diff --git a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-check.sch b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-check.sch
index 03d38726f5..f24ae14e2d 100644
--- a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-check.sch
+++ b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-check.sch
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
                 <sqf:add target="group-as" node-type="element"><group-as name="{ $group-name }"/></sqf:add>
                 
             </sqf:fix>-->
-            
+           
         </sch:rule>
 
         <sch:rule context="m:group-as">
@@ -130,6 +130,10 @@
             <sch:let name="ns" value="/m:METASCHEMA/m:namespace"/>
           <sch:assert test="empty($example-ns) or namespace-uri(.) eq $example-ns">Unexpected namespace: examples should use namespace '<sch:value-of select="$example-ns"/>'</sch:assert>
         </sch:rule>
+        
+        <sch:rule context="m:p">
+            <sch:assert test="matches(.,'\S')">Empty paragraph (is likely to distort rendition)</sch:assert>
+        </sch:rule>
     </sch:pattern>
 
     <sch:pattern>
diff --git a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-common-html.xsl b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-common-html.xsl
index e034062dac..06ba81be21 100644
--- a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-common-html.xsl
+++ b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-common-html.xsl
@@ -12,13 +12,17 @@
    </xsl:template>
    
    <xsl:template match="m:description" mode="model">
-      <xsl:text>: </xsl:text>
-      <xsl:apply-templates/>
+      <br class="br"/>
+      <i style="font-size: smaller">
+         <xsl:apply-templates/>
+      </i>
    </xsl:template>
    
    <xsl:template match="m:remarks/m:p" mode="model">
-      <br/>
-        <xsl:apply-templates/>
+      <br class="br"/>
+      <span style="font-size: smaller">
+         <xsl:apply-templates/>
+      </span>
    </xsl:template>
    
    <xsl:template match="m:choice">
@@ -60,7 +64,7 @@
    </xsl:template>
 
   <xsl:template  match="m:remarks">
-      <div class="remarks">
+     <div class="remarks usa-color-gray-lightest" style="padding: 0.5em">
          <xsl:apply-templates/>
       </div>
    </xsl:template>
diff --git a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-compose.xsl b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-compose.xsl
index aeb703c6bb..b05d910211 100644
--- a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-compose.xsl
+++ b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-compose.xsl
@@ -166,10 +166,10 @@
                 <xsl:copy-of select="$me-and-mine[last()]/description"/>
                 <xsl:apply-templates mode="#current" select="json-key, json-value-key, flag"/>
                 <xsl:copy-of select="$me-and-mine[last()]/valid-values"/>
+                <xsl:copy-of select="model"/>
                 <xsl:apply-templates mode="#current" select="$me-and-mine/remarks">
                     <xsl:sort select="position()" order="descending"/><!-- reversing the order -->
                 </xsl:apply-templates>
-                <xsl:copy-of select="model"/>
                 <xsl:apply-templates mode="#current" select="$me-and-mine/example">
                     <xsl:sort select="position()" order="descending"/><!-- reversing the order -->
                 </xsl:apply-templates>
@@ -202,8 +202,7 @@
     
     <xsl:template mode="digest" match="flag | json-key | json-value-key">
         <xsl:copy>
-            <xsl:attribute name="datatype">string</xsl:attribute>
-            <xsl:copy-of select="key('definition-by-name',@name)/@datatype"/>
+            <xsl:copy-of select="key('definition-by-name',@name)/@as-type"/>
             <!-- Allowing local datatype to override the definition's datatype -->
             <xsl:copy-of select="@*"/>
             <xsl:apply-templates mode="#current"/>
diff --git a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-jsondocs-jekyll-uswds.xsl b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-jsondocs-jekyll-uswds.xsl
index 140571c0d2..d6e8c73bb8 100644
--- a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-jsondocs-jekyll-uswds.xsl
+++ b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-jsondocs-jekyll-uswds.xsl
@@ -379,6 +379,24 @@
       </li>
    </xsl:template>
    
+   <!-- remarks are kept if @class='xml' or no class is given -->
+   <xsl:template match="remarks[@class != 'json']" priority="2"/>
+   
+   <xsl:template match="define-assembly/remarks | define-field/remarks | define-flag/remarks">
+      <xsl:if test="empty(preceding-sibling::remarks[not(@class != 'xml')])">
+         <h5>Remarks</h5>
+      </xsl:if>
+      <xsl:next-match/>
+   </xsl:template>
+   
+   <xsl:template match="remarks[@class = 'json']/p[1]">
+      <p class="p">
+         <span class="usa-label">JSON</span>
+         <xsl:text> </xsl:text>
+         <xsl:apply-templates/>
+      </p>
+   </xsl:template>
+   
    <xsl:template match="example[empty(* except (description | remarks))]"/>
 
