Overview

The low cost way to learn technical authoring.

This online course covers the technical documentation process and describes the skills you need in order to be a successful Technical Writer or Technical Author writing IT user documentation.

 Created by the authors of the popular "How to Write Instructions" book, and developed in conjunction with some of the leading technology companies in the UK, this 14 module course explains the technical communicator's role in today's environment.

This training course's content is accredited by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators -  an independent assessment of its quality. 

Audience

This course has already been adopted by the UK's largest IT company as their standard course for technical graduates and ex-engineers entering into Technical Publications.

It is intended for anyone who wants a solid understanding of technical writing basics, including new technical authors; people considering making a career change to technical writing; technical professionals and workers who are not writers by trade but who must document their work (for example, software engineers, programmers, scientists, technicians, process specialists). It is focused on writers in the IT sector writing user documentation. It is probably not suitable to those working on planes, trains and automobiles or those writing for an audience of programmers.

We've used straightforward English throughout this course, but there are a few buzz words we've assumed people working in IT will understand; for example: "User Assistance" (= online Help and user guides) and "Agile methodology" (if your organisation uses this methodology, then you'll almost certainly know about it). Don't worry if these words are new to you, this is very much an introductory course. 

We'd encourage lone authors taking this course to discuss the issues covered with their colleagues (for example, support staff or trainers), so they can develop User Assistance that's best for their organisation.

What our users say

This course lives up to its name: “Technical Author Induction”. It is very much a ‘101’, but at the same time it is comprehensive, covering (from what I can tell) most aspects of technical authoring. It seems to have adopted a ‘say a little bit about every aspect’ approach, and this means that there is something new to learn for most technical authors who are in the early stages of their career. Overall, I would say that the course did benefit me, and I can see myself revisiting parts of it in the future.

Emma Worthington, ARM plc

What will I learn?

The aims of this course are to describe:

• The purpose and value of technical documentation
• The entire documentation process—planning, writing, editing, indexing, and production.
• The skills you need as a technical communicator.
• How to work more efficiently by writing and designing your information in a structured, useful, usable and informed way

Duration and delivery format

The course comprises 14 modules in total, which you can complete at your own pace.

The course modules are delivered via the Web in small, manageable modules. In total, there is three and a half hours of content and, with the exercises, each delegate will need to allocate around 7 hours to complete the course. You can pause the modules at any time and return to the course, for a period of 6 months. We can also offer this course as live webinar training or as a classroom course, for organisations that prefer these training delivery formats.

Course outline

Industry-accepted practice

This course is based on good practice and standards for technical writing.  However, you should be aware that, because this is an introductory course, it doesn't expicitly cover any official standards that authors may need to conform to.

Technical requirements

You'll need a computer that supports Flash, can display 640 x 480 videos in a Web browser and has an audio card. The exercises and course notes are provided as PDFs. If you can view the Cherryleaf quiz (there's a link on the right hand side of this web page), then you should be able to view the course.

Introductory price

You'll be able to subscribe to the course for an introductory price of £175 per delegate (ex VAT).

For an additional £50 per delegate (ex VAT), delegates can send their completed assessments to us for review and feedback, and receive a certificate.

The modules are password protected. If you wish more than one delegate to complete the course, change the quantity to the the number of delegates you have.

Please note we accept payment in US $, STERLING and EUROS.

You will be given the option to choose your currency when you confirm your credit card details.

Ordering is simple. Just click the BUY NOW logo below. You will be taken straight to our ordering system. You can pay using credit card or debit card. Prices ex VAT.

The ordering system is secure and safe, via Sage Pay.

Your Credit Card Statement will show an entry entitled "Cherryleaf".

We can also accept payments via PayPal.

Sample module

To view Module 3 (What is a Technical Author?), complete the form below, and we'll send a link to this module:

Further information

Contact us if you have any questions about this course.