Portfolio Item 4

Project Details
Access for Everyone Copy Edited and Design Document
Engl 6721 Copyediting in Professional Communication, Fall 2013
This document was a collaborative effort between me and another student. We
were given all of the rough copy to copy edit and design a layout that would make
understanding the technical information easier. While the item in my portfolio is the
final version, Ive included an early version of a section which has markup and
comments from both me and my partner.

Critical Refl ection

This final project and the process to achieve it taught me a great deal about copy
editing. As the yearbook advisor at my school, I have worked to implement some of
the concepts Ive learned through the process of creating this document. We set
styles, but we also create style sheets. Style sheets have changed my life while
helping my partner and I to create a cohesive final document. Yet, it is the area of
comprehensive editing I found the most useful. No matter how important or useful
the writing, the information needs structure if users are to make sense of it (Rude
248). If information is poorly organized, then it will not be effective. Likewise,
visual design is needed for comprehension, usability, and motivation (Rude 270).
I feel we were effective at achieving these necessary elements within this
document. We reworked the information into better structure; we included font and
color changes to highlight important information. I believe these elements created
an effective document which could easily be used.

References to scholarship and research germane to the critical

refl ection
Rude, Carolyn and Angela Eaton. Technical Editing. Fifth Edition. Boston: Pearson
Education, 2011.

A 1-7 rating of the overall satisfaction with the item

7 I am pretty proud of what we were able to create for this final document.