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Block Quotations

Unlike an inline (or in-text) quotations, which are integrated into the text, a block quotation is a longer quotation, usually from another source, set off from surrounding text by paragraph breaks.

These should be tagged using the Blockquote (DAISY) style.

Block quotations are commonly seen as quotations in epigraphs, books reviews or endorsements, and as long quotations taken from other sources within the body of the text. This style can also be used for quoting a poem, song, or letter. If in doubt, ask!

Block quotations may have an author associated with the quotation, which should be marked using the Author (DAISY) style or the Citation (DAISY) style. See Author and Citation Style for more information.

Text-to-speech software will usually declare Quote and End Quote before and after reading text marked up as block quotations.

If there are multiple quotations in a row, like in a book reviews or endorsements section, it is important to select and apply the Blockquote (DAISY) style to each quote separately.

This will make sure each quote is marked up separately, and not as one long single quotation.

Also, if the attribution (Author/Citation) is in-line with the quotation, insert a paragraph break between the quotation and attribution to ensure proper coding of styles.

Q & A

Q: I have a question about italics in quotes. In the book I'm working on, the author has compiled an extensive list of quotes from other sources but then gone in and added italics to many sections of the quotes. Sometimes just a few words at a time but other times, entire sentences and even paragraphs are italicized. Almost always, the endnote for the quote then includes the phrase "emphasis added". From a print disability point of view, many of those italics are unnecessary and present a barrier to readability. But I hesitate to change the author's intention of highlighting parts of the quote, especially since they've typed "emphasis added" in the endnote. Are the rules about when to apply emphasis style and when not to different in this situation? If I do remove the italics, do I also delete the "emphasis added" from the endnote?

A: Good Question. In cases like these emphasis can be tricky. If the author wrote "emphasis added" we can keep it, unless it is a large block of text such as an entire paragraph. Do not delete anything written in the book, I realize it is not perfect but we are not editors, just reformatting for accessibility.


Q: The book I am working on a book has a number of block quotes, and some of these quotes are centred while others are more left aligned. Should we use two different styles for the quotes?

A: For any block quotations, just use the standard Quote style


Q: My book has a block quote which consists of a brief (three item) timeline. Should this be marked as a block quote? Or as Definition Terms/data?

A: Good question. We can use a blockquote as they're extracts from his letters. I don't think using a Definitions list would be appropriate in this case as it might just unnecessarily complicate navigation. The main purpose of marking text up as lists is to aid navigation of the content (make it easier to jump through items, and find your way through items).

public/nnels/etext/quotations.1591394149.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/06/05 14:55 by rachel.osolen