What is DITA?

Darwin Information Typing Architecture, abbreviated as DITA. Developed by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), it is an architecture for creating, managing, and utilizing information, compliant with XML. Its main feature is dividing documents into 4-5 sentence units and maintaining them as components. In addition to being able to reuse information in different contexts, it also supports output in various formats (PDF, HTML).

Benefits of DITA

In the past, when creating manuals, FrameMaker, InDesign, and Word were used, but the disadvantage was that the cycle of reusing documents was long due to the large size of each file. With DITA, the unit of information becomes smaller, allowing for a shorter cycle of reuse and efficient and low-cost creation and management of documents.

Solution Process

At Human Science Co., Ltd., we will propose an efficient management, operation, and maintenance flow for large amounts of documents based on the document and manual production know-how cultivated since our establishment in 1985.

We will also propose production according to your requests.

• - Manual and document reconstruction
• - Manual Rewrite
• ・Modularization, Topic Writing (in case of DITA conversion)
• ・Translation
• ・Coding, XML editing

DITA Localization Solutions provided by Human Science Co., Ltd.

Using DITA not only streamlines the document creation process, but also brings a synergistic effect of shortened work cycles and cost reduction in localization. At Human Science, we leverage our experience in handling large volumes of localized XML standard manuals introduced overseas to provide efficient and effective DITA solutions for localization.

Cost Reduction for the Repetition Section

In a regular document, even when using translation support software, the Repetition (*) section will incur a cost of about 10% of the translation cost. However, with DITA, which is managed independently on a unit basis, there is no Repetition cost at the paragraph level.
*If the same location is repeated, it can be reused at the sentence level.

Shortened Work Cycle

By translating on a unit basis, customers can check the translated text in small units. This eliminates the problem of not having enough time to check a large amount of documents at once.

Stable Workflow

The XML standard used in DITA is not affected by computer environments. In programs like Word, there is a problem where the layout of documents can change depending on the environment. In such cases, it is necessary to coordinate between the translation company and the client. On the other hand, DITA is not dependent on environments and even when processed through translation support software, it does not affect the layout, allowing for a significant reduction in workload during the translation process.

Automating DTP

One of the features of DITA is the ability to automatically output files in multiple formats such as PDF, CHM, and HTML from the XML source. By utilizing this feature, it is possible to significantly reduce the time and cost of DTP processing, which previously took several days.

About DITA Consortium Japan

Human Science Co., Ltd. participates in DITA Consortium Japan as a DITA player, and provides services that support DITA as well as promoting the spread of DITA.

The DITA Consortium Japan was established with the aim of promoting DITA within Japan, accumulating knowledge about DITA, and making international statements and communications about DITA. Through these efforts, the organization leads the reengineering of content creation in companies and contributes to the Japanese industry.

Please visit the following website for information about DITA Consortium Japan.