Joe D. Williams

In 2000, after a ten-year career as a newspaper journalist, I moved to Lubbock, Texas to earn a master's degree in technical communication from Texas Tech University. During my tenure as a graduate student, I moved to Austin, Texas, taking advantage of the distance program to simultaneously continue my education while getting a foot in the door as a technical writer. My first contract in Austin enabled me to pursue my major interest, creating technical documentation using the Extensible Markup Language. After hanging out my shingle as a contractor and consultant, I began teaching courses in the Technical Communications program at Austin Community College.

Courses I teach

The courses I teach at ACC enable me to pass along to others information that seems vitally important to me as a technical communicator in a time that presents challenges for all of us in the field. In addition to having the opportunity to document technologies that are progressing at a seemingly exponential rate, we are presented with a number of challenges and opportunities in how we create, organize, and present information for our audiences. Prospective students should be aware that these classes require a significant investment of time and effort outside class. On-campus students typically use some of the time in class as a kind of lab, but still require six to nine hours of their own time each week to complete the assignments. Online students can expect to spend an amount of time equal to that, in addition to time spent reading lecture material or attending real-time discussions (e.g., online chat).
ETWR 2473 XHTML and CSS for Information Specialists

This course is intended as an introduction to the Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, a reworking of HTML, and Cascading Stylesheets. These standards are the basis of online delivery using HTML. Students build a Web site from scratch, using a text editor. This approach enables students to gain a solid understanding of how Web sites work, and build themselves a solid foundation for future learning and work.

Students should be comfortable using a text editor (not a word processor). Students will learn how to use FTP and validate XHTML documents. Students will need to set up an account with Tripod.

ETWR 2477 Documentation Process and Content Management

Students plan and execute a documentation project, using tools such as spreadsheets to estimate the time necessary to create deliverables. They track the project through its development and conduct a review after its completion.

Students should be familiar with a spreadsheet program and report writing.
ETWR 2478 XML and Structured Authoring for Information Specialists

XML allows technical communicators to create documentation based on semantics, not presentation, for delivery in a variety of formats. In this course, students get direct experience in designing their own information products using XML, and transforming the source into common delivery formats. We also explore authoring tools and standards.

Students should be comfortable with using a text editor (not a word processor), running programs from the command line, installing software on their computers, and using FTP and other Internet protocols.

Contact information

As an adjunct professor and contractor/consultant, I am usually either working or hustling up work. Therefore, the best way to contact me is via email: jwillia4 [at] austincc.edu

To learn more about my work or to contact me in regard to my business, visit JDWilliams Information Design.