Jo Mackiewicz

A usability analysis of municipal government website home pages in Alabama

Abstract This study uses e-government and corporate usability benchmarks to compare municipal government websites in Alabama and examine correlations between usability scores and population, as well as usability scores and per capita income. E-government in Alabama is on the rise. At the state level, in 2008, Alabama ranked in the top 10 states in e-government after three years of being in the bottom three. Improvements in state-level e-government have not, however, necessarily trickled down to the municipal level, and this study found no correlation between usability and a municipalitys population or per capita income. Indeed, the study reveals substantial problems with municipal website usability, including accessibility; such problems could erode the web credibility of municipalities trying to engage citizens, to create or strengthen sustainable practices, and to attract companies that can bring new jobs and improve the local economy.

Central Works in Technical Communication

Johndan Johnson-Eilola and Stuart A. Selber’s purpose in their collection of essays, Central Works in Technical Communication, is to map the profession of technical communication and to introduce the “intellectual enterprise” of the field to three types of readers. The editors’ audience comprises (1) students, especially graduate and advanced undergraduates; (2) academics who are new to the field; and (3) practitioners. In regard to this last group, Johnson-Eilola and Selber point out that their purpose is not to convince people to “put aside their jobs and pursue a graduate degree” (p. xv). Rather, their purpose is to initiate their readers—students, new academics, and practitioners alike—to the theory that underlies current scholarly research and common professional practices. Their collection impressively achieves this purpose through the breadth of its content and the utility of its extra features, especially its section introductions and its “reflective commentaries.”

Resolving the directness dilemma in document review sessions with nonnative speakers

Reviewers of technical documents must often work with nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English. Drawing on research in cross-cultural pragmatics and institutional discourse, we discuss linguistic patterns that document reviewers are likely to use when commenting on NNS writing. We anticipate miscommunications that may arise from some of these linguistic patterns, especially when a reviewer attempts to be both clear (so that the writer understands the comments) and polite (so that the reviewer maintains positive working relations with the writer). We recommend specific linguistic strategies that allow reviewers to balance clarity and politeness most effectively when communicating with NNSs.

How to use five letterforms to gauge a typeface's personality : A research-driven method

Technical communicators need to select typefaces that match the tone that they intend for a document. Rather than relying on intuition or personal preference, technical communicators can use a research-driven approach to analyze objectively the extent to which a typefaces personality meshes with the intended tone of a document. This study describes how technical communicators can analyze a typefaces uppercase J and its lowercase a, g, e, and n letterforms—letterforms that are dense with anatomical information—to gauge the extent to which a typeface will contribute a friendly or a professional personality to a document. Technical communicators—both professionals and students—who are armed with this knowledge can move beyond “safe” typefaces like Times New Roman and Helvetica, selecting instead typefaces whose anatomical features generate different kinds of personalities.

Lessons in Service Learning: Developing the Service Learning Opportunities in Technical Communication (SLOT-C) Database

We justify and describe our development of the Service Learning Opportunities in Technical Communication (SLOT-C) Database. The database broadens the range of organizations that instructors and students have for client-based communication projects. We argue in support of incorporating service learning into classes and facilitating partnerships among university instructors, their students, and nonprofits. We report strategies we learned for working with student interns and IT experts and strategies we developed as we worked with usability-test participants.

Relying on Writing Consultants: The Design of a WID Program for a College of Business

Colleges of business grapple with a perceived lack of quality in their graduates’ professional writing and recognize students’ need to learn disciplinary discourses. This article describes the motivation, design, and preliminary outcomes of a business-writing prototype at Auburn University. Writing consultants trained in business communication worked with one class on a substantial writing project. They provided conferencing and written feedback, greatly lowering the faculty workload. Student surveys and informal interviews indicate that students, faculty, and consultants were satisfied with this prototype program.

Comparing Powerpoint Experts' and University Students' Opinions about Powerpoint Presentations

Technical communication instructors want to help students, as well as professionals, design effective PowerPoint presentations. Toward this end, I compare the advice of academic and industry experts about effective PowerPoint presentation design to survey responses from university students about slide text, visual elements, animations, and other issues related to PowerPoint presentation design and delivery. Based on this comparison, I suggest some topics, such as PowerPoints Slide Sorter view, that technical communication instructors and other presentation instructors might address when they cover presentations in their classes or seminars.

Human Subjects Research by Business Students: Beyond the Red Tape

Business communication faculty often assign projects that require students to interview, survey, or observe human subjects. Depending on the nature of the project and the policies at the faculty members university, such projects may require prior approval by the universitys Institutional Review Board (IRB). Therefore, business communication faculty will benefit from an understanding of three areas related to IRB review of class projects involving human subjects research: (1) whether their institution requires such class projects to be reviewed by the universitys IRB and, if so, what form the review takes; (2) how they can adapt classroom activities, materials, and assignments so that human subjects research by students complies with IRB policies; and (3) how they can relate IRB policies to issues that students may face in their future professional lives.

Compliments and Criticisms in Book Reviews About Business Communication

Research suggests that book reviews in academic journals tend to be positive but that readers prefer book reviews that include negative and positive evaluation. In this study, the author examines 48 books reviews from three business communication journals to determine whether these reviews are mainly positive. She counts compliments and criticisms, analyzing their location and topics. She also analyzes the force of the criticisms and strategies that reviewers use to mitigate criticism.

Balancing clarity and politeness in editing sessions with non-native speakers

When communicating with writers who are non-native speakers, technical editors need to be both clear (to prevent miscommunication) and polite (to maintain good working relationships). Concepts from speech act theory can be used to identify linguistic forms that are maximally clear, as well as those that are maximally polite. A problem arises, however, because these two sets of forms do not entirely overlap: maximally clear forms such as direct speech acts may be perceived as impolite, while maximally polite forms such as indirect speech acts may be ambiguous and therefore not entirely clear. Research on intercultural pragmatics can be used to decide how to choose or modify specific linguistic forms so as to maintain both clarity and politeness when communicating with non-native speakers.