Can DITA be used for creating interactive government reports and data visualizations?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

DITA can indeed be utilized for creating interactive government reports and data visualizations. The framework’s capability to integrate with web technologies makes it a powerful tool for presenting complex data in an accessible and engaging manner.

Interactive Elements and Integration

Through DITA’s extensibility, interactive elements such as charts, graphs, and maps can be embedded into documentation. DITA’s support for foreign elements and attributes means that it can incorporate elements from other namespaces, like SVG for graphics or HTML5 for interactive features, directly into DITA content.

Enhancing User Engagement

By leveraging these capabilities, government reports can become more than static documents; they can be transformed into interactive experiences that allow users to explore data in a dynamic way. This not only makes the information more comprehensible but also encourages deeper engagement with the content.

Example

Here is an example of a DITA XML snippet incorporating an SVG element for a visualization:


<topic id="fiscal-data">
  <title>Fiscal Year Data Visualization</title>
  <body>
    <section>
      <title>Interactive Revenue Chart</title>
      <svg width="400" height="400">
        <rect x="50" y="20" width="150" height="300" style="fill:blue"/>
        <!-- More SVG elements here -->
      </svg>
    </section>
    <section>
      <title>Expenditure Map</title>
      <p>Interactive map showing expenditure by region.</p>
      <!-- Custom interactive map code here -->
    </section>
  </body>
</topic>

In this XML code, an SVG chart is embedded within a DITA topic, allowing for the inclusion of a visual, interactive element in the government report. When processed with the appropriate DITA-OT plugins, the report can be published to web formats that maintain the interactivity of the data visualizations.