The obvious function of a manual is to educate the customer to use and maintain
the product properly. Manufacturers have a legal duty to tell their customers how to
safely use and care for their products (more about this duty in Chapter 9). It doesn’t
matter whether the product is a hundred-dollar string-trimmer purchased by a homeowner
or a million-dollar veneer press purchased by a wood products company. The
duty is the same—but obviously the products and users are different. As we shall
see, the legal duty is to provide information, but the underlying need is to facilitate
proper and safe behavior. Accomplishing these goals requires close attention both to
what you say and how you say it. Essential information packaged in incomprehensible
prose does little good—but the most readable manual in existence won’t help if
critical information is missing.