Introduction: Data visualization is a reliable tool for professional communication practitioners to synthesize and present data for a variety of audiences. However, data visualizations have a range of accessibility concerns, including visual acuity, color/contrast difficulties, color blindness, and size/scale issues. Data visualizations should therefore be designed following web standards for complex images to ensure that they are accessible to audiences with diverse needs. Key concepts: Drawing from work in professional communication and disability studies, practitioners recognize that users have varied accessibility needs. “Universal design” as a guiding principle is less helpful than targeted approaches to design that reflect actual user needs. Such targeted approaches should follow web standards for accessible design because they enable interaction with newer accessibility technologies and put more control in the hands of users. Key lessons: Follow these best practices to create visually accessible data visualizations. 1. Design the visual for accessibility by using whitespace, creating contrast, maintaining size/scale, and labeling the visual clearly. 2. Implement the visual using web standards to create semantic connections between the visual and text for both users and accessibility technologies. This goal can be achieved with textual description, overview/data/presentation context, or ARIA semantic links. 3. Test the visual for accessibility through user tests and industry-standard tools. Implications for practice: Web standards provide a blueprint for designing accessible data visualizations for online spaces, but professional communicators should be aware of the coding expertise and necessary infrastructure needed to deploy these visuals. Nevertheless, with increasing use of public-facing data visualizations to convey information on global issues, such as COVID-19, the need for these visuals to be accessible to all audiences becomes paramount.

Introduction: Accessibility training frequently relies upon checklist-based approaches to convey important standards and guidance. Such approaches limit scalability and acknowledgement of the user experience. About the case: A certificate program for faculty and graduate teaching assistants who are instructors of record at one university provided an opportunity to develop a learning module about dyslexia. Situating the case: Dyslexic students frequently require alterations to both teaching approaches and document design; however, studies show that some faculty do not see or feel a need to offer any accommodations for this dis/ability. Research indicates that train-the-trainer approaches to accessibility training offer improved scalability and efficacy when it comes to engaging and acknowledging the needs of dis/abled communities. Amplifying voices from the dis/abled community in training also personalizes the need to make content accessible. Approach: This article covers the module's creation and implementation via the iterative Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) method. In doing so, it provides a framework for creating similar modules that industry practitioners and faculty can implement within their own organizations. Results/discussion: The COVID-19 pandemic led to fewer participants in the module than anticipated; however, preliminary feedback suggests the approach's efficacy. Conclusion: A train-the-trainer approach that integrates testimonials from the dis/abled community offers a user-focused means of disseminating accessibility guidelines that organizations should consider if looking for rapid scalability for new accessibility initiatives.

Introduction: In the US, hundreds of thousands of individuals with visual disabilities work in occupations that typically entail editing text. Editing technologies for blind or visually impaired people have been analyzed by researchers for usability, accessibility, and feasibility. However, a tutorial is needed to provide blind or visually impaired workers with information on how to use these technologies. Key concepts: Technologies that blind or visually impaired individuals can use for editing text present challenges. Such challenges include the lack of usability in word processors' text-editing features, navigational and sense-making issues with screen readers, limited text displayed by refreshable braille displays, and extensive commands needed to operate braille notetakers. Key lessons: The study's blind coauthor (who prefers this terminology) draws on her academic and professional experience to provide procedural information for blind or visually impaired practitioners and students who need to open email attachments, navigate files, select text, navigate the Review tab of Microsoft Word, add comments, and use Nav Quick Keys. Implications for practice: This tutorial indicates that word processors, screen readers, refreshable braille displays, and braille notetakers provide ways for blind or visually impaired practitioners and students to edit text. The tutorial also provides insight into one blind editor's editing process and provides instructions for duplicating this process. This information can increase the awareness of sighted practitioners and teachers who seek to make workplaces more accessible for blind or visually impaired colleagues.

Introduction: Building on scholarship and practices in the fields of technical and professional communication (TPC), disability studies (DS), and legal studies (LS), this article calls for a fusion of these fields to help technical and professional communicators (TPCers) negotiate legal understandings of access that recognize it as a complex, social phenomenon. About the case: To demonstrate such fusion's value in interrogating corporate discourse around disability inclusion and access, we examine the public-facing documents in JP Morgan Chase & Company's (JP Morgan) diversity and inclusion initiatives. Situating the case: Prior cases have traced the impacts of ADA law in transforming corporate culture around disability inclusion and access. These cases suggest that although the ADA has made significant progress toward inclusion and access for disabled employees, it has been limited through the influence of normative corporate culture. We thus extend these findings through DS. Methods/approach: We use thematic coding to analyze a sampling of JP Morgan's disability and inclusion documents to better understand their contributions to disability discourse. Results/discussion: We identify tensions across four discursive expressions, which we recognize both as opportunity spaces for TPCer intervention and as justification for integrating TPC, DS, and LS. We then offer guidelines for more equitable documentation practices. Conclusions: Through the fusion of TPC, DS, and LS, TPCers may engage more nuanced understandings of disability and access that support the dynamic and relational nature of each.

