diff --git a/tildes/pytest.ini b/tildes/pytest.ini
index 4e2516a..ededd1e 100644
--- a/tildes/pytest.ini
+++ b/tildes/pytest.ini
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [pytest]
 testpaths = tests
-addopts = -p no:cacheprovider --strict-markers -m "not (html_validation or webtest)"
+addopts = -p no:cacheprovider --strict-markers
 filterwarnings =
     ignore::DeprecationWarning
     ignore::PendingDeprecationWarning
diff --git a/tildes/tasks.py b/tildes/tasks.py
index 314858d..2b94377 100644
--- a/tildes/tasks.py
+++ b/tildes/tasks.py
@@ -9,6 +9,53 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from invoke import task
 
 
+def output(string):
+    """Output a string without a line ending and flush immediately."""
+    print(string, end="", flush=True)
+
+
+@task(
+    help={
+        "html-validation": "Include HTML validation (very slow, includes webtests)",
+        "quiet": "Reduce verbosity",
+        "webtests": "Include webtests (a little slow)",
+    }
+)
+def test(context, quiet=False, webtests=False, html_validation=False):
+    """Run the tests.
+
+    By default, webtests (ones that make actual HTTP requests to the app) and HTML
+    validation tests (checking the validity of the HTML on some of the site's pages) are
+    not run because they are slow, but you can include them with the appropriate flag.
+    """
+    # webtests are required as part of HTML validation
+    if html_validation:
+        webtests = True
+
+    pytest_args = []
+    excluded_markers = []
+
+    if not webtests:
+        excluded_markers.append("webtest")
+    if not html_validation:
+        excluded_markers.append("html_validation")
+
+    if excluded_markers:
+        excluded_marker_str = " or ".join(excluded_markers)
+        pytest_args.append(f'-m "not ({excluded_marker_str})"')
+
+    if quiet:
+        output("Running tests... ")
+
+        pytest_args.append("-q")
+        result = context.run("pytest " + " ".join(pytest_args), hide=True)
+
+        # only output the final line of pytest's stdout (test count + runtime)
+        print(result.stdout.splitlines()[-1])
+    else:
+        context.run("pytest " + " ".join(pytest_args), pty=True)
+
+
 @task
 def update_pip_requirements(context):
     """Use pip-tools to update package versions in the requirements files."""