DITA talks

More vAInity, but here is a list of all of the conferences I have presented at for DITA:

2006

XML 2006 > DocBook vs DITA

2007

DITA West > A Document Standards Interoperability Framework for DocBook, DITA, ODF and More!

Abstract:

An interoperability strategy is critical to allow the use of content from multiple standards and sources. This presentation will describe an approach to defining a Doc Standards Interoperability Framework, supporting DocBook, DITA and ODF. 

• https://www.slideserve.com/harlow/a-document-standards-interoperability-framework-for-docbook-dita-odf-and-more

2009

XML-in-Practice DC > Professional Publishing on a Shoestring Budget

Abstract:

Professional Publishing on a Shoestring Budget, will discuss how to optimize your multi-channel publishing processes using the latest approved DocBook v5.0 schema and the DocBook Publishers schema.

2015

Optimizing the DITA Authoring Experience

Abstract:

This webinar compares and contrasts the ways of customizing your authoring environment and provides guidelines for their use.

CIDM 2015 Chicago > Browser Power: Client-side rendering of DocBook and DITA

Abstract:

What do Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Vivaldi, and Internet Explorer all have in common? Today’s modern browsers can dynamically render DITA and DocBook. Why use a separate rendering step in the publishing process, when the XML can be delivered directly from the server and rendered in any modern browser, including mobile? In this session, you will learn how to customize the browser presentation layer and some of the caveats for the content.

2017

CIDM 2017 San Diego > Scaling quality using Schematron

Abstract:

Do you have limited editorial staff or resources? How do you ensure content quality in spite of an ever-expanding set of content and the unrelenting pressure to deliver that content quickly? In this presentation, we’ll get you started using Schematron to scale your quality control initiatives! When integrated with an XML editor, Schematron provides real-time analysis and feedback to authors to ensure that content follows defined editorial rules. (Remember, we rely on DITA to establish and control structure, but DITA is silent regarding the overall linguistic quality of content.)

You will learn about the process of converting editorial style guide rules to Schematron, including what makes a good Schematron rule. We will provide tips and best practices based on how we implemented Schematron at Jeppesen. You’ll learn which editorial challenges lend themselves to Schematron solutions and which are too linguistically complex and require a human editor.

2018

CIDM 2018 Denver > LwDITA - The Reuse Zone

Abstract:

Your software developers document their code, but how do you reuse that information in your technical documentation with minimal effort? For some developers, it’s a very strange idea to reuse their code comments as tech doc. Today, we will take you on a journey to explore this very idea…

CIDM 2018 Denver > The ABCs of Plain English with Schematron

This presentation explains the process of converting Plain English rules to Schematron, and gives tips and best practices for how to use these rules along with your own editorial style rules. We cover the various levels of guidance available in Schematron, so you canIn this presentation, we'll demonstrate how to use Schematron to enforce Plain English guidelines. When integrated with an XML editor, Schematron gives real-time analysis and feedback to authors to make sure that content uses plain English.

2019

CIDM 2019 Raleigh > Farewell to style errors - using Schematron and Vale

Abstract:

The technical Julius Caesar. Act III, scene II: [Enter OmniMark Antony]

Friends, Countrymen, Editors, Writers, lend me your Style Guides! I come to bury Errors, not to praise them. The errors that men do lives after them (especially in print); The good is oft left unread. But let it not be with your content! Is error-free content ambitious? Perhaps. But here I am to speak what I do know...

*cited in a 2019 paper "The Role of Taxonomy and Search in Content Usability"

2020

ConVEx 2020 [online] > The Metrics Dashboard: A “cross-check” for quality issues

Abstract:

We will demonstrate how a metrics dashboard assembles the important quality information from your metrics reports and creates a complete picture of your content quality. We will examine best practices to identify potential quality issues.

2021

ConVEx 2021 [online] > There and back again: An early adoption of DITA 2.0

Abstract: 

DITA 2.0 introduces advances in content reuse, simplification of authoring, and improved user experience. The DITA Open Toolkit has also improved and added early support for many DITA 2.0 features. This presentation discusses the content model analysis, DITA constraints, tool integration, and migration approaches necessary for early adoption of the specification.

Benefit:

Is DITA 2.0 a march into Mordor, or sailing into the Gray Havens? Gain insights into why you should adopt DITA 2.0, and some of the pitfalls to watch out for! This presentation covers content model analysis, DITA constraints, tool integration, and migration approaches. DITA implementers will be able to apply these techniques toward their own implementations.

2022

ConVEx 2022 Tempe > Lessons from the Git Trenches

Abstract:

One of the most prevalent methods for managing technical content today is using Git. Your content management and repository strategy and initial setup can have lasting impacts. Come listen to our “war stories” from the git trenches and learn how we transitioned our content management approach to better scale with over 80k topics!