The book targets two main audiences. It primarily addresses students and instructors of technical communication, and also addresses industry practitioners. The book provides practical and theoretical examples that both the primary and secondary audiences can incorporate in their pedagogy and industry practices. The author includes learning activities at the end of each chapter that teachers/instructors can emulate in the technical communication classroom. The approaches in the book make it a significant contribution for the teaching and practice of technical communication. The author admonishes students, instructors, professionals, and industry practitioners to change technical communication by paving the way for design thinking and making. He summarizes the need to adopt design thinking as a methodology in technical communication to make designs user- and human-centered, and to advocate for social justice in our approaches to teaching, learning, and practice in the field. Thus, he calls for a rethinking of technical communication pedagogy “to focus less on genres.". The author also argues that design thinking is a necessary component of technical communication and shows how it can be incorporated into technical communication practice and pedagogy. The examples and learning activities presented in the book make it a valuable guide for students, teachers, and practitioners of technical communication. Instructors of technical communication will find the learning activities presented throughout each chapter of the book particularly useful.

Background: Accessibility of digital materials within workplaces continues to be an issue that is not readily and completely addressed through legal compliance and institutional policy. Despite the lack of marked improvement in digital accessibility, many continue to pursue a policy approach to accessibility, including checklists and guidelines. Literature review: Despite the attention paid to accessibility and surrounding issues by scholars in the field of technical and professional communication, little direction has been given to help practitioners advocate for accessibility in the workplace. Research question: Can common ground between institutional values and accessibility be discovered and leveraged to motivate value-driven accessibility? Research methods: Common ground theory was used to code and analyze data obtained from research interviews of 18 university instructors to determine how they consider accessibility within the process of developing their course documents. Data were coded and analyzed to discover common attitudes toward accessibility. Results and discussion: The data revealed that although instructors approached accessibility differently, all were motivated to work for student success, a fact that indicated common ground between instructor practices and accessibility. This finding suggests that accessibility advocates can motivate value-driven accessibility by leveraging common ground. Conclusion: I used the revealed common ground to inform the development of a digital accessibility resource, which underwent usability testing. My research-informed design process illustrates that despite institutional variability, technical and professional communicators can find and leverage common ground to move away from a singular, policy-driven approach to accessibility in favor of a more sustainable value-driven accessibility, which generates and supports long-term accessibility design.

Introduction: This article describes our work to build an undergraduate program in user experience centered on empathy, access, and humanism. About the case: This teaching case is focused on how we situated accessibility (a11y, a numeronym) at the core of our undergraduate degree. Based on our program values, industry experience, and market need, we aimed to build a program that focused on accessibility. Situating the case: Our work is situated in the literature of technical communication, specifically on accessibility as social justice design. Focusing primarily on issues of pedagogy, we discuss the market need for this work, both inside the academy and within industry. Methods/approach: Through our experimental work applied within the program's framework, we built a foundational course, launched an intensive short program (study away), and developed opportunities for student knowledge sharing on the local, regional, and national levels. Results/discussion: Focusing on accessibility gave our students a strong foundation and broader connections with outside partners focused on user experience. Conclusions: Placing accessibility at the center of the mission, scholars and practitioners alike can address these concerns and keep their commitment to creating user experiences centered on shared values of equity, sustainability, and usability. With the rising need for accessibility specialists in the workforce and structured programs in academia, this article describes how technical communicators can develop these foundations in their own organizations.

The articles in this special issue advance technical and professional communication engagement with accessibility.

Background: Communication is critical to engineering work, and despite its emphasis within engineering education, it is still noted as a gap in new engineers' preparedness for work. Literature review: Prior research points to communication gaps among new engineers. Few studies have extensively examined transitions between academic and professional engineering contexts. Work remains for understanding how new engineers transfer communication skills. Research questions: 1. In what ways do new engineers transfer communication practices from school to work? 2. What challenges do new engineers experience in moving from communication as practiced at school to communication as practiced at work? Research methodology: This study presents a thematic analysis of data from weekly reflections and regular semistructured interviews conducted during new engineers' first year of work. Results and conclusions: Despite relying heavily on academic experiences involving both documenting and presenting technical work, new engineers report experiencing communication-related challenges. While further attention to communication activities can be given within engineering curricula, the complexity and situated nature of communication in the workplace cannot be fully replicated in the classroom. As new engineers move between school and work, they experience challenges adapting to a new environment including communication activities embedded within unique sociocultural contexts. While the classroom cannot fully replicate these professional settings and all of their nuances, students can be made more fully aware of the embedded nature of communication activities. Moreover, engineering educators can simulate aspects of the workplace in capstone courses, and companies can provide guidance to help mentor new engineers through the inevitable context gaps.

