Background

Macmillan have recently developed a CD-ROM and DVD version of the Macmillan English Dictionary (MED). MED is aimed at assisting advanced learners of British and American English to improve both their written and their spoken English. MED includes advanced features such as audible pronunciation of each word, phonetic searching and various study aids. To find out more about MED see macmillandictionary.com.

Requirement

As part of the MED project, Macmillan required the following products:

– an interactive tour of the product
– an online guide (help file)
– a CD and DVD case user guide

Project

Macmillan selected Orchid for all three products. Orchid’s experience in software technical writing, help file compilation and internet development meant that all three deliverables could be originated and produced ‘in house’.

Interactive Tour

For the MED Interactive Tour, Orchid worked closely with Macmillan. The tour, developed in Macromedia Flash, is an integral part of the application and is also designed to be distributed separately. Each of the key features within MED has been simulated. The simulation steps through a worked example of the feature, and is supported by explanatory text.

Online Guide

The Online Guide was written and compiled by Orchid while MED was still in development, using the software specifications and beta versions as source information. The help file is a compiled HTML Help File (.CHM), complete with contents and index. The advantage of using the .CHM is that content can be placed on a website as well as being compiled and distributed with the product.

User Guides

The CD and DVD sized User Guides were based on the text developed for the Help File.
The documents were delivered in colour PDF format for final print overseas.

The project was completed on time, within budget and to Macmillan’s satisfaction.