    <xsl:template match="example">
diff --git a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-xmldocs-jekyll-uswds.xsl b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-xmldocs-jekyll-uswds.xsl
index 5d20679274..0bead1752e 100644
--- a/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-xmldocs-jekyll-uswds.xsl
+++ b/build/metaschema/lib/metaschema-xmldocs-jekyll-uswds.xsl
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@
                select="@name"/> attribute</h4>
             <xsl:call-template name="cross-links"/>
          </header>
+         <xsl:apply-templates mode="state-type" select="."/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="description"/>
          <xsl:for-each-group select="key('references',@name)/parent::*" group-by="true()">
             <p><xsl:text>This attribute appears on: </xsl:text>
@@ -133,14 +134,7 @@
                   <xsl:apply-templates select="@name"/> element</h4>
             <xsl:call-template name="cross-links"/>
          </header>
-         <xsl:choose>
-            <xsl:when test="@as-type = 'markup-line'">
-               <p>Supports inline encoding</p>
-            </xsl:when>
-            <xsl:when test="@as-type = 'markup-multiline'">
-               <p>Appears as a sequence of markup elements (paragraphs, lists etc.)</p>
-            </xsl:when>
-         </xsl:choose>
+         <xsl:apply-templates mode="state-type" select="."/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="formal-name | description"/>
          <xsl:call-template name="appears-in"/>
          <xsl:if test="exists(flag)">
@@ -161,14 +155,11 @@
                </xsl:choose>
             </xsl:variable>
             <div class="model">
-               <p xsl:expand-text="true">The {@name} element { $modal } have { $noun }:</p>
+               <p xsl:expand-text="true">The <code>{@name}</code> element { $modal } have { $noun }:</p>
                <ul>
                   <xsl:apply-templates select="flag" mode="model"/>
                </ul>
             </div>
-            <!--<xsl:call-template name="uswds-table">
-                  <xsl:with-param name="property-set" select="flag"/>
-               </xsl:call-template>-->
          </xsl:if>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="remarks"/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="example"/>
@@ -204,7 +195,6 @@
          <xsl:apply-templates select="model"/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="remarks"/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="example"/>
-         
       </div>
    </xsl:template>
 
@@ -224,15 +214,14 @@
 
    <xsl:template match="flag" mode="model">
       <li>
-         <xsl:apply-templates mode="link-here" select="key('definitions',@ref)"/>
-         
+         <xsl:apply-templates mode="link-here" select="key('definitions',@ref)"/>        
          <xsl:if test="empty(@ref)">
             <xsl:apply-templates select="@name"/>
          </xsl:if>
          <xsl:text> attribute </xsl:text>
-         <xsl:apply-templates select="@datatype"/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="@required"/>
-         <xsl:if test="not(@required) and self::flag"> (<i>optional</i>)</xsl:if>
+         <xsl:if test="empty(@required)"> (<i>optional</i>)</xsl:if>
+         <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="metaschema-type"/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="if (description) then description else key('definitions', @name)/description" mode="model"/>
          <xsl:if test="valid-values or key('definitions', @ref)/valid-values">
             <xsl:apply-templates select="if (valid-values) then valid-values else key('definitions', @ref)/valid-values"/>
@@ -245,9 +234,6 @@
       <i> (required)</i>
    </xsl:template>
    
-   <!-- Empty model elements (whether by accident or design) will be dropped.
-     NB: at a later point, we may support model/@acquire-from
-     at present we have @acquire-from only on definitions. -->
    <xsl:template match="model[not(*)]" priority="3"/>
 
    <xsl:template match="model">
@@ -255,12 +241,16 @@
          <p>The <xsl:apply-templates select="../@name"/> element has the following contents<xsl:if
                test="count(*) > 1"> (in order)</xsl:if>:</p>
          <ul>
-            <xsl:apply-templates select="../flag | ../key" mode="model"/>
+            <xsl:apply-templates select="../flag" mode="model"/>
             <xsl:apply-templates/>
          </ul>
       </div>
    </xsl:template>
 
+   <xsl:template match="any">
+      <li>Any element (in a foreign namespace)</li>
+   </xsl:template>
+         
    <xsl:template match="assembly | field">
       <li>
          <!--<xsl:text>A</xsl:text>
@@ -271,7 +261,7 @@
          </a>
          <xsl:text expand-text="true"> element{ if (@max-occurs != '1') then 's' else '' } </xsl:text>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="occurrence-requirements"/>
-
+         <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="metaschema-type"/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="if (description) then description else key('definitions', @ref)/description" mode="model"/>
          <xsl:if test="valid-values or key('definitions', @ref)/valid-values">
             <xsl:apply-templates select="if (valid-values) then valid-values else key('definitions', @ref)/valid-values"/>
@@ -281,15 +271,23 @@
    </xsl:template>
 
