Ensuring the consistency and accuracy of visual documentation in maritime using DITA is essential to maintain the effectiveness and safety of training materials. Conventions and best practices are employed to achieve this goal.

Style Guidelines

One way to ensure consistency in visual documentation is by establishing style guidelines. These guidelines specify standards for graphics, such as line thickness, colors, and symbols used in maritime diagrams and charts. For example:

<style-guidelines id="maritime_graphics">
  <title>Maritime Graphics Style Guidelines</title>
  <description>Guidelines for creating consistent maritime graphics.</description>
  <line-thickness>2px</line-thickness>
  <color-scheme>RGB(0, 51, 102)</color-scheme>
  <symbol-set>International Maritime Symbols</symbol-set>
</style-guidelines>

In this DITA example, a “style-guidelines” topic type is used to define standards for maritime graphics, ensuring a uniform visual language across documentation.

Quality Assurance

Another important aspect is quality assurance. DITA allows for the inclusion of quality checks within documentation topics to verify the accuracy of visual materials. These checks can be both manual and automated. For instance:

<quality-assurance id="navigation_chart_accuracy">
  <title>Navigation Chart Accuracy Check</title>
  <description>Quality check for ensuring the accuracy of navigation charts.</description>
  <manual-checks>
    <check type="visual-inspection">Verify symbol placement.</check>
    <check type="scale-verification">Check chart scale.</check>
  </manual-checks>
  <automated-checks>
    <check type="accuracy-analysis">Compare chart data with GPS data.</check>
  </automated-checks>

In this DITA topic, a “quality-assurance” section is used to outline both manual and automated checks that ensure the accuracy of navigation charts. This helps maintain the quality of maritime visual documentation.