textform

Textform is a formal framework for encoding the visible structure and typographic form of text within digital documents. It defines a compact vocabulary of elements that describe the role of text blocks, inline emphasis, and layout attributes, while keeping content separate from presentation data. The aim is to support consistent rendering across devices and platforms by making typographic intent explicit in the data.

The concept emerged in the digital publishing community as a method to bridge traditional typography with machine interpretation. Development began in the early 2000s and was refined through multiple revisions over the following decade. Textform has seen use in academic publishing experiments, e-book pipelines, and content-management workflows where precise text presentation is important alongside accessibility and localization needs.

Key features of Textform include a form-centric tagging system that covers core text structures such as paragraphs, headings, lists, quotations, and notes, together with metadata fields for language, font preferences, line height, and margins. The specification is designed to be extensible, allowing new form types to be introduced without disrupting existing content. This extensibility supports evolving typographic practices and platform capabilities.

Syntax and usage in Textform rely on annotated text nodes. A typical paragraph may be marked with a form tag indicating its role and presentation attributes, for example a paragraph element with language and font details. Inline emphasis and other inline forms are expressed with dedicated markers, keeping the content readable while conveying presentation intent. The structure is intended to remain accessible when converted to other formats.

Impact and compatibility: Textform is designed to complement existing markup languages by encoding typographic intent alongside textual structure. It can be mapped to HTML, PDF, or ePub workflows and is valued for accessibility, internationalization, and consistent typography across platforms.