Life in the era of ANSI Z535.6

How to design good manuals from the ground up

I have been reviewing and evaluating manuals for many years and have come to realize that that only very few technical writers even know the basics. Those who have the sometimes thankless job of having to write the manuals for a machine or any product for that matter, often don’t know what is really required to write a good manual and have no real approach to formulating and designing good and effective safety messages in conformity with ANSI Z535.6.

European manufacturers often take manuals which comply with the EU’s machine directive and just translate them into English; British English that is. They routinely totally overlook that their safety messages with ISO symbols don’t work in the US, that US-English is a different language than British English and that a good manual for the US needs a whole lot more and simpler described steps.

Others import products from Asia and sell their products with manuals in which whole sentences are totally incomprehensible because they were translated in China or someplace else and nobody takes the time to make sure the manuals really contain what is required in the US.

For this reason I have I have developed my 2-Day-Seminar which I have been holding since 2007 several times a year in Europe. Using real world examples I demonstrate and explain to technical writers how manuals for the US market have to be structured, what they have to contain and I dissect, explain and illustrate ANSI Z535.6 in depth in a fashion that few people can because I work with ANSI Z535.6 on a daily basis. I know the standard.

For information on my seminars in the US please contact me.