audience

The <audience> metadata element indicates, through the value of its type attribute, the intended audience for a topic.

Since a topic can have multiple audiences, you can include multiple audience elements. For each audience you specify, you can identify the high-level task (job) they are trying to accomplish and the level of experience (experiencelevel) expected. The audience element may be used to provide a more detailed definition of values used throughout the map or topic on the audience attribute.

Many of the attributes on the <audience> element have enumerated values, which may be extended by using constaints or by using associated attributes. For instance, the @othertype attribute can be used to extend the audience type enumeration.

Contains

note

These models represent only the default document types distributed by OASIS. Actual content models will differ with each new document type.

Doctype	Content model
topic, map, concept, ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup, reference, task, bookmap, classifyMap, subjectScheme, machineryTask, learningAssessment, learningBookmap, learningContent, learningMap, learningOverview, learningPlan, learningSummary	no content

Contained by

Doctype	Content model
topic (base), topic (technical content), concept, ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup, reference, task (strict), task (general), machineryTask, learningAssessment, learningContent, learningOverview, learningPlan, learningSummary	metadata
map (base), map (technical content), classifyMap, subjectScheme, learningMap	metadata, topicmeta
bookmap, learningBookmap	metadata, topicmeta, bookmeta

Inheritance

- topic/audience

Example

For a command reference topic for experienced programmers, the following might be an appropriate indication of that audience:

<audience type="programmer" job="programming" experiencelevel="expert"/>

Attributes

Name	Description	Data Type	Default Value	Required?
type	Indicates the kind of person for whom the content of the topic is intended. Note that this differs from the type attribute on many other DITA elements. Allowable values are: user A user of the product purchaser A product purchaser administrator A product administrator programmer A programmer executive An executive services Someone who provides services related to the product other Use the value specified by the othertype attribute -dita-use-conref-target See Using the -dita-use-conref-target value for more information.	(user \| purchaser \| administrator \| programmer \| executive \| services \| other \| -dita-use-conref-target)	#IMPLIED	No
othertype	Indicates an alternate audience type, when the type is not available in the type attribute value list. This value is used as the user-provided audience when the type attribute value is set to "other."	CDATA	#IMPLIED	No
job	Indicates the high-level task the audience for the topic is trying to accomplish. Different audiences may read the same topic in terms of different high-level tasks; for example, an administrator may read the topic while administering, while a programmer may read the same topic while customizing. Beginning with DITA 1.2, values in this attribute are not limited to a small number of choices; the following values were used in DITA 1.0 and DITA 1.1, and are still provided as sample values: installing, customizing, administering, programming, using, maintaining, troubleshooting, evaluating, planning, migrating, other, -dita-use-conref-target.	NMTOKEN	#IMPLIED	No
otherjob	If the job attribute value is "other" the value of this attribute is used to identify a kind of job other than the default ones provided by the job attribute.	CDATA	#IMPLIED	No
experiencelevel	Indicates the level of experience the audience is assumed to possess. Different audiences may have different experience levels with respect to the same topic; for example, a topic may require general knowledge from a programmer, but expert knowledge from a user. Beginning with DITA 1.2, values in this attribute are not limited to a small number of choices; the following values were used in DITA 1.0 and DITA 1.1, and are still provided as sample values: novice A first time user. general The most common user. expert An experienced user. -dita-use-conref-target See Using the -dita-use-conref-target value for more information.	NMTOKEN	#IMPLIED	No
name	Used to associate the audience element with values used in the audience attribute	CDATA	#REQUIRED	Yes
univ-atts attribute group (includes select-atts, id-atts, and localization-atts groups)	A set of related attributes, described in univ-atts attribute group
global-atts attribute group (xtrf, xtrc)	A set of related attributes, described in global-atts attribute group
class	A common attribute described in Other common DITA attributes