Background: More and more multinational corporations (MNCs) based in East Asia are adopting international social media to communicate messages on corporate social responsibility (CSR), but little research has investigated their content qualitatively. Literature review: I reviewed the literature related to the convergence and divergence of corporate behaviors under the framework of the institutional theory. Comparative studies on web-based CSR communication (CSRC) were also addressed, and CSR development in China and Korea was described as the research context to develop hypotheses and research questions. Research questions: 1. How do Chinese and Korean CSRCs resemble each other in international social media? 2. What are the differences between Chinese and Korean CSRCs in international social media? Research methodology: I selected six Chinese companies and six Korean firms from the 2019 Forbes 2000 world's-largest-corporations ranking, and analyzed the content of their English-language Facebook accounts using “Leximancer,” a powerful textual analysis software package. Results: Results indicated that the CSR messages of Chinese and Korean firms resembled each other at a macrolevel but differed at a microlevel. In addition, the CSR messages of Chinese companies were more likely to reflect national strategic agendas, while Korean firms placed greater emphasis on short-term events and legal compliance. Conclusions: Chinese and Korean corporations have adopted an approach of “global topics, native framing” in their CSRCs to achieve a balance between internal and external legitimacy.

Presents the introductory editorial for this issue of the publication.

Research problem: The use of virtual teams (VTs) has been growing steadily since the late 1990s. However, there is disagreement on how the virtuality of a team impacts the relationship of trust and team effectiveness. Some studies have suggested that the operationalization of the virtuality has been simplistic, with most researchers treating virtuality as a binary state. Recently, some researchers have sought to explore more complex conceptualizations of virtuality. Research question: How do dimensions of virtuality impact the relationship between intrateam trust and team effectiveness for virtual teams? Literature review: Researchers have been studying the dynamics of VTs for more than 20 years; however, the prevailing measure of virtuality is unidimensional. Following others, we employ a multidimensional measure of virtuality to model three interactions with the relationship between intrateam trust and team effectiveness. By reviewing relevant team effectiveness, intrateam trust, and virtuality literature, we build a model of team effectiveness based on three dimensions of virtuality. Methodology: A total of 230 subjects on 73 project teams were asked to record their interactions while working on a complex case assignment, allowing us to measure the three dimensions of virtuality. Results: Findings indicate that although Distance Virtuality and Member Virtuality moderate the relationship between intrateam trust and effectiveness, Time Worked Virtually does not, supporting the proposition that virtuality is a multidimensional construct. Conclusion: Differential findings support the multidimensional conceptualization of virtuality. We discuss several implications of our findings for virtual team managers, while paying attention to recent changes in team composition resulting from shelter-in-place orders associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Communication is fundamental to the success of engineered systems, enabling interactions between the system's stakeholders. Systems engineering, an integrative discipline on which the contributions of many disciplines are evaluated against each other, may particularly benefit from research in communication methods. Specifically, storytelling may be beneficial to engineers because it enables sense-making. Research into storytelling is conducted to identify storytelling metrics that could be useful in engineering communication, specifically engineering case studies. Literature review: Although storytelling has been identified in past research as possibly useful to Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and software requirement writing, a rigorous study of the use of storytelling elements in systems engineering communication has not been performed. Research question: How are storytelling elements currently being applied in engineering case studies? Research methodology: Twelve interdisciplinary metrics from storytelling, content analysis, and engineering are identified from the literature and used to characterize a collection of 48 NASA case studies. The values of the metrics for each case study are determined and analyzed using statistical and content analyses. Results and discussion: Analysis of the 12 metrics indicates that the case study design region with a historical backstory structure, climactic plot structure, and early points of attack is most frequently used by designers. Conclusions: The analysis indicates that certain storytelling elements applied in engineering case studies are used more frequently. Further work is needed to leverage the metrics as design variables in engineering case study writing.

Introduction: Virtual teams, especially project teams, increasingly rely on computer-mediated communication for interaction when collaborating and completing their tasks. Team members represent various cultures, occupations, and industries. Virtual teams often use English as a business lingua franca in communication. This study investigates critical factors related to virtual project teams that influence computer-mediated communication. Research questions: 1. How is diversity in video meetings experienced by the members of multidisciplinary and multicultural project teams? 2. Do differences in team members' occupational or industrial backgrounds show in their opinions on video meetings? Literature review: The effectiveness of communication has been identified as playing a critical role in the success of virtual projects. Diversity, whether disciplinary or cultural, enriches teamwork by bringing different viewpoints to discussions. On the other hand, diversity can also set some challenges for communicating these viewpoints. Research methodology: Mixed methods were used to analyze data obtained from 104 responses to an online survey. Spearman's correlation coefficient and Kruskall-Wallis nonparametric tests were used for statistical analysis, and open comments were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results and conclusion: The findings show that linguistic, cultural, and occupational diversity facilitates communication in virtual project team meetings. In addition, applying appropriate features of video meeting tools in different stages of project teamwork leads to better communication in virtual teams. A high level of English proficiency is not required, but clear communication rules are essential. In addition, some occupational or industry-specific differences in opinions on communication could be identified.

