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Simplified Technical English: From Aerospace Standard to Cross-Industry Success

Simplified Technical English: From Aerospace Standard to Cross-Industry Success

Simplified Technical English: Breaking Barriers Across Industries

Simplified Technical English (STE) has its roots in the aerospace industry, where it emerged as a solution to address language and documentation challenges. While it initially served the aerospace sector, STE’s versatility and adaptability have made it relevant and applicable to various industries. This article explores the evolution of STE from an aerospace standard to its potential in revolutionising documentation practices across diverse sectors.

The Aerospace Connection

Aircraft maintenance, a safety-sensitive domain, faced issues that stem from ineffective language and documentation practices. To address this, the aerospace industry spearheaded the development of the STE specification over the past 40 years. However, despite its origins, STE does not consist solely of aerospace-specific rules. In fact, a majority of the writing rules apply universally, with only a few minor adjustments necessary to suit different industries.

Fine-tuning the Vocabulary

While some aerospace- or defence related terminology exists in the general dictionary of STE, it comprises a mere 5% of the overall words. These highly technical terms, often related to nuts and bolts, require adaptation when dealing with software-based interfaces and non-aerospace contexts. By omitting these industry-specific terms and adding a handful of words relevant to specific industries, STE can be readily customised for a wide range of technical documentation purposes.

STE Beyond Aerospace

The power of STE lies in its versatility. Its applicability extends well beyond the aerospace industry. For instance, even financial institutions can benefit from the streamlined and precise language of STE when documenting banking processes. By embracing STE, organisations from diverse sectors can enhance clarity, efficiency, and comprehension in their technical documentation.

Adaptability to Specific Needs

STE’s flexibility allows for customisation to suit unique requirements. As the specification primarily involves additions to the dictionary, aerospace clients themselves often make customisations to cater to different systems onboard their aircraft. This adaptability has been demonstrated by unexpected users, such as a coffee machine manufacturer. Although seemingly unrelated to aerospace, their coffee machines are installed in a vast majority of passenger aircraft. Documentation for these machines, whether used in offices, medical practices, or cafeterias, can be effectively developed using STE, with only slight relaxation of the rules originally designed for aerospace.

Simplified Technical English, born out of the aerospace industry, has evolved into a versatile language specification capable of transforming documentation practices across various sectors. Its effectiveness in enhancing safety, efficiency, and clarity has made it applicable to industries far beyond its initial scope. With the power to streamline communication and promote comprehension, STE offers organisations a powerful tool to optimise their technical documentation, regardless of their industry.

Don’t let confusing technical jargon get in the way of your customers’ success!

Don’t let confusing technical jargon get in the way of your customers’ success!

The writing style of the original text is highly technical and precise, which is suitable for conveying important safety information regarding the use of exercise equipment. The language used is formal, and the tone is serious, emphasizing the importance of safety precautions.

However, technical jargon can sometimes make it challenging for customers to understand the instructions and warnings, leading to improper use of equipment, which may result in serious injuries.

For instance, phrases such as “musculoskeletal discomfort” may not be easily understood by customers who are not familiar with medical terminology. Similarly, terms like “Qualified Trainer” may not be clear to some users, who may not know who qualifies as a “qualified” trainer.

To avoid such issues, it is crucial to communicate safety information in a way that is easy to understand and accessible to the general public. It is important to use simple, clear, and concise language that is understandable by a broad audience.

Moreover, providing visual aids such as diagrams, pictures, and videos can be helpful in supplementing written instructions and enhancing customer understanding. Using a conversational tone, instead of a formal or technical one, can also make safety information more accessible and relatable.

In conclusion, while technical jargon is essential in certain contexts, it can hinder customer understanding in safety-related matters. Therefore, it is crucial to communicate safety information in a way that is easy to understand and accessible to a broad audience. This can be achieved through the use of Simplified English, clear and simple instructions, and avoiding technical terms or jargon wherever possible. By doing so, customers can more easily understand the instructions and use the equipment safely and efficiently.

🧑🏻‍💻 Sign up for our Simplified Technical English workshop and learn how to communicate clearly and effectively.

International Simplified Technical English Training Workshops in Q2 & Q3: Singapore, the Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, China, Malaysia

International Simplified Technical English Training Workshops in Q2 & Q3: Singapore, the Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, China, Malaysia

Write effective user manuals & instructions with Simplified Technical English

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in such a way that they are more easily and accurately understood by an international audience, thus improving safety and efficiency.

Quick facts

Shufrans TechDocs and partners invite you to attend a 2-day certified ASD-STE100 workshop in the following locations*:

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 9 – 11 April 2018

Singapore, 18 – 19 April 2018

Hamburg, Germany, 7 – 8 May 2018

Sofia, Bulgaria, 28 – 29 May 2018

Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 4 – 6 June 2018

Shanghai, China, mid-July 2018

Singapore, 13 – 14 August 2018

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 4 – 6 September 2018

 

* Shufrans also offers English technical writing solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

For more international training workshop locations and scheduled dates, visit:

https://www.shufrans-techdocs.com/upcoming-ste-training-locations/

International Standards at Shufrans TechDocs

International Standards at Shufrans TechDocs

Safety starts with quality. The best product is only as good as its documentation and technical data allow the customer to make optimum use of it. Formerly known as Simplified English, Simplified Technical English (STE) is an international standard (ASD-STE100) that helps to make technical documentation easy to understand.
Simplified Technical English standardises vocabulary, grammar and style, while letting users control their specific terminology.

Although Simplified Technical English originates from the aerospace and defence industries, it can easily be customised and applied to any other industry.

Using guidelines from the ASD-STE100 specification, writers and editors can take document clarity and consistency to the next level. Text written in Simplified Technical English shows improved readability and translatability. These benefits should not be overlooked as products and their accompanying documentation are increasingly shipped to many countries worldwide where English is not the main language used. Consequently, whether the majority of your audience is made up of native or non-native speakers of the English language, getting your message across clearly becomes faster and easier.

Text based on Simplified Technical English is also cheaper and faster to translate. Users of your documentation will benefit from higher translation quality, and mistranslations become less of a concern.
Injuries, losses and costly legal liabilities can happen as a result of unclear documentation and ambiguous translations. Simplified Technical English is based on standardised terminology and simple grammar rules. Consistent terminology facilitates your task of indexing and helps users to find pertinent information faster by eliminating unnecessary synonyms and spelling variants.