diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 757d4cb5..2591834b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ libespeak-ng.a
 libespeak-ng.la
 libespeak-ng.so*
 
-# programs
+# build output
 
+*.html
 *.exe
 
 src/espeak-ng
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 3b9b621b..cb9a87d5 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -50,15 +50,22 @@ distclean-local:
 	rm -rf espeak-data/phondata-manifest
 	rm -f espeak-data/*_dict
 
+##### documentation:
+
+%.html: %.md _layouts/webpage.html
+	cat $< | sed -e 's/\.md)/.html)/g' | kramdown --template _layouts/webpage.html > $@
+
+docs:	README.html
+
+docs/speak_lib.h: src/include/espeak-ng/speak_lib.h
+	cp $< $@
+
 ##### build targets:
 
 libespeak_ng_includedir = $(includedir)/espeak-ng
 libespeak_ng_include_HEADERS = \
 	src/include/espeak-ng/speak_lib.h
 
-docs/speak_lib.h: src/include/espeak-ng/speak_lib.h
-	cp $< $@
-
 lib_LTLIBRARIES += src/libespeak-ng.la
 
 src_libespeak_ng_la_LDFLAGS = -version-info $(SHARED_VERSION) -lpthread -lm
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 12529f35..287c7f64 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -39,22 +39,39 @@ Optionally, you need:
 2.  the portaudio development library to enable portaudio output;
 3.  the sonic development library to enable sonic audio speed up support.
 
+To build the documentation, you need:
+
+1.  the `kramdown` markdown processor.
+
 ### Debian
 
+Core dependencies:
+
 | Dependency    | Install                                                          |
 |---------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | autotools     | `sudo apt-get install make autoconf automake libtool pkg-config` |
 | c11 compiler  | `sudo apt-get install gcc`                                       |
-| pulseaudio    | `sudo apt-get install libpulse-dev`                              |
-| portaudio     | `sudo apt-get install libportaudio-dev`                          |
-| sonic         | `sudo apt-get install libsonic-dev`                              |
+
+Optional dependencies:
+
+| Dependency | Install                                 |
+|------------|-----------------------------------------|
+| pulseaudio | `sudo apt-get install libpulse-dev`     |
+| portaudio  | `sudo apt-get install libportaudio-dev` |
+| sonic      | `sudo apt-get install libsonic-dev`     |
+
+Documentation dependencies:
+
+| Dependency    | Install                              |
+|---------------|--------------------------------------|
+| kramdown      | `sudo apt-get install ruby-kramdown` |
 
 Cross-compiling for windows:
 
-| Dependency              | Install                                                |
-|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
-| 32-bit Windows compiler | `sudo apt-get install mingw-w64-i686-dev`              |
-| 64-bit Windows compiler | `sudo apt-get install mingw-w64-x86-64-dev`            |
+| Dependency              | Install                                     |
+|-------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
+| 32-bit Windows compiler | `sudo apt-get install mingw-w64-i686-dev`   |
+| 64-bit Windows compiler | `sudo apt-get install mingw-w64-x86-64-dev` |
 
 ## Building
 
@@ -65,6 +82,10 @@ be built via the standard autotools commands:
 	$ ./configure --prefix=/usr
 	$ make
 
+The documentation can be built by running:
+
+	make doc
+
 ### Audio Output Configuration
 
 The following `configure` options control which audio interfaces to use:
diff --git a/_layouts/webpage.html b/_layouts/webpage.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bf4677b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_layouts/webpage.html
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+<head>
+<meta charset="utf-8"/>
+<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1"/>
+<meta name="robots" content="all"/>
+<style type="text/css">
+body
+{
+	font-family: sans-serif;
+	font-size: 14px;
+	margin: 1em;
+}
+
+*:first-child
+{
+	margin-top: 0;
+}
+
+code, pre
+{
+	font-family: monospace;
+	background: #F7F7F7;
+	color: navy;
+}
+
+code
+{
+	font-size: 85%;
+	padding: 0.2em;
+}
+
+pre
+{
+	margin-left: 3em;
+	padding: 1em;
+}
+
+th
+{
+	text-align: left;
+}
+
+hr
+{
+	border: 0;
+	border-bottom: 1px solid #BBB;
+}
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<%= @body %>
+</body>
+</html>