Services for Software Creators
TechieScribes can produce all your technical documentation and ensure your application is correctly localised
Your product is ready, the work is done and you can relax now — you think. Think again! Your product might still missing some very important parts:
- It is not ready for release until you have written the documentation for your users.
- If it is to sell internationally, your software and documentation needs to be localised.
Technical Documentation
Many people in charge believe that writing technical documentation doesn’t require any special qualifications. From the technical point of view, this is true. The didactical side, however, is much more challenging. It is no coincidence that so many people hate reading manuals and thus fail to use even simple products. This happens when a manual does not reflect how users think, and when a manual presumes prior knowledge that users do not have. The know-how of writing plain user assistance that every user can understand is the ability to bridge the gap between the users’ prior knowledge and the knowledge required to use the product. User assistance should not challenge the reader. Instead, it should build up confidence, motivate the user to explore the product, and guide the user along the shortest way possible.
I create all parts of your technical documentation from the users point of view in the required formats, such as HTML, PDF, XML, tutorials, online help, etc. Offering localisation at the same time, I am well aware of the constraints and limitations put on documentation that requires translation to keep the translation costs as low as possible.
Find out more about
Localisation
Going international, entering a new market means a whole range of documents needs to be translated and localised starting from manuals, guides, tutorials, up to marketing and sales materials. And then there is the application itself, of course. Same as with the documenation, translating and localising is a specialist task, having been an aupair in a foreign country and learned the language does not qualify someone for such a specialist task. Localising an application is not just translating a few terms appearing on the screen, it is customising it to the target country's requirements, culture, etc. In addition, it requires a thought through system which is part of the software. This system includes certain rules that the locale files and strings must adhere to, to make their translation easy and as low-cost as possible via the existing translation solutions.
As a qualified translator for English, German, Spanish and French, I can localise your product to these languages and manage any other required language in order to make sure you only have to deal with one translation provider. Due to my long experience with various localised software products, I can also help you design the most cost-effective and easily maintainable internationalisation system for your software.
Find out more about
I have 20+ years experience in the software documentation and localisation field in diverse corporate environments and specialise in the creation of clear, user-friendly user manuals, online help and tutorials in multiple languages for the products developed by my clients.
Read more about the diffierent aspects of technical documentation and localisation in my blog