Q - Short Quotation

The Q element is used for short, inline quotations. For longer (block) quotations, use the BLOCKQUOTE element.

The Q element's optional CITE attribute provides a URI of the source of the quotation. Some examples follow:

<P>In the words of Albert Einstein, <Q>God does <EM>not</EM> play dice.</Q></P>

<P>According to Dave Raggett, <Q CITE="http://www.w3.org/Press/HTML4-REC">HTML 4.0 gives Web designers the ability to create dynamic visually exciting pages that are accessible to all.</Q></P>

Note that authors should not include their own quotation marks when using the Q element. However, this can be a problem since almost all current browsers lack support for Q. Authors may prefer to avoid Q and insert their own quotation marks. Another alternative is to use I in combination with Q so that the quotation is distinguished from other text in most browsers. The previous example could also be given as follows:

<P>According to Dave Raggett, <I><Q CITE="http://www.w3.org/Press/HTML4-REC">HTML 4.0 gives Web designers the ability to create dynamic visually exciting pages that are accessible to all.</Q></I></P>

Browsers supporting Q should properly handle nested quotations. They should also use quotation marks suitable to the language of the quotation, based on the LANG attribute of Q or the language of its parent.

More Information

• Q in W3C HTML 4.0 Recommendation

This document was modified from the Web Design Group's original work. The Web Design Group takes no responsibility for any errors introduced.