Trainings and workshops

Aim:

This workshop provides you with basic practical knowledge about technical documentation. Based on the legal principles, we design the text and layout, plan the language management and bring the project to a successful conclusion with efficient workflows and processes. You will be able to tackle or optimise the documentation in your company. 

Contents:

Technical tocumentation fundamentals

• Types of technical documentation
• Scope and structure of user manuals
• Publication media and output formats
• Comprehensibility models as a theoretical framework

Standard-compliant instructions

• Implementation of normative specifications (research concerning standards, A, B, C safety standards, documentation standards DIN EN 82079, ISO 20607, ISO 26514)
• Evaluating hazard analysis and risk assessment 
• Various approaches to designing safety and warning notices (ANSI and ISO, SAFE method)

Documentation workflow

• Provide understandable information with well-structured texts (information models)
• From linear to modular writing for sustainable use

Writing information texts

• Structuring user manuals – minimum content and text elements
• Translation-oriented writing for texts in an international environment (ISO 24495)
• Writing rules for consistent, interesting and correct texts
• Media-compatible formulations – navigation elements, links and SEO under control

Visualisation 

• Design: Page design, layout rules, typography, navigation elements
• Illustrations: Raster graphics, vector graphics, screenshots, image sizes, text-image arrangement

Language management for technical writers

• Master the 101 of CAT tools and save translation costs
• Influencing text quality – defining specifications, formulating criteria
• Specify consistency at sentence and word level
• Working with CAT tools for optimal quality

Documentation planning workflows and processes under control

• It's all a matter of the right framework (graphic concepts, editorial guidelines, checklists) 
• Workflows and processes – the key to timely delivery
• Change management / version control 
• Quality assurance measures

Target group:

Technical writers, translators and career changers. Project managers who want to learn more about technical writing.

Duration:

2-3 days. Depending on content. Modules and depth of detail are determined by you. 

Additional service:

Can be combined with a documentation analysis of your technical product documents as a workshop with targeted exercises and examples.

Pricing:

On request.

Aim:

In this workshop, we will focus on technical writing. It is about target groups, text types and text elements. You will learn about suitable style elements and labelling. We show you how an appropriate structure guides the reader through the information. With numerous exercises, you will practise writing technical content and learn to overcome the pitfalls.

Contents:

• Communication model for technical editing
• Information concepts (functional design, information mapping, DITA, S1000D) 
• Technical writing in practice (understandable · catchy· accurate)
• Translation- and media-oriented writing (examples of use)
• Plain language (untangling a misunderstanding: plain, but not easy)
• Pitfalls (from units of measurement and punctuation to navigation and SEO)
• Meta data (iiRDS · into the future with classification systems)

Target group:

Technical writers or career changers who want to learn more about technical editing.

Duration:

1-2 days. Depending on content. Modules and depth of detail are determined by you. 

Additional service:

Can be combined with a documentation analysis of your technical product documents as a workshop with targeted exercises and examples.

Pricing:

On request.

Aim:

Tool-supported documentation results in success when you adapt your way of working, moving away from linear writing towards a modular structure. It is about text modules and reuse as a single source for cross-media publishing. You will receive a manual with which you can approach the modularisation of your existing documentation. This will prepare you perfectly for working with a content management system and may even be a lot of fun!

Contents:

• Ten steps towards a content management system 
• Approaches for practical implementation
• Develop a modularisation concept: Differentiation across the board
• Set up and refine the granularity of the modules 
• Overcome cost drivers with modularisation and a content management system

Target group:

Technical writers who want to plan their documentation process correctly for working with content management systems.

Duration:

1-2 days. Depending on content. Modules and depth of detail are determined by you. 

Additional service:

Can be combined with the "Technical writing made easy" module as a basis for the textual organisation of the documentation landscape.

Pricing:

On request.

Aim:

In this workshop, we will look at the creation of technical documentation in accordance with the S1000D standard. You will gain an insight into the standard and learn what you need to pay attention to when conceptualising your project. We show you the basic data module types and take a look behind the scenes of the data module codes. The workshop is supplemented by tips for implementing your S1000D documentation.

Contents:

• Introduction to ASD S1000D^TM and NSG-AT
• XML Basics with focus on S1000D modules
• Data module types and their structure
• Plan data module structure using a LOAP (List of Applicable Publications)
• Working with the S1000D plug-in in FrameMaker as an introduction to the module structure
• Approaches and project planning for successful implementation

Target group:

Technical writers who need to provide their documentation in accordance with the S1000D standard. Project managers who are planning an S1000D project.

Duration:

1-3 days. Depending on content. Modules and depth of detail are determined by you. 

Additional service:

Can be combined with modules "Technical writing made easy" or "Successfully introducing a content management system" as a basis for CIR data modules.

Pricing:

On request.

Aim:

Key figures serve as a planning basis for system implementations, as control elements to evaluate workflows and processes, and as a check on whether the measures are effective. We consider both financial aspects and non-monetary influencing factors. 

