"Did you see subtitles on the preview in the DVD-o-matic window?" 

I´m not sure, I really don´t remember. There were a lot of things going on at the theatre that night. Shame on me.

"I suspect DVD-o-matic does not support that subtitle format (yet).  I only tested it with DVD subtitles ...  Do you happen to know of any online examples of videos with ASS-format subtitles?"

I will look into that today. I can probably find some trailers with ASS-subs. 
Speaking of ASS, our older mkv-files uses another type of subtitles. Mediainfo from Aki Kaurismäkis excellent "Le Havre" is attached.

/M.E.