Taking the Show on the RoadImplementing DITA Across Verticals
Jeff Engle—Solution ArchitectOctober 26, 2016
Agenda
Discussion of
Three Different DITA
Implementations
Overview of the
Challenges/Opportunities
Implementation Reviews
• Xerox’s Internal Implementation
of DITA (“Standard” Technical
Implementation)
• Human Resources Implementation
• Learning and Training
2 October 20, 2016
Who has been involved with an implementation of DITA in Tech Pubs?
Who has been involved with an implementation of DITA in Learning and Training?
How many people have implemented DITA in HR or other non-technical areas of an organization?
What type of DITA implementations have you been part of?
October 20, 20164
Technical Documentation
for Printers/Copiers
• User Guides
• System Administration Guides
• Customer Engagement/Installation Guides
• Knowledge Base/xerox.com
• Specification Sheets
• Marketing Brochures
Technical versus Human Resources Content
6 October 20, 2016
Human Resources Documents
• Enrollment Guides
• Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs)
• Benefits Brochures
• Training Materials
Technical versus Human Resources Content
7 October 20, 2016
What’s similar about the environments?Large amount of content
Lots of similar/identical content
Multiple configurations of content for publications
Need a standard, consistent branded output
Need for various publication output types
8 October 20, 2016
What’s different about the environments?Authoring skillset/toolset
Component Content Management System (CCMS)
• Publishing
• CCMS
• Authoring Tool
9 October 20, 2016
11 October 20, 2016
DITA Implementation
• Implemented DITA in 2007
• 40–45 deliverables a year
• Translating into 18+ languages
• Publication formats:
PDF, Java Help and HTML Help
• Achieved cost savings,
built in the reuse
• Continuous process improvement
• Specification sheets—standard product
information
‒ Marketing brochures, user guides, system
administration guides and installation guides all have
the same data
• Specifications sometimes inconsistent across
publications, based on changing information
• Development cycles and documentation
release are different
• Want to “automatically” update all the
deliverables
Specification Sheets
12 October 20, 2016
• Multiple deliverables
with the “same” content
• Create datasheet with all
data points for products
• Each data point must
be broken out
Implementation Details
13 October 20, 2016
Spec Sheet: Up to 30 / 30 ppm
Brochure: 30 ppm color / black and white
User Guide: 30 ppm
16 October 20, 2016
Always improving and
looking for new ways
to improve.
Improve consistency
across deliverables by
referencing from one
source datasheet.
Keys and conkeyref
provide flexibility.
Summary
18 October 20, 2016
Business Need
• Manage content more efficiently
• Reduce authoring/editing time‒ Take advantage of common content
• Multiple configurations of content
Human Resources Implementation
Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs)/Enrollment Guides
• Generally same sections in all SPDs: Deductibles, What’s Covered, What’s Not Covered, Co-Pay, Co-Insurance, etc.
• Multiple sections of legal language, don’t change from SPD to SPD
• Vary in length 10–400+ pages each
Human Resources Implementation Authoring
Content conversion
Training
• New authoring tools, processes, ways of authoring
• New Component Content Management System
• Topic-based reviews rather than document reviews
Ongoing authoring support
22 October 20, 2016
23 October 20, 2016
Human Resources Implementation DITA
Specialized standard DITA
addresses specific needs
• Add/remove elements
• Add new attributes
– Provide access to formatting attributes
Subject Scheme
Pick lists for various
attributes• Profiling content
• Presentation
Flexible from
project-to-project,
no need to update DTDs
27 October 20, 2016
• Shifting responsibilities of designers
‒ More on design, less on implementation
• Authors have more control over the layout
• Faster time to “final” designed output
• Easy updates of colors/images
‒ Use of keys and conkeyref allows for images
and colors to be configured in one place
Productivity Enhancements
30 October 20, 2016
31 October 20, 2016
DITA can have the
same benefits in
non-tech pubs.
Can provide the flexibility
needed from a publishing
perspective.
Summary
• All content was in Quark®
• Everything is designed around print
• Little reuse, mostly copy/paste (really good
job of copy/paste)
• Instructor support materials/lesson plans are
updated separately from student materials
• Customized content for customers required
lots of manual changes and copy/paste
Learning and Training
33 October 20, 2016
Implementation Goals
Single source of content, version controlled in a component content management system
Instructor and student content integrated for ease of course customization
Multichannel publishing with standardized templates
Reused components dynamically updated wherever they’re used
34 October 20, 2016
Structure for Learning
35 October 20, 2016
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4 - 1.6
1.7
Student Text
Instructor Support
Materials
Structure for Learning
37 October 20, 2016
• Safety first
• Be environmentally
responsible
• Once every 5,000 miles
Saving money by changing your own
oil is good, but be sure to be safe.
Remember, too, that spilled oil
pollutes our environment. Be careful
and dispose of used oil properly.
You’ll get long life from your car’s
engine if you change the oil every
5,000 miles.
Student Text
Instructor Support
Materials
Structure for Learning
38 October 20, 2016
Objectives
Instructor Support
Materials
Student Text
Assessments
Structure for Learning
October 20, 2016
Objectives
Instructor Support
Materials
Student Text
Assessments
Summary
Overview
39
Learning Course Layout—Different Customers
October 20, 2016
Template/Vanilla Customer A Customer B
41
42 October 20, 2016
Implementation
Benefits
Dramatic reduction in custom course configurations
Create instructor slides with figures and tables
Terms and definitions
Assessment questions
eLearning content with the topic
43 October 20, 2016
All three implementation
examples use the same
basic processes/concepts.
Combination of DITA and
CCMS implementation
allows for content to be
delivered more
dynamically and efficiently.
With the right tools and
training, DITA can be
implemented successfully
in various verticals.
Summary