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</b> Social media, increasingly conceptualized as communicative genres, has become a tool for individuals to promote social bonds, as well as a platform for corporations to engage with the public and build corporate identity. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Literature review:</b> Genre analysis has seldom been used in investigating social media use and corporate identity construction, especially the relationship between corporate identity and the interaction of message content and communicative style. Therefore, this study intends to implement Lomborg's framework of genre analysis for social media studies to compare Weibo posts of Chinese banks with Twitter tweets of US banks in terms of thematic orientations (message content) and communicative styles (indicated by speech act use) and thus examine their corporate identities. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research questions:</b> 1. What thematic orientations do Chinese and American banks develop in their microblogging messages? 2. What communicative styles do Chinese and American banks develop in their microblogging messages? 3. How are corporate identities formed through the interaction of thematic orientations and communicative styles of the microblogging messages of Chinese and American banks? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methodology:</b> We collected posts and tweets from the official microblogging accounts of 10 Chinese and US banks on the Fortune Global 500 list, identified thematic orientations and communicative styles, and conducted a comparative analysis of corporate identities based on the interaction of thematic orientations and communicative styles. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results and conclusions:</b> In analysis of thematic orientations, Chinese banks are more likely to post messages of <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">entertainment, operation,</small> and <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">product</small> . In terms of communicative styles, their messages are more likely to be characterized by directness, inexpressiveness, and independence politeness overall. Specifically, they tend to send <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">entertainment</small> posts directly and in the involvement politeness style, <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">operation</small> posts indirectly and in the independence politeness style, and <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">product</small> posts in the independence politeness style. As such, Chinese banks may best be described as the audience's friendly companions, objective and authoritative press spokesmen, and competitive innovators, a combination that implies values of relationship, authority, and competition in collectivism-oriented, high-power distance, and high-context cultures. By contrast, US banks are more likely to tweet messages of <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">service</small> . Overall, their messages are more likely to be characterized by indirectness, expressiveness, and involvement politeness. Specifically, they tend to send <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">service</small> tweets indirectly and in the involvement politeness style. As such, US banks may best be described as financial product sellers and considerate service providers, a combination that suggests customer-oriented values in individualism and high uncertainty avoidance cultures. In addition, both Chinese and US banks claim to be good corporate citizens. This comparative analysis sheds light on identity construction and provides instructive frameworks for cross-cultural communication on social media platforms.

Background: People born between 1995 and 2012, referred to as Generation Z, grew up alongside significant technological advancements in communication. This cohort's oldest members are now entering the workforce. Literature review: Although the merits of generational research have been questioned, Generation Z's personal communication preferences and habits demonstrate unprecedented technological experiences and expectations in the workplace. Research questions: 1. What are Generation Z's current habits in using smart technology, social media, and voice communication for personal communication? 2. How does the current workplace communication environment appear through the lens of Generation Z? 3. Do the personal communication habits of Generation Z conflict with current workplaces? Methodology: The study reports on a 207-participant exploratory survey and 6 interviews with Generation Z members in January-March 2020. The survey included multiple choice and open-ended questions regarding respondents' personal and workplace communication habits and expectations. The interviews allowed further investigation of survey responses. Results: Working Generation Z respondents hold unexpected attitudes and behaviors, including awareness of the negatives of technology use, differences in personal preferences and professional behaviors, self-regulation of technology use, and concern for boundaries between personal and work life. Conclusion: Generation Z's ability to adapt to current workplace norms may slow changes in workplace communication. Their awareness of disruptive communication habits could make positive changes to workplace communication in the future. Employers should resist negative generational stereotypes and develop new communication policies to reflect current and future-looking technology use. This study was completed prior to COVID-19 and does not include pandemic-related workplace technology changes.

Research problem: Discourse bridges between the speakers and the audience in product launches. However, how the verbals and the visuals work together in the construction of interpersonal meanings in such communication remains largely underexplored. Research question: How were interpersonal meanings constructed via verbal and visual semiotics in the iPhone 1 product launch presentation?. Literature review: Despite the recognized importance of innovation communication, communication at the launch phase is underexplored. Moreover, communication and management studies have generally neglected the role of grammar-based discourse in promoting innovation, while linguistic studies have paid inadequate attention to language's implications for innovation communication and management. Thus, we address the discursive building of interpersonal meanings in product launch presentations to fill such gaps. Methodology: Integrating Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar and Kress and van Leeuwen's Systemic Visual Grammar, we conduct both verbal and visual analyses to explore the construction of interpersonal meanings in Steve Jobs' iPhone 1 launch presentation. Results: Analysis of the verbal strategies suggests that Jobs built different interactive roles as an authority innovation leader and as a close “friend” willing to engage with the audience. Moreover, by combining verbal semiotics with the delicate arrangement of image act, size of frame, and angle, the presentation video was carefully planned to create offer contact, produce close social distance, and present equal and objective attitudes to further enhance the construction of interpersonal meanings, thus contributing to the audience's understanding and recognition of the innovative product. Conclusions: This article offers insights into innovation discourse and communication by investigating the semiotic features of the iPhone 1 product launch presentation, thus adding to the extant literature on professional communication and innovation management.

