How are government documents generated and published from DITA sources?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

Government documents are meticulously produced and disseminated from DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) sources, which provide a robust framework for organizing complex documentation in a reusable way.

Structured Authoring

DITA is an XML-based standard that facilitates structured authoring and ensures consistency across a wide range of documents. Government bodies leverage DITA’s topic-based writing to break down information into small, manageable pieces that can be easily updated and repurposed. This modular approach enhances the ability to maintain accurate and authoritative documents that can be published across multiple platforms.

Publication Process

The publication process for government documents from DITA sources involves converting the DITA XML files into formats suitable for dissemination, such as PDFs, web pages, or e-books. This is typically done using DITA-OT (DITA Open Toolkit), which is a set of tools and stylesheets for transforming DITA content. Customized transformations can be created to meet specific governmental standards and requirements for accessibility and presentation.

Example

Below is an HTML-friendly example of a DITA topic transformed into an XML snippet, ready for publication:


<topic id="gov_policy">
  <title>Government Policy</title>
  <shortdesc>This topic outlines the government policy on information security.</shortdesc>
  <body>
    <section>
      <title>Scope of Policy</title>
      <p>The policy applies to all departments handling sensitive information.</p>
    </section>
    <section>
      <title>Compliance Guidelines</title>
      <p>All personnel must adhere to the outlined security protocols.</p>
    </section>
  </body>
  <related-links>
    <link href="compliance_checklist.xml">Compliance Checklist</link>
  </related-links>
</topic>

In the XML snippet above, the DITA topic contains a title, a short description, multiple sections with their own titles and content, and related links. This structured format ensures that the document is easily navigable and can be published consistently in accordance with government standards.