    <!-- remarks are kept if @class='xml' or no class is given -->
-   <xsl:template match="remarks[@class != 'xml']"/>
+   <xsl:template match="remarks[@class != 'xml']" priority="2"/>
 
    <xsl:template match="define-assembly/remarks | define-field/remarks | define-flag/remarks">
-      <xsl:if test="empty(preceding-sibling::remarks) or not(preceding-sibling::remarks/@class='xml')">
+      <xsl:if test="empty(preceding-sibling::remarks[not(@class != 'xml')])">
          <h5>Remarks</h5>
       </xsl:if>
       <xsl:next-match/>
    </xsl:template>
    
+   <xsl:template match="remarks[@class = 'xml']/p[1]">
+      <p class="p">
+         <span class="usa-label">XML</span>
+         <xsl:text> </xsl:text>
+         <xsl:apply-templates/>
+      </p>
+   </xsl:template>
+   
    <xsl:template match="example[empty(* except (description | remarks))]"/>
 
    <xsl:template match="example">
@@ -413,15 +411,31 @@
       </i>
    </xsl:template>
    
+   <xsl:template match="define-flag" mode="state-type">
+      <p>An attribute<xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="metaschema-type"/></p> 
+   </xsl:template>
+   
+   <xsl:template match="define-field" mode="state-type">
+      <p>An element<xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="metaschema-type"/></p> 
+   </xsl:template>
+   
+   <xsl:template match="field | assembly" mode="metaschema-type">
+      <xsl:apply-templates select="key('definitions',@ref)" mode="#current"/>
+   </xsl:template>
+   
+   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="flag | define-flag | define-field[exists(@as-type)]">
+      <xsl:text>, type </xsl:text>
+      <b>
+         <xsl:apply-templates mode="#current" select="@as-type"/>
+         <xsl:if test="empty(@as-type)">string</xsl:if>
+      </b>
+   </xsl:template>
    
    
-   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="flag">attribute</xsl:template>
-   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="field">element (with text contents)</xsl:template>
-   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="field[@as-type='markup-line']">element (with mixed text and element contents)</xsl:template>
-   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="field[@as-type='markup-multiline']">prose content: paragraphs, lists etc.</xsl:template>
-   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="assembly">element (with element contents)</xsl:template>
-   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="any">ANY</xsl:template>
-   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="description | remarks"/>
+   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="define-field">, with text contents</xsl:template>
+   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="*[@as-type='markup-line']"      priority="2">, with mixed text and (inline prose) element contents</xsl:template>
+   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="*[@as-type='markup-multiline']" priority="2">, as prose content: paragraphs, lists etc.</xsl:template>
+   <xsl:template mode="metaschema-type" match="define-assembly">, with its element contents</xsl:template>
    
    <xsl:template match="*" mode="metaschema-type">
       <xsl:message>Matching <xsl:value-of select="local-name()"/></xsl:message>
diff --git a/docs/content/documentation/relations.md b/docs/content/documentation/relations.md
index 781dbfb58f..8bc49c9efe 100644
--- a/docs/content/documentation/relations.md
+++ b/docs/content/documentation/relations.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ---
-title: Relations to Industry Standards
+title: Relations to Documentary Encoding Standards
 description: Relations
 permalink: /docs/relations/
 layout: post
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ sticky_sidenav: true
 
 Professionals working in the security domain are already familiar with numerous standards, specifications, guidelines and regulatory frameworks that define and describe practice in the systems security arena: NIST SP800-53, ISO 27001/2, FedRAMP, FISMA/FIPS, HIPAA and others. OSCAL's models are designed to capture the full range of these.
 
-However, there are other standard forms of document represention that might also be useful in certain contexts. Since OSCAL attempts not to replace any of these, but to complement them, developers of OSCAL-based systems may wish to be aware of them and of opportunities to take advantage of OSCAL in working with them.
+However, OSCAL is not the only text encoding technology available, and it is not always the most suitable, depending on the task at hand. Designed specifically to support operations related to security automation and assessment support, OSCAL may not be as optimal as other (standards-based, non-proprietary) formats for other applications including, notably, full text transcription, search and retrieval, or publication workflows. (OSCAL data may be shared among partners, even over networks including the Internet; but it is not necessarily suitable for publishing as such.)
+
+More importantly, since OSCAL shares its technical foundations with other documentary encoding standards that serve other horizontal or neighboring vertical domains, it is important to recognize a *high degree of compatibility* with other XML-based formats. Investing in OSCAL and OSCAL-related tooling is a way of developing capability that applies to these other formats as well; likewise investing in these can have beneficial side effects related to OSCAL and related technologies.
 
 ## How OSCAL relates to other document encoding formats