When computers started having screens (or monitors), as well as printers, a new alphanumeric display was created using dots. A crucial variable in designing alphabet letters and digits, using dots, is the height of the display, measured in dots. This article addresses the same design questions tackled by designers of typefaces or fonts, and shows…

The main goal of accessibility standards and guidelines is to design websites everyone can use. The "IT Accessibility Constituent Group" developed this set of draft guidelines to help EQ authors, reviewers, and staff and the larger EDUCAUSE community ensure that web content is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This…

Discusses document processing software packages and describes the TEX system, a document compiler intended to produce high quality typesetting. It is noted that the X-window system provides a windowing environment that makes the system faster, more efficient, and more user friendly, and its use in connection with the TEX system is explained. (four…

Examines the rapidly growing role for technical communicators in the computer industry as members of the external design team. Describes the kinds of decisions they are responsible for with regard to all phases of product development--as user advocates, usability testers, screen designers, and online documentation specialists. (KEH)

Introduces Information Management Assistants (IMAs). Presents work on an architecture for this class of system, and progress in implementing Watson, a prototype of such a system. Watson observes users in word processing and Web browsing applications and uses a simple model of the user's tasks, knowledge of term importance, and an understanding of…

"Intermedia" is a hypermedia system which was developed for use in university research and teaching. It provides a framework for object-oriented, direct manipulation editors and applications, and the capability to link together materials created with those applications. Instructors are able to construct exploratory environments for their…

Examines the ways various computer configurations are being used as writing tools in schools, within a framework of a description of technology that recognizes the constraints that technological components place upon users. Describes programs using computers in a special room, student "owned" computers, and computers in the classroom.…

Discusses changes that have made desktop publishing appealing and reasonably priced. Hardware, software, and printer options for getting started and moving on, typeface developments, and the key characteristics of desktop publishing are described. The author's notes on 33 articles from the personal computing literature from January-March 1994 are…