diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Format/WFSDescribeFeatureType.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Format/WFSDescribeFeatureType.js
index a946da060c..b71291e0f8 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Format/WFSDescribeFeatureType.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Format/WFSDescribeFeatureType.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 /**
  * @requires OpenLayers/Format/XML.js
  * @requires OpenLayers/Format/OGCExceptionReport.js
+ * @requires OpenLayers/Format/JSON.js
  */
  
 /**
@@ -17,6 +18,22 @@
  */
 OpenLayers.Format.WFSDescribeFeatureType = OpenLayers.Class(
     OpenLayers.Format.XML, {
+
+    /** 
+     * Property: jsonFormat
+     * {OpenLayers.Format.JSON}
+     * Parser instance used to parse JSON for cross browser support.  The native
+     *     JSON.parse method will be used where available (all except IE<8).
+     */
+    jsonFormat: null,
+
+    /**
+     * Property: regExes
+     * Compiled regular expressions for manipulating strings.
+     */
+    regExes: {
+        trimSpace: (/^\s*|\s*$/g)
+    },
     
     /**
      * Property: namespaces
@@ -52,15 +69,16 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WFSDescribeFeatureType = OpenLayers.Class(
                     complexTypes: complexTypes,
                     customTypes: customTypes
                 };
+                var i, len;
                 
                 this.readChildNodes(node, schema);
 
                 var attributes = node.attributes;
                 var attr, name;
-                for(var i=0, len=attributes.length; i<len; ++i) {
+                for(i=0, len=attributes.length; i<len; ++i) {
                     attr = attributes[i];
                     name = attr.name;
-                    if(name.indexOf("xmlns") == 0) {
+                    if(name.indexOf("xmlns") === 0) {
                         this.setNamespace(name.split(":")[1] || "", attr.value);
                     } else {
                         obj[name] = attr.value;
@@ -71,7 +89,7 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WFSDescribeFeatureType = OpenLayers.Class(
                 
                 // map complexTypes to names of customTypes
                 var complexType, customType;
-                for(var i=0, len=complexTypes.length; i<len; ++i) {
+                for(i=0, len=complexTypes.length; i<len; ++i) {
                     complexType = complexTypes[i];
                     customType = customTypes[complexType.typeName];
                     if(customTypes[complexType.typeName]) {
@@ -103,6 +121,7 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WFSDescribeFeatureType = OpenLayers.Class(
                 obj.properties = sequence.elements;
             },
             "element": function(node, obj) {
+                var type;
                 if(obj.elements) {
                     var element = {};
                     var attributes = node.attributes;
@@ -112,7 +131,7 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WFSDescribeFeatureType = OpenLayers.Class(
                         element[attr.name] = attr.value;
                     }
                     
-                    var type = element.type;
+                    type = element.type;
                     if(!type) {
                         type = {};
                         this.readChildNodes(node, type);
@@ -122,10 +141,11 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WFSDescribeFeatureType = OpenLayers.Class(
                     var fullType = type.base || type;
                     element.localType = fullType.split(":").pop();
                     obj.elements.push(element);
+                    this.readChildNodes(node, element);
                 }
                 
                 if(obj.complexTypes) {
-                    var type = node.getAttribute("type");
+                    type = node.getAttribute("type");
                     var localType = type.split(":").pop();
                     obj.customTypes[localType] = {
                         "name": node.getAttribute("name"),
@@ -133,6 +153,24 @@ OpenLayers.Format.WFSDescribeFeatureType = OpenLayers.Class(
                     };
                 }
             },
+            "annotation": function(node, obj) {
+                obj.annotation = {};
+                this.readChildNodes(node, obj.annotation);
+            },
+            "appinfo": function(node, obj) {
+                if (!this.jsonFormat) {
+                    this.jsonFormat = new OpenLayers.Format.JSON();
+                }
+                obj.appinfo = this.jsonFormat.read(this.getChildValue(node));
+            },
+            "documentation": function(node, obj) {
+                if (!obj.documentation) {
+                    obj.documentation = {};
+                }
+                var lang = node.getAttribute("xml:lang");
+                var value = this.getChildValue(node);
+                obj.documentation[lang] = value.replace(this.regExes.trimSpace, "");
+            },
             "simpleType": function(node, obj) {
                 this.readChildNodes(node, obj);
             },
diff --git a/tests/Format/WFSDescribeFeatureType.html b/tests/Format/WFSDescribeFeatureType.html
index 820ed3d910..d1ee22e80a 100644
--- a/tests/Format/WFSDescribeFeatureType.html
+++ b/tests/Format/WFSDescribeFeatureType.html
@@ -390,6 +390,45 @@
         t.ok(!!obj.error, "Error reported correctly");
     }
 
+    function test_read_annotation(t) {
+        t.plan(2);
+        var text = 
+            '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>' +
+            '<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"' +
+            '  xmlns:analytics="http://opengeo.org/analytics" xmlns:cite="http://www.opengeospatial.net/cite"' +
+            '  xmlns:gml="http://www.opengis.net/gml" xmlns:it.geosolutions="http://www.geo-solutions.it"' +
+            '  xmlns:nurc="http://www.nurc.nato.int" xmlns:og="http://opengeo.org"' +
+            '  xmlns:sde="http://geoserver.sf.net" xmlns:sf="http://www.openplans.org/spearfish"' +
+            '  xmlns:tiger="http://www.census.gov" xmlns:tike="http://opengeo.org/#tike"' +
+            '  xmlns:topp="http://www.openplans.org/topp" xmlns:usgs="http://www.usgs.gov/"' +
+            '  xmlns:za="http://opengeo.org/za" elementFormDefault="qualified"' +
+            '  targetNamespace="http://www.openplans.org/topp">' +
+            '  <xsd:import namespace="http://www.opengis.net/gml"' +
+            '    schemaLocation="http://demo.opengeo.org/geoserver/schemas/gml/3.1.1/base/gml.xsd"/>' +
+            '  <xsd:complexType name="statesType">' +
+            '    <xsd:complexContent>' +
+            '      <xsd:extension base="gml:AbstractFeatureType">' +
+            '        <xsd:sequence>' +
+            '          <xsd:element maxOccurs="1" minOccurs="0" name="PERSONS" nillable="true" type="xsd:double">' +
+            '            <xsd:annotation>' +
+            '              <xsd:appinfo>{"title":{"en":"Population"}}</xsd:appinfo>' +
+            '              <xsd:documentation xml:lang="en"> Number of persons living in the state' +
+            '              </xsd:documentation>' +
+            '            </xsd:annotation>' +
+            '          </xsd:element>' +
+            '        </xsd:sequence>' +
+            '      </xsd:extension>' +
+            '    </xsd:complexContent>' +
+            '  </xsd:complexType>' +
+            '  <xsd:element name="states" substitutionGroup="gml:_Feature" type="topp:statesType"/>' +
+            '</xsd:schema>';
+        var format = new OpenLayers.Format.WFSDescribeFeatureType();
+        var res = format.read(text);
+        var property = res.featureTypes[0].properties[0];
+        t.eq(property.annotation.appinfo.title["en"], "Population", "appinfo read correctly");
+        t.eq(property.annotation.documentation["en"], "Number of persons living in the state", "documentation read correctly");
+    }
+
     </script> 
 </head> 
 <body>