Changes afoot for the NZ Government Web Standards - Jason Kiss
Learn about the NZ Government Web Standards programme, where it’s headed, and its work to keep pace with international best practice in the application and monitoring of digital accessibility.
Turning yourself into a high-value brand - Colleen Trolove
You know you're good at what you do. You know you save organisations hundreds of thousands of dollars with your confusion-busting communication skills.
But how do you show cashed-up strangers that you're good – and you're valuable?
In the past year, I've changed from an employed plain language trainer to a self-employed one. Putting myself 'out there' has been one of the biggest parts of this shift.
In my talk, I'll explain what I've done to create a personal brand aimed at the high-value end of the price curve.
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Thank God, You're Here! - Swapnil Ogale
You've managed to just deliver a suite of documentation for your product and are now taking a bit of a breather before jumping back into documenting another product.
What do you really do between projects, or even around your documentation projects? Have you ever paused to think about how you can add and demonstrate your value as a documentarian to the wider organisation? Have you considered advocating for your work and the art of documentation?
Over the last few years, I've been consciously trying to uplift the profile of a Technical Writer within the various organisations I've worked at. This led me to an official role of Technical Writer Advocate with an API product organisation during the pandemic. This was a first of its kind hybrid role, where I worked with a large community of technical writers and developers advocating for a docs-like-code approach, and offering them the skills and know-how to make it happen, while documenting our products.
In my talk, I will discuss the following:
A. What is Documentation Advocacy?
B. How to showcase your skills and value to organisations.
C. Tools and tricks of the trade.
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CSS Colours Demystified: How the CSS hex colour scheme really works - Dave Gash
Virtually every technical writer and online author encounters CSS hex colours like #FFFFD0, #008080, or #4DB84A at some point. But how many of us really understand them?
This fun and informative session explores the science behind optical colours, covers the hexadecimal numbering system used to describe them, and explains -- finally! -- exactly how to use those funny-looking codes to get exactly the colours you need.
Want to go home smarter than most of your peers? Don't miss this session!
You will learn:
• the colour differences between pigments and optics
• why hexadecimal is perfect for coding colour values
• how to combine hex values to get specific colours
• how to use hex colours efficiently in CSS.
We Don't Serve Your Type Here: Or, Most of what we believe about fonts is wrong - Dave Gash
Most technical communicators know various design facts about fonts: which fonts are best for on-screen viewing vs. print, which fonts are inherently good or bad, which fonts specifically improve readability for older readers or dyslexic readers, which fonts enhance or impair overall user experience, and so on.
This session challenges some of those "facts" and backs up its assertions with actual scientific studies, leading to a few surprising conclusions!
You will learn:
• how various fonts stack up against each other for readability
• which fonts really do work best in specific situations
• how font choice affects certain readership segments
• the one factor that should determine font choice.
You are the champion of accessible content - Katherine Barcham
Automation is big in the world of accessibility testing and it’s getting bigger every day.
Even with AI getting in on the act, however, automated tests can't measure how accessible content is. Even reading calculators won’t tell you how accessible or understandable your words are.
Creating accessible content involves balancing context, nuance and complexity in language with the need to make content clear and understandable.
You need a human to consider the human experience that writers think about while they’re creating content. And to consider whether that human experience has any inherent accessibility barriers.
Writers are the champions of quality, accessible content. So this presentation will look at some ways you can check how accessible your content is. Whether you are creating multimedia videos, web pages or documents, we’ll look at some key things you can consider while you’re working, to build more accessible content.
An introduction to Simplified Technical English - Dave Newdick
This presentation about Simplified Technical English (STE) includes:
- A high-level overview of global literacy levels and the need for technical information that is easy to read and understand. This includes specific information about New Zealand and Australia
- An introduction to STE, what it is and what it is not, and the benefits of using STE
- A selection of some rules and how you use them to correctly implement STE
- Information about software tools for STE
- A few simple examples of technical content before and after STE
- Some challenges to implementing STE and common misconceptions
- Resources, training, and more information
- Questions and clarification
As take-aways for attendees:
- I will provide a copy of the presentation in handout form
- Some examples are included in the presentation as well as best practice tips and advice
- A PDF copy of the ASD-STE100 specification (but registration is necessary to get a copy)
- Direct access to the Australian ASD accredited STE trainer and the Australian National STE coordinator (to train STE, trainers must complete accredited STE training approved by ASD (ASD is in Europe - not the Australian ASD))
- If you choose to complete the AusSTE Level 4 training, members of TechCommNZ or ASTC will receive a discount on the cost of the STE training with AusSTE Pty Ltd.
