Introduction
Simplified Technical English (STE) was developed to help users of English language documentation, initially in the aerospace sector but increasingly in other fields, understand what they read, particularly in multinational programs. Since the first publication of the former Association Européenne des Constructeurs de Matériel Aérospatial (AECMA) Simplified English Guide, other non-aerospace industries have adopted the principles of AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe Simplified Technical English specification for their own documentation.
What is Simplified Technical English
ASD-STE100 is a set of Writing Rules and a Dictionary of controlled vocabulary. The Dictionary has sufficient words to express any technical sentence. The words were chosen for their simplicity and ease of recognition. When there are several words in English for a certain thing or action (synonyms) this Specification selects one of these synonyms to the exclusion of the others (whenever possible, “one word – one meaning”). For example, “start” was chosen instead of “begin”, “commence” or “originate”.
What are the benefits of using the Specification?
Benefits for technical publications:
- Standardisation of technical writing: the greater the standardisation, the greater the efficiency
- ASD S1000D Specification establishes technical documentation standards for civil or military platforms, systems or equipment. The specification is based on international standards for production and use of electronic documentation and calls for the use of Simplified Technical English.
- Quality improvement and quality assurance for technical publications
- Improved safety
- Efficient authoring
- Improved clarity
- Improved terminology consistency
- Reduced time to market
- Easier to reuse, translate and maintain
- Cost savings due to reduced risk of safety, damage and liability claims
- Lower product lifecycle cost
- Cost savings due to cheaper translations
- Quality improvement for translations.
Maintenance of the Specification
The Specification is internationally maintained by the Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group (STEMG). This group consists of representatives from ASD member countries in Europe, the Aerospace Industries Association of America (AIA) and Canada (AIAC). In addition the STEMG has several airline representatives as permanent observers.
There is only one southern hemisphere representative on this committee and we are proud to say he is the lead technical writer here at Babcock.
The full specification can be found at:
http://www.asd-ste100.org
Contact the Babcock Technical Writing team for more details:
Stu Wilkie
Technical Writing Manager
Phone: +64 9 446 1751
Email: stuart.wilkie@babcocknz.co.nz