While no one can fault XML enthusiasts for not being outspoken, the same can't be said for XML markup itself. VoiceXML is out to change all of that. The VoiceXML Forum has made the 1.0 specification available as a PDF file.

The specification describes a markup language and operational environment that allows websites to publish documents that create distributed speech-based telephony applications. The IBM AlphaWorks site has an implementation of VoiceXML 0.9 that was posted in October of 1999. The expectation is that there will be many more implementations in the near future.