“We needed to address two broad issues,” explained John Kohl, Senior Technical Editor at SAS. “On the one hand, as we combined software components into solutions that are directed towards specific business needs and industries, our terminology overlapped or conflicted. We needed a reliable way of making sure that we always use clear, accurate, consistent terminology. Simultaneously, the intensified pace of globalization required us to find an efficient way of making our documentation more suitable for translation and easier for non-native speakers of English to understand. We have had an extensive set of ‘Global English’ guidelines for several years now, but acrocheck makes it much easier for writers and editors to follow those guidelines consistently.”
acrocheck is the worldwide leading solution for maintaining language precision and consistency across a company’s entire global content supply chain. It is a server-based solution with plug-in toolbar clients for popular text editors. It checks spelling, grammar, style, and terminology and offers a comprehensive range of functionalities for assuring text consistency and quality. A complete quality management toolkit, it includes enterprise-standard metrics and reporting functions. This combination of real-time Quality Assurance and independent Quality Control leads to dramatic cost savings throughout the content authoring and localization cycles.
“SAS came to us with the most detailed linguistic requirements we had ever seen. It has been great working with them. They have consistently challenged us and have given us valuable feedback on how to do our job better,“ said Kent Taylor, General Manager of acrolinx North America.
Critical for SAS was the usability of the tool and the ability to get the job done without adding to the writers’ workload. SAS reports that this objective has been met; in fact, many of its writers value acrocheck as an effective on-the-job training aid or performance support tool. SAS technical writer Linda Roberts explains: “I’m glad to have the opportunity to fix stylistic issues and terminology problems early in my writing process. The less time I have to spend incorporating editing corrections late in the writing cycle, when I’m struggling to meet a tight deadline, the better. I have quickly learned style guidelines that I was not aware of previously, which makes the whole process much more efficient—not only for me, but of course also for my editor!”
“acrolinx has been receptive to suggestions for features and improvements that are not essential but would be nice to have,” said John Kohl. “The pace at which acrolinx adds new functionalities and makes improvements is impressive. Its team made me feel empowered throughout the process. I said that I needed something one day, and by the next week, it was there.”
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About SAS
SAS® is the leader in business intelligence and analytical software and services. Customers at 43,000 sites use SAS software to improve performance through insight from data, resulting in faster, more accurate business decisions; more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; compliance with governmental regulations;