Overview of technical writing courses

The following table summarizes the technical writing courses:

Title and course details Summary Pre-Class In-Class
Technical Writing One Learn the critical basics of technical writing. Take this course before taking any of the other courses. 2 hours 2 to 2.5 hours
Technical Writing Two Practice four intermediate topics in technical writing. 1 hour 2 to 2.5 hours
Tech Writing for Accessibility Develop skills for making documentation more accessible to all. none 1.5 hours
Writing Helpful Error Messages Write clearer, more effective error messages, whether they appear in IDEs, command lines, or GUIs. This course is online only. 1.5 hours none

The pre-class components introduce topics; the in-class components help students integrate and practice those topics. That said, the pre-class work, by itself, provides significant educational value.

Google provides all the materials needed to run the in-class sessions at your own organization. If you'd like to facilitate the in-class sessions for your organization, please see Facilitating Technical Writing Courses.

We've aimed Technical Writing One and Technical Writing Two at the following audiences:

  • software engineers
  • software engineering or computer science students

Additionally, many people in engineering-adjacent roles (such as product managers) have also benefited from these courses.

We've aimed Tech Writing for Accessibility at anyone who writes technical documents or creates technical websites, including:

  • engineers
  • engineering managers
  • product managers
  • technical writers