The definitions of the blockquote and cite elements in the HTML specification have recently been updated. This article explains what the changes mean for developers.

Given HTML’s roots in the academic world, it should be no surprise that quoting is well-accomodated in the elements blockquote and q, with their optional cite attribute. In addition, there’s the cite element, which over the last nine years went from ‘semantic orphan element made good’ to one of the more contentious elements in HTML5. Let’s power up the endoscope and examine the scarring, starting with blockquote.