ACT: Products & Solutions - Franchise Reporting

Customized Technical Process Documentation Services

The success of any end-user documentation must be that it is intuitive, easy to read, follow, and understand, so that your clients will use it. To this end, our documentation team consists of professional writers, who also have strong knowledge in testing software systems from an end-user perspective and in working with system programmers and developers. Our goal is to provide and address the quality, content, and usability of your documentation, which in turn, will lead to greater customer satisfaction, fewer technical support calls, and reduced operating costs.

We specialize in developing, writing, and editing custom, end-user documentation for software applications in English and/or Spanish. Whatever your documentation project—Online help systems, training CDs, user manuals, or interactive product demos and tutorials, etc.—ACT's documentation team can help with all or any part of it. We can assign expert technical writers to complete your documentation project on site, off site, or both.

Please visit the Methodology section to see our approach to the documentation development process and how our team will work with your team. Or contact us for a free initial consultation on your documentation needs.

ACT can prepare your documentation in multiple formats. We can assist in recommending the best format for you based on the nature of your documentation and how you wish to distribute it. We can also convert your existing documentation into different formats.

We use the following authoring tools:

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Framemaker
DemoShield
Dreamweaver
Microsoft Word
RoboHelp
WordPerfect

User Manuals

Our print manuals provide easy, step-by- step instructions punctuated with graphic examples for those end-users unfamiliar with your system, as well as technical notes and instructions for the more advanced end-users. We can author user manuals in MSWord, FrameMaker, or WordPerfect.

Online Help Development and Interactive Demos

Our Online help systems are full featured and depending on format can be integrated directly into software applications, used as a freestanding system, or stored on a web server and navigated with a browser.

We write online help using RoboHelp development products to deliver online help in the following formats:

Web Help WebHelp Pro
Flash Help
HTML Help-
JavaHelp
Oracle Help
WinHelp 2000
WinHelp4
WinHelp3

Another option we provide is instructional demos and tutorials, which compliment online help text by actually 'showing' users how to perform complimented tasks and view the results. We can create engaging multimedia interactive tutorials complete with quizzes that run in a small movable frame atop your application. This format allows the user to carry out the tutorial steps in the application without having to continually minimize and restore the tutorial window.

Demo files can be included in the online help files (.HLP or .CHM) or viewed as a freestanding product on a CD Rom or a website. We use the DemoShield product by InstallShield to produce interactive demos.

Because there are so many variations in online help and multiple ways to implement them, it is not practical to provide all format information here. Each format has its own advantages and disadvantages; therefore, it is important to discuss what you need with us so that we can determine which format option is best for you.

Document Format Conversions, PDF Services, Editing Services

* Convert existing manuals written in one application to another, such as manuals written in WordPerfect into MS Word or FrameMaker.

* Convert existing system documentation manuals into an online help system or reference tool.

* Convert your existing documentation to PDF format optimized for print or online viewing.

* Combine small PDF files into one large PDF or divide large PDF's into smaller ones.

* Edit existing PDF files - minor text edits, extracting images/tables, creating forms, etc.

* Edit and/or index existing documentation manuals or online help.

* Maintain/ update your existing documentation, such as adding Release Notes on new functionality to existing documentation etc.

Methodology

Our approach to the documentation development process varies based on each client's project requirements; however, as a general rule of thumb, our approach includes some or all of the following five stages:

* Stage I -Documentation Project Analysis and Scope

ACT will meet with you to analyze and discuss your project. The meeting may be held onsite or off site or both-whichever is best for you. Then parties will develop the project scope, which would include the following (if applicable):

- Establish and assign key client and ACT resources

- Establish how client source files or system to be documented will be made available to ACT resources

- Establish documentation deliverable (i.e. print, online conversion etc)

- Establish clear understanding between the parties of the documentation's intended purpose and scope (i.e. list of topics to be covered) and establish documentation format, tone, and style by identifying your target audience

- Create project development timeline/deadlines for first, second, and final drafts

- Establish any other special considerations particular to the project

* Stage II- Documentation Model

ACT will produce sample pages (paper or Web) that illustrate the layout design the documentation will follow for your review and approval. For online help or demos, the basic structure and navigation will also be illustrated.

* Stage III- First Draft/s & Preliminary Testing

ACT will produce first draft/s for your review based on the documentation model and scope of the project. For example, ACT may develop a complete first draft for small projects. On larger projects, ACT may create drafts of chapters or topics for your review, before incorporating them in the complete first draft.

All drafts include ACT comments identifying our questions, suggestions, confusion on subject matter, content gaps, etc. These comments may be embedded directly in the draft or sent separately depending on your preference.

Upon receipt of the first draft and if applicable, you may wish to provide the documentation project to internal users for preliminary testing. They would ensure the accuracy of information, that the subject matter is easy to find and understand (or navigate in online systems), and that it is in all respects usable. ACT will work with your internal users during their testing.

* Stage IV-Second Draft/s and Final Testing

ACT will create the second draft/s incorporating all your edits and testing result suggestions to the first draft. The project should again be given to internal users for final testing ensuring same criteria as above.

* Stage V-Final Version

ACT will incorporate all final edits to the second draft and deliver the final version to you, including all source files, in the deliverable defined in the project scope. We can maintain and update your finished project over time as your content evolves.

ACT has created documentation in several industries for large, diverse clients such as JPMorgan Chase and bebe. Writing samples will be furnished to serious inquiries only.