Greetings!
Again, I have my standing conflict, so I may not be able to raise this tomorrow.
I completely understand that the spec has a particular purpose to define the standard.
However, the spec does a lot more than that.
Many editors reuse parts of the spec as help within their UI (Eg Oxygen) or minimally point to it in the help (Adobe FrameMaker). Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with other editors.
It’s not “our job” to make the spec the users guide…but I think the world is often using the spec as a users guide, whether we intend it or not.
I know I have the spec bookmarked, and that’s where I go to learn about DITA. I’m usually working with smaller companies that don’t have money for training, etc.
As we review and revise the spec do we want to consider the writers who will be reading the short descriptions in the Oxygen UI as how they’re learning about DITA? Or following links to the spec “for more information”?
And I completely understand if the answer is “outside of scope”.
Zoë Lawson
(she/her)