ABSTRACT
With the rapid and intense increase in digital literacy, technical communication is, by many accounts, in the midst of a seismic shift (Hayhoe, 2003; Boiko, 2007; Spinuzzi, 2007). As recently as 25 years ago, most technical communicators were men who, according to Hayhoe, called themselves “technical writers or editors.” Most documents were written in long hand on 8½" x 11" pads or typed on manual typewriters. Those documents often described hardware (e.g., airplanes, electronics, machinery, computers) or, in a few rare cases, computer software. Most of the documents were written with the assumption that their audience consisted of technologically savvy users so that the product could be described but its use did not have to be explained. Manuals, for example, often included a chapter or section on the theory of the device’s operation.
