A Help Authoring Tool or HAT is an application to create online help systems, manuals and documentations and is an invaluable software skill for all technical writers to possess.

These Online Help Systems are used for guiding users through a specific product; teach them how to use it and educate them via extra tips and tricks that can be useful to know.

The main functions of a HAT are divided into 3 categories namely File Input, Help Output and Auxiliary Functions.

Adobe RoboHelp and MadCap Flare are two of the best HAT’s used by Technical Writers today.

This section will list the commonly used HATs in the industry