The act of reading, in simplest terms, is making meaning from print. Good technical writers understand what their readers don't know. In making sense of print, especially technical or difficult print, readers simultaneously employ a variety of strategies. On a text level, readers use their background knowledge. They begin reading with their prior knowledge of the subject activated and ready to help make educated guesses when they come to a passage or word that does not make sense.
Readers also bring their expectations about form and style to a reading task.
While visual information can reduce the need for words and translation, they carry the same cultural connotations as words. Andrews describes how a worker handled a box with a picture of a broken goblet on the side. The symbol was intended to warn handlers the box contained fragile items. A dockworker tossed it onto the back of a truck, figuring the symbol indicated it contained broken glass. Syntactic features provide clues to unknown words.