How are industry-specific terminology and conventions integrated into DITA specializations?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

Integrating industry-specific terminology and conventions into DITA specializations is essential for creating documentation that aligns with the unique language and requirements of a particular domain. Whether it’s healthcare, finance, or any other industry, DITA specialization allows organizations to customize their content structure to reflect the specific terminology and conventions of their field. This ensures that content creators and readers are on the same page, making it easier to create and understand documentation.

For instance, in the medical industry, DITA specialization can introduce elements like <medical-procedure> and <patient-diagnosis> to cater to the specialized terminology used by medical professionals. These elements can be associated with attributes like <procedure-type> and <diagnosis-code> to include specific conventions and codes relevant to healthcare. The following example illustrates this:

<dita xmlns_dita="http://www.example.com/ditastandards">
  <topic id="medical_procedure">
    <title>Medical Procedure</title>
    <body>
      <medical-procedure>
        <procedure-type>Surgery</procedure-type>
        <diagnosis-code>ICD-10 CM-123</diagnosis-code>
        <description>A surgical procedure performed to treat a specific medical condition.</description>
      </medical-procedure>
    </body>
  </topic>
</dita>

In this example, DITA specialization introduces industry-specific elements and attributes, making it easier for content creators to author content using the precise terminology and conventions of the medical field.