Most textbooks and trade press books on engineering communication are genre based, proscription based, or some are a combination of the two. Henderson takes a different approach to teaching the rules of English grammar and how to apply those rules to craft effective sentences. His approach is mathematics based, presenting the rules of English grammar as sentence equations. This approach makes the book particularly intriguing as a resource for teaching students of engineering and science. Henderson's "A Math-Based Writing System for Engineers: Sentence Algebra & Document Algorithms" presents a distinctive approach and methodology for clear engineering communication, particularly suited to its specific audience. Henderson's methodology, grounded in the "universal language" of mathematics, is unique and refreshing. The book is a welcome addition to available resources for these students and their instructors.

<b>Introduction:</b> The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to universities when instruction had to shift entirely online. Universities were quick to survey their students about those challenges, and education researchers are now focused on building more effective online experiences based on student feedback. <b>About the case:</b> The loss of in-person instruction was difficult for engineering students in practice-based courses as they lost the courses' hands-on aspect, which is essential for reinforcing theoretical concepts. They also lost the support provided through daily interactions with their peers and instructors. <b>Situating the case:</b> Students in a required four-course practice-based mechanical engineering sequence shared their perspectives via reflective portfolio essays on how shifting to online instruction affected their ability to participate in their learning communities and negotiate meaningful learning experiences. <b>Methods/approach:</b> Through thematic analysis of the reflective essays, we applied the lens of communities of practice to put the students' responses into context. <b>Results/discussion:</b> The students' concerns varied depending on their position in the course sequence and the course; however, most students felt that the loss of in-person interaction was most detrimental and disruptive in the transition to online instruction and yielded communication and teaming issues. <b>Implications and conclusions:</b> Five implications arose from the results of this study, including recognizing the unique challenges of online learning in practice-based courses, instructing students in virtual communication tools, exercising empathy, being mindful of cognitive load, and researching self-directed learners in online environments. In addition, faculty should consider the importance of students' communities of practice and build opportunities to maintain and strengthen the bonds of those communities within their courses, both online and face to face. They should also add more opportunities for virtual interaction early in the curriculum to build digital communication skills, which will undoubtedly be required in their careers.

Introduction: Engineering programs must take creative approaches to ensure that their students receive needed communication instruction in curricula constantly experiencing pressures of accreditation, state, and industry requirements: expectations for students' knowledge and skills increase although curricula are compressed. Situating the case: Technical communication and engineering education scholarship describe multiple models for integrating writing instruction into engineering curricula: 1. writing across the curriculum, 2. partnership models, 3. embedded models, and 4. support models. About the case: Technical and professional writing and engineering faculty collaborated to develop a hybrid model, which borrows from multiple existing models for integrating technical writing education throughout the engineering curriculum, both in and outside of courses, including collaborative workshops, specialized writing center support, and other interventions. Methods/approach: Survey research was conducted with students on the effectiveness of multiple writing interventions. Results/discussion: The hybrid model enables students to experience a variety of writing interventions; students perceived them as beneficial. Students found most effective writing interventions occurred in the context of their engineering coursework. Faculty and administrators found the approach beneficial because of its collaborative nature and because it balanced instructional time with external support methods. Conclusions: Local solutions to universal problems must take many variables into consideration: people and programmatic cultures, disciplinary and institutional contexts, and curricular, regulatory, and funding constraints. The authors' hybrid model for integrating technical writing into the engineering curriculum represents a flexible, sustainable approach adaptable to meet specific needs in specific environments at different institutions.

This book offers a welcome teaching and learning resource in Creating Intelligent Content with Lightweight Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). The author is a Professor and Director ofThe Transdisciplinary Initiatives with the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. The author takes the reader through the history, design, and implementation of a relatively new variation of DITA, known as Lightweight DITA. Lightweight DITA was developed and is maintained by OASIS, the same standards body responsible for DITA, and differs from DITA in two particularly distinctive ways.

Introduction: Online learning and work are commonplace in both engineering and professional communication. To be effective online, even experienced face-to-face teachers require new skills. About the case: This case reports on the design and delivery of faculty training on teaching online at a Norwegian university during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two questions are examined: 1. What topics and training designs are suitable for beginning online teachers with little time to implement the results of the training? 2. In this emergency context, how do local conditions impact the design and delivery of such training? The training focused on building interactive online courses, providing formative feedback for students, and choosing between synchronous and asynchronous teaching. Situating the case: The literature suggests that teachers often undergo a shift in their teaching philosophies and methods when transitioning to online environments. Methods/approach: Pretraining and post-training reflection were used as informal data sources to develop the training sessions and to holistically discuss the themes that emerged from the training. Results/discussion: Two online and one face-to-face 2-hour training sessions were delivered to three groups of faculty. Three main themes emerged from the training: active learning, synchronous/asynchronous teaching, and providing formative feedback to students. Conclusions: Challenges included convincing participants to shift from the lecture as the main method of instruction to more interactive and active techniques, as well as reconciling the standardized course study plans with individual teachers' instructional needs. Larger studies of training programs and more formal methods of data analysis are suggested.

