citation
Ball, Cheryl E. & Arola, Kristin L. (2005). ix tech comm: visual exercises for technical communication [CD-ROM]. Boston: Bedford–St. Martin’s.

abstract [from CD cover]
ix tech comm offers a new way to visualize technical communication—because there are things you just can’t do in a book. Each of the 9 exercises moves through the following three steps: (1) Illustrated definitions help students visualize key concepts: text, purpose, element, context, audeince, color, contrast, emphasis, framing, alignment, proximity, organization, and sequence. (2) Guided analyses of real world texts—such as an X-men plane schematic, a bicycling safety PowerPoint presentation, and an illustrated recipe—model for students how to put theory into practice. (3) Interactive assignments invite students to make their own rhetorical choices—changing colors, determining alignment and typeface, and rearranging the elements of a web site’s navigation—and to write about the impact those choices have.

accompanying materials

• link to CD-ROM’s accompanying website
• email from teacher who uses ix: tech comm