diff --git a/CHANGELOG.adoc b/CHANGELOG.adoc
index 61edeb4..0ef154b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.adoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.adoc
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ A release with an intentional breaking changes is marked with:
 ** {issue}647[#647]: Fix logic bug in `intersects?`. Added tests to test suite. ({person}dgr[@dgr])
 ** {issue}649[#649]: When supplied a vector argument for `q-text`, `fill-multi` and `fill-human-multi` now fill fields in the order that fields appear in the vector. Previously, the order was not guaranteed. ({person}dgr[@dgr])
 ** {issue}657[#657]: Make `set-<xyz>-timeout` functions resilient to reasonable non-integer timeouts (e.g., rationals, doubles, etc.). ({person}dgr[@dgr])
+* Docs
+** {issue}656[#656]: Correctly describe behavior when query's parameter is a string. The User Guide and `query` doc strings say that a string passed to `query` is interpreted as an XPath expression. In fact, `query` interprets this as either XPath or CSS depending on the setting of the driver's `:locator` parameter, which can be changed. ({person}dgr[@dgr])
 
 == v1.1.41 [minor breaking] - 2024-08-14 [[v1.1.41]]
 
diff --git a/doc/01-user-guide.adoc b/doc/01-user-guide.adoc
index d489cd5..ccb2f92 100644
--- a/doc/01-user-guide.adoc
+++ b/doc/01-user-guide.adoc
@@ -531,7 +531,10 @@ If you want to query for an element with an ID of "active", use the map syntax,
 (e/fill driver {:id "uname"} "Etaoin Again" k/enter)
 ----
 
-* a string containing an link:{xpath-sel}[XPath] expression.
+* a string containing either an link:{xpath-sel}[XPath] or a link:{css-sel}[CSS] expression.
+The way `query` interprets this string depends on the driver's `:locator` setting.
+By default, the driver's `:locator` is set to `"xpath"`.
+The `:locator` can be changed using the `use-css`, `with-css`, `use-xpath`, and `with-xpath` functions and macros.
 (Be careful when writing XPath manually; see <<troubleshooting>>.)
 Here, we find an `input` tag with an attribute `id` of `uname` and an attribute `name` of `username`:
 +
@@ -543,6 +546,15 @@ Here, we find an `input` tag with an attribute `id` of `uname` and an attribute
 ;; let's check if that worked as expected:
 (e/get-element-value driver :uname)
 ;; => "XPath can be tricky"
+
+;; let's modify the driver to use CSS rather than XPath
+;; note that this returns a new, modified copy of the driver
+;; the old driver is still valid, however
+(def driver-css (e/use-css driver))
+(e/refresh driver-css)
+(e/fill driver-css "input#uname[name='username']" "CSS can be tricky, too")
+(e/get-element-value driver-css :uname)
+;; => "CSS can be tricky, too"
 ----
 
 * a map with either `:xpath` or `:css` key with a string in corresponding syntax:
diff --git a/src/etaoin/api.clj b/src/etaoin/api.clj
index 26c4a94..e2f863c 100644
--- a/src/etaoin/api.clj
+++ b/src/etaoin/api.clj
@@ -602,25 +602,32 @@
      - Note that `:active` conflicts with this usage and therefore you
        cannot search for a keyword named `:active` and expect to find an element
        with ID equal to \"active\". In this case, use `{:id \"active\"}`.
-   - an XPath expression:
-     - `\".//input[@id='uname']\"`
+   - a string that contains either an XPath or CSS expression, depending on the
+     driver's locator setting. Defaults to XPath.
+     See [[use-css]], [[with-css]], [[use-xpath]], [[with-xpath]] for methods
+     changing the driver's locator setting.
+     - XPath: `\".//input[@id='uname'][@name='username']\"`
+     - CSS: `\"input#uname[name='username']\"`
    - a map with either `:xpath` or `:css`:
      - `{:xpath \".//input[@id='uname']\"`}`
      - `{:css \"input#uname[name='username']\"}`
    - any other map is converted to an XPath expression:
      - `{:tag :div}`
      - is equivalent to XPath: `\".//div\"`
-   - multiple of the above (wrapped in a vector or not).
-     The result of each expression is fed into the next.
-     - `{:tag :div} \".//input[@id='uname']\"`
-     - `[{:tag :div} \".//input[@id='uname']\"]`
+  - multiple of the above (wrapped in a vector or not).
+    The result of each search anchors the search for the next,
+    effectively providing a path through the DOM (though you do not
+    have to specify each and every point in the path).
+    - `{:tag :div} \".//input[@id='uname']\"`
+    - `[{:tag :div} \".//input[@id='uname']\"]`
+    Returns the final element's unique identifier, or throws if any element
+    is not found.
 
-   Returns the found element's unique identifier, or throws when not found.
-
-   See [Selecting Elements](/doc/01-user-guide.adoc#querying) for more details.
+  See [Selecting Elements](/doc/01-user-guide.adoc#querying) for more details.
 
   Makes use of:
   - https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver2/#dfn-get-active-element
+  - https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver2/#dfn-find-element
   - https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver2/#dfn-find-element-from-element"
   ([driver q]
    (cond