Presents a listing of reviewers who contributed to this publication in 2020.

Introduction: To present technical content clearly and effectively for global users of English, engineering students need to learn how. About the case: Technical communication classes in Spain and the US engaged in an international telecollaborative project between cross-cultural virtual teams in which students in Spain developed oral presentations that were then peer-reviewed by counterparts in the US. Situating the case: Research on international professional communication and, more specifically, virtual exchange is rapidly growing to explore how instructors can help students gain key competencies such as audience awareness, intercultural sensitivity, and an understanding of English as a lingua franca. Approach/methods: As part of the Trans-Atlantic & Pacific Project network, this project focused on spoken communication. Data were analyzed from feedback forms used by US students to evaluate oral presentations, and on prelearning and postlearning reports completed by students in Spain, as well as from class discussions accompanying the project. Results/discussion: Through reflections on pragmatic strategies that facilitate exchange and collaboration in English as a lingua franca, the engineering students became more fully aware of the importance of rhetorical and linguistic factors that affect meaning-making for engineers internationally. Conclusion: Results suggest that students who participate in transnational virtual exchange projects integrate their desire to acquire knowledge with an awareness of the importance of sharing knowledge through mindful and inclusive communication practices. Technical and engineering communication instructors from different countries can heighten their students' audience awareness, and cultural and language sensitivities through such projects.

The reviewer concludes that, overall, Hanganu-Bresch and Flaherty’s "Effective Scientific Communication: The Other Half of Science" is an excellent introduction to scientific communication. Genre move analysis blended with step-by-step guidance and genre examples make this book a valuable guide for helping students in STEM fields acquire basic scientific communication skills. The book also provides food for thought for ESP teachers to foster research and encourage better-informed teaching practices.

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</b> This article explores the previously undiscovered relationship between communication satisfaction (CS), human resources management (HRM) practices, person-organization fit (P-O fit), and affective commitment (AC) among full-time Malaysian employees in the service industry. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Literature review:</b> Despite the recent proliferation of papers dealing with communication satisfaction, little work investigates the role of HRM practices and P-O fit as mediators of the relationship between communication satisfaction and AC. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research question:</b> Do HRM practices and P-O fit act as mediators of the relationship between communication satisfaction and AC? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research methodology:</b> A structural equation model using partial least squares is employed to study the impact of HRM practices and P-O fit on the linkage between communication satisfaction and AC among 195 full-time employees from various organizations in the service sector in Malaysia. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results:</b> The results suggest that high communication satisfaction leads to positive perceptions of HRM practices, which, in turn, lead to favorable perceptions of P-O fit and then ultimately to high AC. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Conclusions:</b> This study provides useful insights for human resource managers in addressing the linkage between communication satisfaction, HRM practices, P-O fit, and AC. If HRM policies are communicated positively, employees will perceive them to be fair, and that perception leads to a perception of P-O fit. HRM policies can also improve P-O fit if employees undergo training to align their values with the values of their organization. These perceptions lead to higher AC, thus contributing to the overall positive working atmosphere in the service industry.

Research problem: During humanitarian crises, communities of people face various types of dangers. To counter the dangers, they need information in a short period. Such need creates the opportunity for misinformation. Such misinformation can result in information harms that can generate short- or long-term consequences. Literature review: Prior researchers have tackled the situation by using technical or behavioral approaches. Research question: What are the harms from misinformation? We propose a taxonomy of 15 information harms grouped in 8 categories and assess the perception of risk regarding the harms through a survey of respondents who have experienced crisis response situations. Methodology: This paper examines two scenarios, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the 2017 Oroville Dam evacuation order crises, through two dimensions: Likelihood of occurrence and Level of impacts of the harms. Results and conclusions: Findings are presented through visualization and test results for significant differences of harms between scenarios. Similar groups of harms are identified with different severity levels based on post hoc analyses: those with 1. high likelihood and low impact (psychological and confusion harms), 2. low likelihood and low impact (reputation and privacy harms), and 3. low likelihood and high impact (physical, financial, safety, and social harms). In addition to establishing the taxonomy of misinformation harms, findings will have practical value in emergency response and recovery activities to effectively prioritize resources to minimize specific harms from misinformation in crises. Further research directions are also discussed.

