge of the tools being written about, but sometimes lack the knowledge to document them in a way that allows an information architect to create and manage large document sets for publishing and reuse.
Markdown is a text-to-html conversion tool that is standard and very popular among Software Developers. Using this simple authoring tool, technical writers can bridge the communication gap and create a workflow that is simple enough for SMEs, yet powerful enough for the tech writer’s documentation process.
This presentation will focus on Markdown’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as usability.
About our speaker
Christopher Ward specializes in helping Companies accomplish big things by better aligning departmental processes with overall company strategies. Christopher’s experience in strategy development began as an Analyst for U.S. Army Intelligence and then later moved into the corporate world when working for Dell computers.’ His diverse experiences allow Christopher to recognize untapped potential in a company’s overall business strategy and help them achieve that potential. His personal mission has been to increase the value of technical communication departments in the organizations they serve. Christopher uses multiple mediums backed by analytical data to help companies develop a content workflow that increases product value and customer experience. He has traveled all over the world delivering the message that “Documentation is not a business expense; it is a revenue generating tool.”
Christopher has been with WebWorks for 12 years, serving as a vendor to Technical Communications Departments helping them resolve current issues. STC member for over 5 years. Served as President for STC Austin Chapter.
