TC 4540 - Online Help Authoring

2 lecture hours 2 lab hours 3 credits

Course Description
This course is a study of the design and development of effective online help systems documentation. It presents principles of usable online information design, task-based user analysis, and tools for developing and delivering online help systems. Instruction will be provided in the use of an industry leading help authoring tool. Students will design and develop an online help project complete with embedded help, navigational aids, table of contents, index, and glossary. After completing this course, students will be able to create professional online help systems to effectively meet users’ needs. Students cannot get credit for both TC 4540 and TC 2040. (prereq: GS 1001 or GS 1010H, and GS 1002 or GS 1020H)

Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Conduct a user and task analysis
Plan and apply online documentation strategies
Use online help authoring applications (specific help authoring tool will be determined by instructor and industry trends)
Manage formatting, mechanics, and common sentence-style problems
Plan, design, and create graphics for communicating technical information online
Create online help from information in other media

Prerequisites by Topic

Foundations of technical writing

Coordinator
Dianne Bender

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Milwaukee School of Engineering

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TC 4540 - Online Help Authoring