Research problem: The role that physical, temporal, and cultural distances play in global software development projects has been well researched. Culturally diverse teams separated by physical distances across multiple time zones face significant challenges in collaborating effectively with each other. This article examines a fourth dimension-cognitive distance-that relates to the problem-solving style of teams that can also have an impact on their ability to collaborate successfully. Research questions: 1. Does cognitive distance affect communication among global software development teams collaborating with each other? 2. How does cognitive distance affect the sentiment/emotion of global software development teams collaborating with each other? Literature review: Prior research shows that collaboration among teams on global software development projects is impacted by practices to manage collaboration; appropriate use of collaboration technologies; collaboration readiness that relates to individual characteristics such as personality traits, motivation, and trust; and shared understanding in group problem-solving. While shared understanding has looked at the effectiveness of the use of common language and knowledge sharing, it has not examined how differences in problem-solving styles of geographically dispersed teams impact their ability to collaborate successfully. Methodology: We examined project artifacts and email communication among geographically dispersed teams within a global software development project. From the project artifacts, we examined tasks allocated to different teams. From the emails, we established the communication network and volume of communication, and performed a sentiment analysis on email content. This analysis allowed us to observe not only the quality of communication among the teams but also the sentiment/emotion that reflected how well they were working together. Results and discussion: Managing teams that vastly differ in problem-solving styles and tasks requires that project managers be aware of these differences and introduce liaisons that reach across the teams to help bridge the cognitive divide.

This book aims to teach other user experience (UX) writers and technical communicators the content strategy that they need to “fix the words” for their companies. Pulling from her experience working at companies like Xbox, Microsoft, and Google, the author provides a digestible, practical guide to aid UX and microcopy writers in creating content that is consistent, brief, and useful within digital experiences. The author argues that the key in creating user brand affinity is having a consistent voice across a digital experience. That is why content strategists must establish voice guidelines. Strategic Writing for UX does have some drawbacks. Unfortunately, the author does not cover how junior UX writers or writers without organizational support can argue for broader overhaul of a product’s content or for implementing a content strategy. Her suggestions and examples are smart and insightful, but if a reader works for a company that would not invest in content strategy, then the writer would not have much opportunity to put the author’s suggestions to use. And, perhaps ironic for a book on UX, the book’s example illustrations are often difficult to read. Overall, the book is a straightforward how-to, which is a strong addition to the emerging field of books on UX writing and provides a strong reference for UX and microcopy writers overhauling entire products. Content strategists and technical communicators alike will benefit from keeping a copy of this book handy, particularly when it is time to argue that product writing is about more than just “fix[ing] the words.”

Background: College and university science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students in Japan, who hope for careers in science and technology fields, lack the motivation to learn English as a second language (L2), impairing their current capacities to learn the L2 and their future abilities to communicate globally once employed. Literature review: Although these students' motivation to learn English seems strongly linked to the external pressure to do well on a standardized English test, gain employment, and progress up the career ladder, this extrinsic motivation may not be as beneficial for their L2 learning as positive images of themselves using English in future situations. Three types of future career-related self images-an Ideal L2 Self, a Probable L2 Self, and an Ought-to L2 Self-are hypothesized to promote L2 achievement. Research methodology: Data from questionnaires examining psycholinguistic variables for 1013 Japanese STEM students of English were subjected to ANOVA and multiple regression analysis with three L2 Self variables as predictor variables and scores from the TOEIC standardized English exam as the outcome variable. Results/discussion: ANOVA results showed that students had a strong image of themselves as needing English for future career goals, as measured by the Ought-to L2 Self, but had lower levels of Ideal L2 Self, the variable measuring a future image as a fluent user of English. In the regression analysis, the Ought-to L2 Self predicted lower TOEIC exam scores; conversely, the Ideal L2 Self predicted greater TOEIC scores. These paradoxical results indicate that Japanese STEM students struggle motivationally to improve English skills needed for future STEM job-related communication, despite feeling pressured to do so. Conclusions: To encourage the formation of students' images of Ideal L2 selves or stronger Probable L2 selves, STEM teachers and language teachers of Japanese STEM students could introduce motivational interventions. For example, positive role models of English language learners could visit classes and demonstrate how they have applied their English as a foreign language (EFL) learning experiences to future careers.

This book provides a useful and practical framework for professional user-experience (UX) teams and students who need to understand how consumers think. It has achieved its purpose in the following ways: educating designers about the Six Minds of Experience Framework; showing researchers how to uncover new insights from customers; and demonstrating how to use the Six Minds of Experience framework to enhance the design for products and services. This book sets itself apart from the other technical communication books that discuss understanding audience experience because the author suggests that UX is multidimensional and multisensory, and that looking at more than one cognitive process will unwrap many more facets of the consumer’s thoughts behind the experience. The book concludes by leaving designers with a thought for the future. The author briefly discusses the history of artificial intelligence (AI) and its current evolutionary stage as Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, etc. He argues that Six Minds can be a framework to explore how machine learning and AI can support humans by augmenting their cognitive abilities. Whether in the workplace or the classroom, this short book will supplement UX designers and technical communication students in exploring what it means to truly know the target audience.

