When Dexter + Chaney refers to the online help system for its Spectrum™ Construction Software, it can now use the term "award-winning" to describe it. The company recently won a Merit Award for the product in the annual awards competition of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Society for Technical Communications (STC).
The help system in Spectrum's Accounts Payable module won the award in the online category of the competition. Judges found that the product "consistently meets high standards and applies technical communication principles in a highly proficient manner."
In its application for the award, Dexter + Chaney explained that the product gives users multiple means (table of contents, search, index) to find answers to their Accounts Payable (A/P) questions. The help system offers basic information (i.e., how to set up a vendor code for payment) and more advanced topics such as how to process invoices and credit memos, manage cash flow and use subcontracts.
Organizations and consultants throughout the Puget Sound region including Microsoft, Boeing, the University of Washington and the City of Seattle entered the competition. Award winners were chosen in three categories of technical communication: online, publication and art. Dexter + Chaney's documentation manager, Joanne Harvey, and technical writers Meredith Olson and Jason Sherrett received the honor on behalf of the company at an STC awards banquet.
STC is an individual membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. Its 14,000 members include technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists and others whose work makes technical information available to those who need it.
