The present invention relates to a markup language to provide interactive services. A markup language document in accordance with the present invention includes a dialog element including a plurality of markup language elements. Each of the plurality of markup language elements is identifiable by at least one markup tag. A step element is contained within the dialog element to define a state within the dialog element. The step element includes a prompt element and an input element. The prompt element includes an announcement to be read to the user. The input element includes at least one input that corresponds to a user input. A method in accordance with the present invention includes the steps of creating a markup language document having a plurality of elements, selecting a prompt element, and defining a voice communication in the prompt element to be read to the user. The method further includes the steps of selecting an input element and defining an input variable to store data inputted by the user.