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Telling Tales – Critical Skills for an Increasingly Tech-Complex World - Karen Wrigglesworth
Communication is king. Having the best tech offering in the business counts for nothing if the people who need it don’t know about it.
We live in an increasingly tech-complex world. So, the ability to ‘translate tech’ for ordinary people – including governments, corporates, customers, stakeholders and parents – is essential.
In this session, award-winning technical storyteller Karen Wrigglesworth takes you on a whistle-stop journey into the world of storytelling. You’ll learn why this old-school tool is perfect for effectively communicating complex information with any audience – and how to activate your own storytelling expertise.
Take-away learnings include:
- Practical hands-on sessions to get ‘under the hood’ of stories to understand how and why they work.
- Easy tips and tricks to improve your messaging and engagement with clients and colleagues.
- Helpful ideas to ensure your content is never dull, dense or off-putting – aka crafting tech stories and content can be fun!
The power of plain language - Megan Bennett & Steph Prince
We’re all busy at work. Busy writing, but also busy reading. We know what we want when we read emails, reports, and other documents, but are we giving that to our readers? And why should we? How will it help us, our clients, and our organisation?
Let Megan introduce you to the Write Plain Language Standard — a set of 10 plain language principles that mean your readers can easily find, understand, and use your information. We’ll look at how to use the Standard as a checklist for your writing. And we’ll discuss how using plain language sends a message about you and your organisation, and helps you achieve business outcomes.
The Standard is a useful tool for everyone who writes at work — from newbies to the most dedicated plain language champions.
Steph wraps it up with a quickfire showcase on what NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi has done to lift the profile of plain language and upskill their people to use it – even those who aren’t in comms teams. Get ready for some inspo and some practical, engaging ideas to take back to your workplace.
Beyond ChatGPT: AI Tools and Technical Communication in 2024 - Emily Cotlier
Artificial intelligence tools are impacting the work we do as technical communicators. Job ads seek AI wranglers and content engineers. Tool developers are focusing on AI compatibility. Audiences love the convenience of AI even as they push back against AI-generated content.
We need to navigate ourselves and our clients through these changes. This session will empower you towards that. You’ll gain an introduction to AI, see AI’s real impact on our professional fields, and take away AI options to consider. You’ll learn about:
⦁ what makes a software tool AI
⦁ how the software we rely on is accommodating or including AI
⦁ balancing privacy concerns and AI use
⦁ ways writers and communicators are really using AI
⦁ useful AI tools beyond ChatGPT
AI changes fast! So this talk may change, too, based on new developments or breaking news.
NZ Sign Language taster class with Deaf Aotearoa
This 30-minute taster class will teach us some basic signs that we can use for everyday communication.
Jennifer Warner - Future proof your content and your career
How can writers turn economic challenges and technological change into opportunities? Learn from a content strategist who bounced back from redundancy.
Jennifer’s professional writing experience spans several genres, continents and technologies with planned and unplanned pivots from print to television, web to digital and voice-enabled to AI. Along the way she’s learned how to prepare for what’s next and remain relevant and resilient in times when budgets are tight.
Find out how to take a strategic approach to increasing the value of the content you create and build a sustainable career.
Unconference - Abhay Chokshi
"So much of life and work is overly structured that it doesn't give us, or our ideas, the room to run and grow freely".
An unconference is a participant-driven meeting where you create the agenda by proposing topics at the start. Abhay will be facilitating the session where we'll break into smaller groups based on these topics for discussions and collaboration. Your active participation—whether leading, sharing, or asking questions—shapes the session's success. Expect meaningful conversations, new insights, practical takeaways, and valuable networking in an informal setting. Let's share, learn, and connect to make this session dynamic and inspiring!
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