Language:
When creating documents for external audiences it is important to avoid using jargon, to ensure that the reader will understand what the document says. When using acronyms make sure they are spelled out on first use.
Tone:
If creating a legal document it will have a formal tone and will use full sentences. As it needs to cover the legal aspects of the business, such as a company’s Terms & Conditions or contracts etc. Documents for internal use will generally have a more informal tone, depending on what it’s about.
Image & Presentation:
Should reflect the companies branding, depending on the document. Legal documents will be more black and white whereas a brochure would have lots of colour, particularly the company colours, and images to make it attractive to entice people to read it.
Images used in documents should be relevant to the topic of the document. It is important to have images that are suitable and copyright free.
Be use to follow company guidelines. Most companies will have a standard font that they use, for example we use Segoe UI or FSalbert, they may have a specific header and footer used on documents and use only a few select colours.
This makes documentation easily recognisable to a company, for example Cadbury use a purple which we now associate with them when we see it. The impact could be that documents take longer to make as they need to match the rest of the company documentation and the design may need to be agreed.
Data Protection means that information should be stored appropriately if someone’s information is seen by someone who shouldn’t see it it is a breach of data protection and can result in large fines. The information provided should only be used in the way they have advised, it should not be passed on to third parties if they have not explicitly given permission.
It is important not to use copyrighted information without first getting permission from the owner. As it is illegal to use copyrighted documents, and could result in prosecution. It is also important to copyright your own content to prevent others from using it and perhaps using it in a way that could damage the businesses reputation and image.
Version Control means being able to access the most current version of a document, but also being able to gain access to previous versions as well. For example, the documents I have produced during my apprenticeship I have put the date as the version number in the bottom right corner. This allows people to identify if it is up-to-date. I then move the old version of the document in to the archive folder and save the new document in it’s place. This means that my colleagues can easily access the new version but the previous version is still available for reference.
If a document contains private and confidential information it is important to add security to the document. This can be done by encrypting the document with a password. When sending the document across you should send the file and the password separately to make sure that it is secure.