This repository is a collection of technical writing resources.
Aug. 1, 2023 - This resource is in progress. The main branch of this repository is protected as the Contributors learn GitHub.
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Professional technical writing (PTW) and technical communications (TC) involve highly specialized vocabulary. This resource aims to make acronyms related to PTW and TC more accessible to University of Washington PTW program students and others.
This list is a compilation of acronyms to support student learning related to the 2023 Spring cohort of the PTW certificate at the University of Washington (UW) Professional & Continuing Education (UWCPE, UWC²).
- It is not inclusive of every word or phrase within this program.
- General definitions are for reference only.
| Acronym | Definition | Course.Week | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| A11Y | Accessibility | PTW 320.3 | What Does a11y Mean? - California State University, Northridge |
| ADA | Americans with Disabilities Act | PTW 320.3 | Stanford, “History of Accessible Technology” |
| AI | Artificial intelligence | PTW 320.3 | Microsoft Inclusive Design |
| ARM | Accessibility rating matrix | PTW 320.3 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| CPTC | Certified Professional Technical Communicator | PTW 320.1 | Foundation Level Certification (LEVEL I) - STC |
| CRPD | Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from the UN | PTW 320.3 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| CSS | Cascading style sheets | PTW 320.1 | CSS Introduction - W3Schools |
| CSV | Comma-separated values | PTW 320.1 | OASIS Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) TC FAQ |
| CX | Customer experience | PTW 320.2 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| DE | Two-character code designating the German language for ISO 639-1 | PTW 320.3 | What Are H1, H2, H3 meta tags? - Proximacy LLP - Web Marketing Specialist |
| Dev | Software developer or development | PTW 320.6 | WHMCS, “Security Questions” |
| DITA | Darwin information typing architecture | PTW 320.1 | HTML Introduction - W3Schools |
| DM | Disability management | PTW 320.3 | IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS - IBM |
| EN | Two-character code designating the English language for ISO 639-1 | PTW 320.3 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| en_GB | Five-character code designating the English language code for IZO-639-1 | PTW 320.3 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| EOD | End of day | PTW 320.4 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| ES | Two-character code designating the Spanish language for ISO 639-1 | PTW 320.3 | Ulwick, "What Is Jobs-to-be-Done?" |
| H1, H2, H3... | Heading 1, heading 2... | PTW 320.3 | IXD@Pratt, “UX/UI Design for globalization – more than just translation” |
| HH | Format for hours as two-digits | PTW 320.3 | WHMCS, “Security Questions” |
| HTML | Hypertext markup language | PTW 320.1 | Ulwick, "What Is Jobs-to-be-Done?" |
| HW | Homework | PTW 320.1 | IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS - IBM |
| I17N | Internationalization | PTW 320.3 | What is a PDF? Portable Document Format - Adobe Acrobat |
| IA | Instructional Assistant | PTW 320.1 | PTW Certificate in PTW at UWCPE |
| IAAS | Infrastructure as a service | PTW 320.4 | McGovern, "What Really Matters: Focusing on Top Tasks" |
| ICT | Information and communications technology | PTW 320.3 | IXD@Pratt, “UX/UI Design for globalization – more than just translation” |
| ISO | International Organization for Standardization | PTW 320.3 | IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS - IBM |
| IT | Information technology | PTW 320.3 | Stanford, “History of Accessible Technology” |
| IXD | Interaction design | PTW 320.3 | What Are H1, H2, H3 meta tags? - Proximacy LLP - Web Marketing Specialist |
| JA | Two-character code designating the Japanese language for ISO 639-1 | PTW 320.3 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| JSTOR | Journal storage | PTW 320.3 | About STC |
