By Kirk St.Amant | Fellow
This column examines different aspects of technical communication in global contexts. Email the editor at STAMANTK@ecu.edu.
With some Three billion persons online globally, the world seems smaller than ever (Internet Usage Statistics, 2014). For technical communicators, the challenge becomes developing and delivering Web-based content to this international audience. But where to begin and how to proceed? One mechanism that can help is the REACH approach to understanding international online contexts.
REACH stands for
- Receive
- Economics
- Access
- Catch
- Hold
Each letter represents an area to consider when developing online materials for international audiences. The idea is to answer key questions associated with how individuals in other nations access and use Web-based materials. The approach works as follows.
R – Receive
Key question: Can individuals receive the information you wish to share online?
While global connections to the Internet are increasing, that growth is not uniform. In certain nations (e.g., Denmark) almost everyone seems to be online. In other cases (e.g., Cuba), the number of online connections remains limited or is confined to certain areas in a given nation. As a result, technical communicators might wish to consider approaches—other than online ones—to delivering information to individuals in regions with limited online access. One resource that can help when researching this topic is Internet World Stats (www.internetworldstats.com), which provides relatively recent counts of the number of individuals connected to the Internet on a continent-by-continent and nation-by-nation basis.
E – Economics
Key question: Can the intended audience afford the product or service for which you are developing online content?
All products have an associated cost. Yet how expensive that cost is depends on the income of consumers. For example, a software package that costs $100 might seem reasonably priced in Norway (where the average annual income is roughly $55,400), but would be considered exorbitantly expensive to many consumers in Madagascar (where the average annual income is approximately $1,000). Such factors can be important when considering what online content to develop for different regions based on the kinds of products—as related to cost—individuals might be purchasing (or purchasing in volume). The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s online resource The World Factbook (www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook) can help with this item by providing data on average annual incomes (in U.S. dollars) in specific nations. (This information can be found under the Economy tab for each entry/nation and in the section “GDP per capita – (PPP):”.)
A – Access
Key question: What technologies do individuals use to access online information?
Access is about the technologies individuals use to interact online. For example, with almost 1.4 billion monthly users worldwide, Facebook seems almost ubiquitous (Company Info., 2015), but it’s not. In fact, the 640 million+ persons online in the People’s Republic of China have almost no access to Facebook (China, 2014; Young, 2014). Instead, many individuals turn to other media—such as the instant messaging platform QQ and social media platforms such as Qzone, Weixin (WeChat), and Sina Weibo—for gleaning and exchanging information. By knowing what media the users in a given nation use to access online information, technical communicators can develop content for distribution through those venues. Initial resources for learning about such trends include online magazines like SocialMediaToday (www.socialmediatoday.com) that report on international online markets and on information communication technologies (ICTs) in global contexts.
C – Catch
Key question: What design features will attract the attention of the intended audience?
Catch is about attention. The visual features or design factors that catch an individual’s attention can vary from nation to nation and culture to culture. (Compare, for example, the layout, design, and visuals Pepsi uses on its websites for Argentina [www.pepsi.com/es-ar/d and Russia [www.pepsi.com/ru-ru/d.) In this case, technical communicators need to consider what visual features they can re-use with audiences from other cultures and when new visuals need to be created. Technical communicators also need to consider how to create online materials to be flexible enough that the design of interfaces can be easily adapted to meet the “catch” expectations of other cultural groups. Resources for gaining an initial understanding of cultural expectations and visual design include “Designing for an International Audience” (www.artandlogic.com/blog/2013/09/designing-for-an-international-audience) and “Color and Culture: Design for an International Audience” (www.designcontest.com/blog/color-and-culture-design-for-an-international-audience).
H – Hold
Key question: What kind of content do users expect to find online?
Hold involves the kind of information that appears in online materials. If the information/content you provide meets what users are looking for, it will hold their attention, and they will likely keep reading or using it. Cultures, however, might expect different online content/information on given products (e.g., more vs. less information on product specifications). In this case, collecting information directly from users can be invaluable. Doing so could involve working closely with translators and localizers to determine what information needs to be created (or adapted) for users from other cultures. Technical communicators could also interview persons from a particular culture to gain insights on these content expectations. The key is to collect information as directly as possible from members of the related culture. While the most complex part of the REACH approach, this final step can be crucial to engaging effectively with international audiences online.
Final Thoughts
While technology makes it easier to connect to persons around the world, effectively interacting with them involves addressing certain factors. Doing so is no easy task, but the REACH approach can provide a framework to guide this process. By better understanding the five areas associated with REACH, technical communicators can gain the insights needed to create more effective, online materials for users around the globe.
References
China. 2014. Internet World Stats. Retrieved 28 January 2015 from www.internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm#asia.
Company Info. 2015. Facebook. Retrieved 30 January 2015 from http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info.
Internet User Statistics: The Internet Big Picture. 2014. Internet World Stats. Retrieved 31 January 2015 from www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm.
Young, D. 2014. WhatsApp: Facebook’s Entry into China. Forbes. Retrieved 30 January 2015 from www.forbes.com/sites/dougyoung/2014/02/24/whatsapp-facebooks-entree-to-china/.
