Expanding information accessibility: combining process and procedural information, and using multiple access routes in HTML help

Online documentation, and particularly HTML documentation, provides the information developer with the ability to create multiple paths to the same piece of information. Providing access to the core information using exact and ambiguous organization schemes creates a documentation system that is more useful to the end user, and thus more likely to be used as a first source of reference. Over the last few years, I have worked on projects with SYSDOC Ltd. on projects in New Zealand and Holland, and more recently Basis100 Inc. in Canada. These projects have investigated the possibilities HTML documentation offer for creating end-user documentation that is more than simple step-by-step instructions, documentation that is used on a regular basis by the end users and that has multiple applications in the work environment. This paper discusses the process of development through three projects, and considers some of the possible areas for future development.