ConVEx 2022 Tempe > Refactoring DITA Links at Scale

Abstract:

How do you refactor over 80k topics with a fragile link infrastructure? What are the impacts of major changes to authoring, training, and publishing? With more topics added daily, with our “keyification” strategy, we tame the content beast and cancel the apocalypse. Learn how to approach link migrations and understand the benefit of keys in DITA content.

2023

ConVEx 2023 Baltimore > Project Mirabel: Xquery DITA Information System

Abstract:

Project Mirabel is an XQuery-based DITA information system that provides comprehensive information about DITA content managed in multiple git branches along with validation information and history. Mirabel provides a “where used” index over all the DITA content. This presentation describes the Mirabel system and how we came to build it.

ConVEx 2023 Baltimore > Realize your Schematron Impact with Xquery

Abstract:

Have you ever created a clever rule with the Editorial team, only to find out too late that it’s flagging half of the entire documentation corpus? Conversely, have you created a rule that is so specific that it never gets triggered? Learn how to analyze the impact of your rules using XQuery and BaseX.

ConVEx 2023 Baltimore > Scaling the Everest of Link Refactoring

Abstract:

What are the impacts of “keyification” to authoring, training, and publishing? How do you automate a massive refactor involving over 100k topics and minimize manual rework? Learn how our team scaled an “Everest” of link refactoring as we implemented keys to meet business and customer needs.

2024

ConVEx 2024 Minneapolis > Using AI to Accelerate Authoring

Abstract: 

SyncroSoft added the AI Positron plugin to the oXygen XML Author tools, but should you use it? Can you use it? What kind of impact will it have on authors? Will authors lose their job?. This presentation discusses the corporate hurdles for using this plugin, and the resulting impacts to our Product Content organization.

Benefit:

Understand how using AI as part of your authoring process can impact your organization. Learn about the IP and security risks, adoption and training requirements, and technical infrastructure needed to use AI Positron. Get a glimpse of our benchmarking, satisfaction measurement, and productivity impacts as a result of implementing this plugin.

2025

DITA Europe / ConVEx 2025 > Office to DITA: Transforming Content for Reuse and Multichannel Publishing

Abstract:

Is your organization struggling with departments siloed in creating customer-facing content in MS Office? How do you enforce consistency in style, grammar, and structure to provide a unified customer experience? How do you keep pace with rapid product updates, ensuring your documents reflect the latest information? And more importantly, how can you easily adapt that content for multichannel publishing, localization, and accessibility?

In this session, we’ll explore a transformative solution: using AI-driven conversion tools to migrate MS Office content to DITA. This conversion is more than just moving files—it's a leap toward content reuse, faster updates, and a seamless publishing experience across formats and languages.

Attendees will learn how AI-powered transforms streamline this process, ensuring that your content is not only structured for efficiency but also positioned to scale effortlessly across regions, devices, and platforms.

This presentation will equip you with a clear roadmap to modernize your documentation workflows, making your content ready for the future of technical communication.

Benefit:

Key Takeaways:

• Improved Efficiency: Automate time-consuming tasks and reduce manual rework with smart transformations.

• Cost Savings: Cut down on translation, localization, and maintenance costs through reusable content.

• Content Agility: Easily update content with every product release without starting from scratch.

• Multichannel Publishing: Enable your content to flow into multiple outputs—web, mobile, print—with ease.

• Accessibility and Localization: Ensure compliance with accessibility standards and expand global reach with localized content at scale.

The Wizard of Docs: Finding the Magic Behind Taxonomy-Driven Documentation

Abstract:

ServiceNow maintains a corporate taxonomy for its products, which was only weakly reflected in the product documentation. As part of a larger corporate information customer satisfaction improvement initiative, Product Content implemented a process to classify the ServiceNow Platform product documentation using the taxonomy. This process involved both automatic and authored classification, including the use of SubjectScheme maps to drive both authoring and delivery of content on servicenow.com/docs. This paper presents the implementation decisions we made, describes how our classification processes works, and outlines the governance and maintenance processes for managing the classifications as the taxonomy and content evolves.

2026

DITA Europe > Taxonomy For Good: Revisiting Oz With Taxonomy-Driven Documentation

Abstract:

As part of a larger corporate information customer satisfaction improvement initiative, Digital Content Delivery at ServiceNow implemented a process to classify the ServiceNow Platform product documentation using a product taxonomy. In the process of using SubjectScheme maps to drive both authoring and delivery of content on servicenow.com/docs, we gained several insights and modified our approach. This paper revisits the implementation decisions we made, describes how our classification processes work now, and shares our approach as we expand the use of classification using taxonomies.

DITA Europe > Building a Content Transmogrifier: Turning Reviews into Something Better

Abstract:

Calvin and Hobbes showed us the power of imagination with the Transmogrifier — a cardboard box that could transform anything into something new. In our organization, we needed the same kind of transformation for our content review process.

