# Overview of technical writing courses

<br />

We offer courses in several different educational modes.

## Combination of pre-class and instructor-led

The following courses consist of a combination of the following:

- Pre-class work that students do on their own
- An instructor-led session

Students do the pre-class work *before* attending the instructor-led session.
The pre-class components introduce topics; the instructor-led components
integrate and practice those topics. That said, even if students never
take the instructor-led session, the pre-class work by itself provides
significant educational value.

| Title | Summary | Pre-class time | Instructor-led time | Link to pre-class work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical Writing One | Learn the critical basics of technical writing. | 2 hours | 2.5 - 3.0 hours | [Pre-class](https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/one) |
| Technical Writing Two | Learn intermediate topics in technical writing. | 1.5 hours | 2.5 - 3.0 hours | [Pre-class](https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/two) |

## Self-study

The following course is self-study only:

| Title | Summary | Time | Link to course |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing Helpful Error Messages | Learn to write clearer, more effective error messages. | 1.5 hours | [Course](https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/error-messages) |

## Self-study *or* instructor-led

The following course is available in both self-study and instructor-led formats.
Both formats cover similar (though, not quite identical) topics:

| Title | Summary | Time | Link to self-study | Link to instructor-led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tech Writing for Accessibility instructor-led | Develop skills for making documentation more accessible to all. | 1.5 hours | [Course](https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/accessibility/self-study) | [Course info](https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/accessibility) |

## Run your own instructor-led classes

Google provides all the materials needed to run your own instructor-led
sessions. If you'd like to facilitate instructor-led sessions for your
organization, see
[Facilitating Technical Writing Courses](https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/for-instructors).

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Google occasionally runs free, instructor-led sessions open to the general public. See [Announcements](https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/announcements) for details.

## Target audience

The target audience for most of these courses is as follows:

- Software engineers
- Software engineering or computer science students
- Engineering-adjacent roles (such as product managers)

Although we don't explicitly aim these courses at technical writers, many
technical writers or people training to be technical writers find these
courses useful. *Tech Writing for Accessibility* is particularly useful
for technical writers.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Google doesn't provide a certificate for completing these courses.

## Other languages

These technical writing courses are only available in English. True,
many of the lessons in this course are relevant to other languages.
However, certain recommendations that are helpful in English become
culturally or grammatically incorrect when translated.