Introducing DITA

Documentation now comes in many different forms, including online help, web content, printed materials, and more. Technical communicators are charged with not only keeping all of the material consistent and up-to-date, but also making it translation-ready. DITA is one tool which can help technical communicators keep up with these competing demands.

What is DITA?

According to Cover Pages, DITA, or Darwin Information Typing Architecture, is an XML-based information architecture created to design, write, and produce technical documentation. In particular, DITA was designed to create ...modular technical documents that are easy to reuse with varied display and delivery mechanisms, such as helpsets, manuals, hierarchical summaries for small-screen devices, and so on.

What Does Darwin Information Typing Architecture Mean?

Darwin

DITA uses specialization and inheritance, similar to Darwin's evolutionary adaptation.

Information Typing

Categorizing topics based off of the kind of information it is (i.e. concepts, tasks, or references).

Architecture

DITA is a set of structures based on XML.

Who Uses DITA?

Its users include Adobe, BMC Software, Boeing, IBM, Intel, Nokia, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and the U.S. Department of Defense, among many others.

This site will help technical communicators get a basic understanding of what DITA is and its key features. Visit the Resources page to find out about tools, guides, and other sources regarding DITA.