Background: Past research has established the importance of discursive leadership in professional communication, but it has not systematically examined how conformity behaviors emerge as a potentially undesirable consequence of discursive leadership. Literature review: Review of the literature on the centrality of communication in leadership processes and conformity behavior suggest a void of analytic tools to adequately examine the negative consequences of discursive leadership. Research question: Are later interlocutors more likely to speak similarly to earlier ones if the earlier interlocutors occupy a more central position in the conversation network? Methodology: Based on 32,000 words of a transcribed meeting corpus, we measured conformity behaviors using Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency scores, which are widely used in the information retrieval setting. We also operationalized the strength of discursive leadership as a positional centrality measure in the conversation network using a matrix algebra approach in social network analysis. Results: Findings support the hypothesis that discursive leadership is associated with conformity in language aligned toward discursive leaders' opinions. Conclusions: This study makes theoretical advances in understanding leadership construction and conformity behaviors between leaders and followers using empirical, authentic meeting data. We also give business people an applied understanding of the process of discursive leadership, which may help them to improve communication efficacy in their organizations by reducing overly conforming behaviors. We recommend that future research include more diverse participants and be combined with a survey to supplement the conversation data.

This book offers ding effective data graphics using the ggplot package for the R language. Although the implied audience is researchers in the social sciences, there is a lot of practical wisdom here for anyone who works with numerical data. The book treats both the theoretical principles of effective data visualization design as well as concrete guidance on how to integrate such wisdom into a slick data-analysis workflow in the R ecosystem. This practitioner-oriented approach is a very welcome addition to the literature: by covering both the whys and the hows of data visualization, this single volume swiftly equips researchers to build compelling graphics from their numerical data. It is clear that the author is passionate about his topic: you really feel that he is fed up with seeing sloppy data graphics in published academic work. Likewise, his commitment to free researchers from laborious scutwork is evident in the many productivity tips he is eager to provide for the R environment. The book's prose is engaging and chatty, and the style of instruction is unpretentious and practical. The manuscript itself is attractively typeset: one commendable feature is the direct integration of the many graphics alongside the corresponding passage of text, by setting them as sidenotes in the wide margins. This richly graphical approach makes the lessons engaging, tangible, and enjoyable to read.

Background: Visualizations are used to communicate data about important political, social, environmental, and health topics to a wide range of audiences; however, perceptions of graphs as objective conduits of factual data make them an easy means for spreading misinformation. Research questions: 1. Are people deceived by common deceptive tactics or exaggerated titles used in data visualizations about non-controversial topics? 2. Does a person's previous data visualization coursework mitigate the extent to which they are deceived by deceptive tactics used in data visualizations? 3. What parts of data visualizations (title, shape, data labels) do people use to answer questions about the information being presented in data visualizations? Literature review: Although scholarship from psychology, human-computer interaction, and computer science has examined how data visualizations are processed by readers, scholars have not adequately researched how susceptible people are to a range of deceptive tactics used in data visualizations, especially when paired with textual content. Methodology: Participants (n = 329) were randomly assigned to view one of four treatments for four different graph types (bar, line, pie, and bubble) and then asked to answer a question about each graph. Participants were asked to rank the ease with which they read each graph and comment on what they used to respond to the question about each graph. Results/Discussion: Results show that deceptive tactics caused participants to misinterpret information in the deceptive versus control visualizations across all graph types. Neither graph titles nor previous coursework impacted responses for any of the graphs. Qualitative responses illuminate people's perceptions of graph readability and what information they use to read different types of graphs. Conclusions: Recommendations are made to improve data visualization instruction, including critically examining software defaults and the ease with which people give agency over to software when preparing data visualizations. Avenues of future research are discussed.

This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

Background: Captions do important communicative work, but little research has investigated their content quantitatively. Literature review: Captions help facilitate learning and make retrieving information from databases easier. Yet, few studies have explored the rhetorical moves found in figure captions to better understand their communicative function. Research questions: 1. How do captions found in psychology, linguistics, biology, and technical and professional communication (TPC) journals differ in terms of length? 2. What are the rhetorical structures of figure captions in psychology, linguistics, biology, and TPC journals? 3. How do the rhetorical structures of captions in journals from these four disciplines differ? 4. To what extent does visual type interact with caption length and rhetorical structure? Research methodology: Using quantitative content analysis, I compared the frequencies of moves in captions across disciplines, determined whether the moves were conventional or optional, and identified patterns in the progression of moves in the captions that I analyzed. A supplementary analysis of the types of visuals that accompanied the captions offered insights into the findings of the caption-content analysis. Results: Results suggest a high degree of variation in the rhetorical structure of captions in academic journals. Biology captions were, on average, the longest and contained the most moves. TPC captions were the shortest and contained the fewest moves. Psychology and linguistics captions fell between the biology and TPC captions. Conclusions: Understanding variation in caption content can encourage a more rhetorical approach to caption writing. Researchers in disciplines where shorter captions are standard might consider writing elaborated captions.