The aim is to work with those responsible to develop a clear set of tools that can be used to support a line of argument for further action.  

Contents:

• Defining the objective
• Determining the essential criteria 
• Establishing the required key figures
• Managing and analysing the established key figures  

Target group:

Middle management in the field of communication, project managers, heads of department.

Duration:

Depending on content. 

Additional service:

Can be combined with the modules "Translation management in industry and technology", "Successfully introducing a content management system" or "Terminology work in the company" in order to accompany the processes developed with meaningful figures.

Pricing:

On request.

Aim:

Get to know the world of translation. What's the deal with fuzzy matches and concordance searches? How can you influence quality? How long does a translation actually take and how urgent is “urgent”? We get to the bottom of these and other questions in our crash course.  

After the workshop, you will know what to look out for when choosing the right translation partner and will be able to read and compare quotations correctly. You will receive input on "dos and don'ts" in your source texts and which levers you need to pull to achieve the desired quality.

Contents:

• The path to multilingual documentation
• Collaboration with the right translation partner
• The 101 of CAT tools and MTPE (machine translation with post-editing) 
• Writing for translation: File formats and their pitfalls
• Quality criteria for multilingual documentation
• Workflows and processes under control

Target group:

Technical writers Project managers who are responsible for language management in the company.

Duration:

Four to eight hours Depending on content. Modules and depth of detail are determined by you.

Additional service:

Can be combined with the module "Terminology work in the company".

Pricing:

On request.

Aim:

This training course focusses on practice. We use numerous exercises and everyday tasks to learn how to translate with Trados. Because: Practice makes perfect and demonstrates the possibilities of computer-aided translation.

Here you can find out what Trados – and CAT tools in general – are used for, what application scenarios there are and how specific requirements and quality can be reconciled.

Contents:

Analysis and project preparation

• Getting to know the working environment (user interface)
• Creating projects (project templates)
• Project settings (language pairs, file formats)
• Creating project package(s), assigning tasks and deadlines
• Analysis, pre-translation, reports, statistics

Translation resources

• Creating translation memories
• Terminology management
• Alignment, Excel conversion (using Glossary Converter)
• Integration of machine translation (MT) (deepL and Trados Language Weaver)

Translating and proofreading

• Setting up the working environment (roles)
• Use of shortcuts, comments
• Dealing with fuzzy matches, concordance search, AutoSuggest dictionaries, terminology
• Assessing the translation

Quality assurance and project completion

• QA (Quality Assurance) settings, filter settings
• TM update and maintenance
• TM export and delivery
• Finalising and archiving projects

Freely selectable individual modules

• Machine translation / post-editing
• Alignment
• Parsing (for xml, html)
• File formats and their pitfalls
• Translation quality rating according to SAE J2450
• Terminology work in the company
• Working with and maintaining translation memories
• Putting quality to the test (settings and routines) 
• Identifying stop words with Verifika 
• Introduction of a CAT tool

Target group:

We offer training tailored to the roles of "translator and proofreader", "project manager" or "customer" (e.g. technical writer).

Duration:

2-3 days. Depending on content. Modules and depth of detail are determined by you.

Additional service:

We analyse your source texts to determine whether they are suitable for MTPE. We optimise your texts throughpre-editing .

Pricing:

On request.

Aim:

In this course, you will learn why terminology is a "must-have" for unambiguous and comprehensible communication within your company and with your customers. You will learn to love consistency right down the line: from document level to word level.

Contents:

• (Good) reasons for terminology work in the company
• Theoretical foundations · Terminology
• The path to consistent terminology
• Terminology work with a terminology management system
• Market overview and prices
• Workflows and processes under control

Target group:

Technical writers, translators and career changers. Project managers who want to learn more about technical writing.

Duration:

Four to eight hours Depending on content.

Additional service:

Send us your documentation in advance and we will automatically extract the relevant technical terms(automated term extraction).

Can be combined with the crash course "Translation Management in Industry and Technology".

Pricing:

On request.

Aim:

In this product training course, you will learn how to make optimum use of the MultiTerm termbase, go through different application scenarios and see how consistency can be reliably implemented and checked at word level.

Contents:

• Creating the termbase (bilingual and multilingual, with/without templates)
• Defining the company-specific fields (in accordance with ISO 12620)
• Assigning the fields to the levels (language, index, term level) 
• Terminology management (adding terms, searching and filtering, layouts, add-ins)
• Termbase management (import and export options)
• Integration and QA check in Trados (quality control)
• Workflows and processes under control

Individual modules

• Automated term extraction (TermExtract)
• Excel conversion with Glossary Converter
• Introduction of a terminology management system

Target group:

Translators and technical writers. Project managers who want to learn more about technical writing.

Duration:

Four to eight hours Depending on content. Modules and depth of detail are determined by you.

Additional service:

Can be combined with the module "Translating with CAT tools – Trados".

Send us your documentation in advance and we will automatically extract the relevant technical terms(automated term extraction).

Pricing:

On request.