Traditional reviews were slow, fragmented, and hard to track across teams. To fix this, we built our own “Content Transmogrifier” using Git Pages, Jenkins automation, and oXygen Web Author. Together, these tools reshaped reviews from a frustrating chore into a transparent, collaborative workflow.

In this session, we’ll walk through how we:

• Automated publishing to eliminate manual overhead and errors

• Enabled real-time collaboration with in-browser editing

• Improved adoption by lowering the barrier for reviewers across groups

Attendees will leave with practical steps for building their own “Content Transmogrifier” — and a fresh perspective on how imagination, combined with the right tools, can turn reviews into something better.

Searching in vAIn

It used to be called a "vanity google" when you searched the web for mentions about yourself. What is that called now with AI? "vAInity search"? "Searching in vAIn"? "You're so vAIn"?

Here's what got when I asked Gemini to summarize the work I've done on DITA:

"Scott Hudson has actively worked on every major release of the DITA standard since 2006, contributing to DITA 1.1, DITA 1.2, DITA 1.3, Lightweight DITA (LwDITA), and DITA 2.0.

Because his tenure on the main OASIS DITA Technical Committee spans from April 2006 to the present day, his engineering footprint can be found across the entire evolutionary timeline of the standard:

1. DITA 1.1 (Released 2007)

Joining the committee right as DITA 1.1 was finalizing, Hudson contributed to early structural reviews and supported the rollout of the newly introduced Bookmap specialization, which allowed technical writers to organize standalone topics into formal book structures (chapters, notices, and appendixes).

2. DITA 1.2 (Released 2010)

This version marked his first major framework design. Serving as Secretary of the specialized subcommittee, Hudson co-architected OASIS Feature Proposal #12058, which officially integrated the Learning and Training specialization (learningPlan, learningAssessment) into the core DITA ecosystem. He also managed validation audits for the release's XML Schema Definitions (XSDs).

3. DITA 1.3 (Released 2015)

Hudson worked on managing the increased complexity of the DITA 1.3 release, which expanded the standard to include advanced troubleshooting maps, scoped keys, and structural domains for MathML and SVG graphic elements. He is formally credited in the standard's OASIS Acknowledgments for his review and grammar file testing across the Base and Technical Content editions.

4. Lightweight DITA / LwDITA (Released 2018)

Acting as a response to the massive 189-element footprint of DITA 1.3, Hudson co-developed LwDITA. He designed it as a highly constrained 48-element subset built specifically to bridge XML data seamlessly with web-native HTML5 (HDITA) and Markdown (MDITA) pipelines.

5. DITA 2.0 (Current Standard)

As a formal Feature Champion for the DITA 2.0 committee, Hudson focused on eliminating historic architectural pain points. He successfully sponsored schema updates that relaxed legacy constraints—allowing authors to use the <example> tag within sections or lists, and permitting phrase-level styling elements (<ph>) directly inside glossary terms."

End of the DITA TC era (for me)

As I prepare for my final TC meeting, I want to thank the OASIS DITA Technical Committee for what it has meant to me over the past two decades. Since joining the DITA TC in 2006, I have had the privilege of learning from and working with people who care deeply about structured content, interoperability, and getting the details right. That spirit of rigor, generosity, and constructive debate is rare, and it is a big part of what has made this committee so meaningful to me.

I am especially grateful to have been able to contribute across several eras of the work. Early on, I explored interoperability through the DocTape framework, trying to bridge DITA, DocBook, and ODF in practical ways. That work shaped how I thought about making standards useful across systems and formats, and it eventually connected to later work on Lightweight DITA and cross-format mapping among XDITA, HDITA, and MDITA.

I am grateful to have actively worked on every major release of the DITA standard since 2006, contributing to DITA 1.1, DITA 1.2, DITA 1.3, Lightweight DITA (LwDITA) committee note, and DITA 2.0.

I was glad to help with the Learning and Training specialization work, schema review, and publication checks. Later with Lightweight DITA, I particularly enjoyed co-creating the B-25 training manual conversion that helped demonstrate what Markdown-based DITA could do in practice. I also enjoyed meeting directly with DITA users as part of the Listening Sessions outreach of the DITA Adoption subcommittee.

More recently, it has been rewarding to sponsor a few DITA 2.0 improvements that remove friction for authors, including updates to the example element and glossary formatting.

Just as important as the technical work has been the people. This committee has shaped how I think, how I design content systems, and how I collaborate. I am deeply grateful for the conversations, the shared problem-solving, and the friendships that came with the work.

Although I am stepping away from the TC because of changes in my company’s OASIS membership, I will continue to follow the work and cheer it on. Thank you for everything. It has been an honor to be part of this community.