Top Canadian University Uses MadCap Flare to Teach Online Documentation Best Practices

    LA JOLLA, CA, July 09, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- MadCap Software, Inc., the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft XPS, today announced that it has published a new case study on Simon Fraser University (SFU). By taking advantage of single-sourcing in MadCap Flare, students are able to take the technical communications best practices they have learned in the university's online Certificate in Technical Communication and put them into practice.

Recognized as one of Canada's top three comprehensive universities for more than 20 years, SFU is committed to offering courses that combine robust academics with real-world best practices that students will require in their professional careers. In a course called Fundamentals of Creating Online Documents, which is part of the online Certificate in Technical Communication, this commitment means using MadCap Flare to give students hands-on experience in applying the latest online documentation best practices.

- Single-sourcing enables SFU students to take the same content and deliver it to the desktop, on the Web, or as mobile Help, supporting businesses' requirements for multi-channel publishing.

- A patented navigation bar on the side of the built-in WYSIWYG editor demonstrates the underlying code, making it easier for students to learn concepts, such as cascading style sheets and XHTML.

- Topic-based publishing in Flare helped students to gain insights and understanding into this modern approach to content authoring.

- Easy-to-use interface allowed students to get started immediately, create projects within one week, and then build on the project incrementally as they added new skills.

The full Simon Fraser University case study is available at: www.madcapsoftware.com/casestudy/simonfraser.aspx.

"Flare's single-sourcing to multiple outputs, including mobile, has given our students first-hand experience in publishing to the different online formats that companies require," said Sue Andrews, an instructor in SFU's Writing and Communications Program, which offers the Certificate in Technical Communication. "Flare has really delivered on our expectations and opened new opportunities for our students. In fact, one student went on to buy a copy of Flare for her company."

"As one of Canada's premier educational institutions, Simon Fraser University has a world-class technical communication program that is empowering students with the latest techniques and technologies for delivering online content," said Anthony Olivier, MadCap founder and CEO. "We are excited by SFU's initial success in teaching students how to use our state-of-the-art MadCap Flare so they can get hands-on experience in publishing to multiple devices and channels--all from a single product."

About Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University has been ranked by respected national surveys as one of Canada's top three comprehensive universities for almost 20 years. The Certificate in Technical Communication, which is available entirely online and has benefitted students from around the world, is available through SFU's Writing and Communications program. SFU has three campuses in British Columbia, Canada: Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver. For more information about the online Certificate in Technical Communication, visit http://www.sfu.ca/techcomm.

About MadCap Software

MadCap Software, Inc. is a leading technical communication software firm specializing in integrated applications for end-to-end content development, delivery and management. MadCap's software products provide state-of-the-art content workflow solutions for multi-channel publishing, including the Web, print, desktop and mobile. Through its strategic partner Microsoft Corp., MadCap delivers solutions optimized for Microsoft Windows, Visual Studio, and the .NET environment. Headquartered in La Jolla, CA, MadCap is home to some of the most experienced software architects and product experts in the documentation industry. Learn more about MadCap Software at www.madcapsoftware.com.

MadCap Software, the MadCap Software logo, and MadCap Flare are trademarks or registered trademarks of MadCap Software, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries.

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