Glossary
Active White Space: intentional white space between elements on a page to indicate grouping, or chunks of content
Audience: people who will use your document, the end-user for tutorials
Back Matter: content placed after the conclusion of a document, including appendix, troubleshooting page, frequently asked questions, references, or an index
Comma Splice: a form of run on where a comma is incorrectly placed between two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction
Conclusion: section that ends the main content of a document which generally sums up the main ideas and looks to the future. Sometimes includes a thank you and contact information
Content Strategy: providing consistent, purposeful content across a company to maintain credibility and branding
Document design: arranging elements on a page to ensure clear and effective messaging in a layout utilizing alignment, grouping, consistency, balance, and contrast
Drafting: writing and developing content into sections, subsections, and paragraphs
Editing: changing sentences, words, or punctuation to ensure consistency and clarity
Ethics: a moral code of conduct which reflects accuracy, lack of bias, professional behavior, honesty, respect, and “doing the right thing”
Figures: see Images. Does not include tables
First Person Point of View: the perspective of I and me in a text
Fragments: part of a sentence, dependent clause. May be missing a subject, verb, or independent clause
Front Matter: content placed before the introduction including a title page, table of contents, list of tables and figures, and foreword
Grouping: also known as proximity, elements that relate to each other placed closely on a page separated by active space
Headings: topic based hierarchical organizational indicators which allow users to scan documents quickly and include level one, level two, level three, etc
Hyperlink: attaching a URL or bookmark directly to a word using a platform tool to allow the audience to move to another part of the document or an external website
Images: photos, screenshots, snips, illustrations, diagrams, and schematics which increase readability and comprehension of written text
Inclusive Language: words that avoid racism, ageism, ablism, genderism, sexism, but instead illustrates cultural awareness, equity, diversity, and human rights
Imperative: style of writing for commands and steps which start sentences with a present tense verb
Information Architecture: act of dividing your content appropriately for your audience and purpose
Introduction: beginning section of a document which includes context, purpose, and audience awareness
Menu: website navigational tool, generally located horizontally at the top or vertically at the left of pages
Navigation: ability for users to move through a document or website using links and menus
Outline: organizational structure which allows you to logically look at your topics and generally uses Roman numerals, capital and lower-case letters, and numbers along with indentations to show hierarchy of ideas
Passive White Space: unintentional white space such as margins and space between paragraphs that do not enhance readability and comprehension
Peer Reviewing: trading papers with other students or colleagues to get feedback on content, organization, and design
Persona: a fictional character that you create based on your research of the whole audience
Plain Language: clear, concise, audience forward content written in the simplest terms
Point of View: the perspective from which the text is written: first, second, or third
Prewriting: any idea generation writing, including note-taking, freewriting, listing, etc
Purpose: reason for or goal of your document
Revising: reorganizing, deleting or adding content, implementing feedback from peer review
Run on Sentences: multiple independent clauses with incorrect punctuation, coordinating conjunctions, or subordinating conjunctions
Safety Signal Phrases: extra information including warnings, hazards, danger, and notes, which is set off and contrasted from the main text
Second Person Point of View: the perspective of you and your in a text
Technical Communication: writing that presents need-to-know, accurate, complex information to specific audiences clearly and concisely in well-designed deliverables
Technical Writing Process: writing process for technical documents which includes user interaction, usability testing, prewriting, drafting, peer reviewing, revising, and editing
Technical writing style: the way in which a document is written and includes point of view, language and jargon choices, tone, sentence constructions, punctuation, and paragraphing in technical documents
Third Person Point of View: the perspective of he, she, they, James in a text
Tone: the emotion the document is conveying which is achieved through your word choice, and your attitude toward the topic, audience, and yourself
Tutorial: a genre of technical communication that describes, defines, and instructs how to use an object and complete actions
Usability: user perception of the ease of use and intuitiveness of a document
Usability testing: methodology of research crafted to observe, interview, survey users while they interact with a document to determine accuracy, logic, etc, to gather feedback and revise as necessary
User-experience design (UX): thoughtful document design which enables, enhances, and facilitates how a user interacts, uses, and experiences a document
User interaction: your interviews and discussions with real intended users to gather information helpful in writing and designing usable and useful documents