| JTBD | Jobs-to-be-done | PTW 320.1 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| L10N | Localization | PTW 320.3 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| LTR | Left-to-right | PTW 320.3 | TL;DR - Mailchimp Content Style Guide |
| MB | Megabyte | PTW 320.3 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| MM | Format for minutes as two-digits | PTW 320.3 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| ODI | Outcome-driven innovation | PTW 320.1 | W3C |
| OS | Operating system | PTW 320.1 | Wikipedia, “Accessibility” |
| PAAS | Platform as a service | PTW 320.4 | WCAG 2 Overview - Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - W3C |
| PC | Personal computer | PTW 320.6 | HTML Versus XHTML - W3Schools |
| Portable document format | PTW 320.1 | XML Introduction - W3Schools | |
| POUR | Perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust | PTW 320.3 | |
| PP | Portfolio project | PTW 320.1 | |
| PTW | Professional technical writing | PTW 320.1 | |
| PW | Plain writing or practical writing | PTW 320.1 | |
| QA | Quality assurance | PTW 320.6 | |
| RFP | Request for proposal | PTW 320.1 | |
| ROI | Return on investment | PTW 320.1 | |
| RTL | Right-to-left | PTW 320.3 | |
| SAAS | Software as a service | PTW 320.4 | |
| SAMI | Synchronized Accessible Media Exchange | PTW 320.3 | |
| SEM | Search engine marketing | PTW 320.6 | |
| SEO | Search engine optimization | PTW 320.3 | |
| SERP | Search engine results page | PTW 320.6 | |
| SME | Subject matter expert | PTW 320.4 | |
| SSML | Speech Synthesis Markup Language | PTW 320.3 | |
| STC | Society for Technical Communication | PTW 320.1 | |
| TAMI | Test accessibility and modification inventory | PTW 320.3 | |
| TBA | To be announced | PTW 320.1 | |
| TC | Technical communication or communicator | PTW 320.1 | |
| TDD | Telecommunications device for the deaf | PTW 320.3 | |
| TL;DR | Too long didn't read | PTW 320.2 | |
| TTY | Teletypewriters, sometimes shortened to "teletype" | PTW 320.3 | |
| UI | User interface | PTW 320.6 | |
| UN | United Nations | PTW 320.3 | |
| UX | User experience | PTW 320.1 | |
| W3C | World Wide Web Consortium | PTW 320.3 | |
| WAI | Web Accessibility Initiative | PTW 320.3 | |
| WCAG | Web Content Accessibility Guidelines | PTW 320.3 | |
| WIFM | What's in it for me? | PTW 320.1 | |
| XHTML | Extensible HyperText Markup Language | PTW 320.3 | |
| XML | Extensible markup language | PTW 320.1 |
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an acronym as "a word (such as NATO, radar, or laser) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term or an abbreviation (such as FBI) formed from initial letters, known as an initialism."
More about acronyms:
- An abbreviation is a truncated word (such as TTY).
- An acronym comprises parts of the phrase it stands for and is pronounced as a word (such as ARM, DITA, ISO, SAAS, etc.).
- An initialism is an acronym pronounced as individual letters (such as PTW and STC).
- A numeronym is a number-based word with a number to form an abbreviation or a word with the letters between the first and the last letter replaced by a number that represents the number of letters omitted (such as L10N for localization).
- Abbreviations and Acronyms - Grammar and Mechanics | Mailchimp Content Style Guide
- Acronyms - Microsoft Style Guide | Microsoft Learn
- Find acronym definitions - Microsoft Support
- GitHub glossary
- How to Punctuate Abbreviations - Technical Communication Center
- Use acronyms properly - Words | Technical Writing | Google for Developers
- Use Plain Language - Grammar and Mechanics | Mailchimp Content Style Guide
- What's an acronym? | Merriam-Webster
- When to use acronyms - Write the Docs Newsletter – September 2022
- Wikipedia:Wikipedia abbreviations - Wikipedia
- Ami R. – Editor (Secondary)
- Erin K. – Production Specialist
- Kevan O. – Editor and Project Manager (Primary)
- @Vickey Izzard – Writer, researcher, project initiator
| Date | Author | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Aug. 27, 2023 | @Vickey Izzard | Moved the acronym list higher on the page and removed the list heading and the expanding section. Consolidated the 'About Acronyms' section into the 'Resources' section. |
| Aug. 1, 2023 | @Vickey Izzard | Created document. |