A presentation at DEVit Conference in May 2017 in Thessaloniki, Greece by Kitty Giraudel
Clever, stop being so @HugoGiraudel — Accessibility advocate @N26 (Berlin, Germany)
May 20th, 2017
From The Front
!
Clever, stop being so
Asking for info online
Freaking hard
Inclusivity Diversity
We all suck at it
Name & gender
What’s in a name?
First name + last name
" Hi, nice to meet you! " Hi, what is your ! rst name and your last name?
Not so fast
Iceland
Patronymic
Björk Gu ð mundsdóttir
Björk Mrs. Gu ð mundsdóttir ! "
Malaysia
bin/binti <parentName>
Isa bin Osman
Isa / Isa bin Osman / Isa Osman Osman ! "
China
Generation name
“Western” name
Jin Peng ( {g )
Jean-Pierre
Spain
Multiple names
Names of father and mother
María-Jose Carreño Quiñones
Born from Sr. Carreño Sra. Quiñones
Sra. Carreño Sra. Quiñones ! "
France
(Aristocratic) particle
Jean De Jouvencourt
Mr. De Jouvencourt Mr. Jouvencourt ! "
Germany
Academic degrees &
titles
Doktor, professor…
Herr Professor Doktor Schmidt Herr Schmidt ! "
Japan
Relationship context
Vietnam
Given name is formal
Nguy ễ n T ấ n D ũ ng
Mr. D ũ ng
Thailand
Nickname(s)
Yingluck Shinawatra
Pu (“crab”) ( ! )
India
Location
Caste
Religion
Initials
Any more clusterfuck?
Marital names
People with a single name
Now what?
Don’t ask for ! rst name last name
Have a unique ! eld
Don’t restrict length
Handle single-letter names
Handle looooooooong names
Don’t restrict characters
Handle every character
Also punctuation
Don’t say name is invalid
Say you can’t handle it properly
Don’t try to be clever
Ask how you should call them
Your full name: How should we call you? e.g. 東海林賢蔵 e.g. Sh ō ji
What’s in a gender?
Male / Female?
Terminology
Chromosomes (XX, XY…)
Sexual characteristics
Gender expression
Gender identity
Common misconceptions
Gender is not binary
Even sex isn’t (intersex)
Gender ≠ sex
Transgender is not a gender
Non-binary ≠
transgender
You don’t get to decide
Ask if you must
Say why
Advertising, declining services… $
Social pro ! les, 3rd parties… %
Monitoring diversity &
Clarify privacy
Devastating consequences
“Transgender” isn’t ideal
Provide a “non-binary” option
O ' er a way to skip
Avoid “other”
Provide free text if you can
Autocomplete
About pronouns
Don’t try to guess
Ask which to use
Default to singular “they”
Wrapping up
Don’t assume anything
Accept people as they are
Inclusivity Diversity Accessibility
Thank you! @HugoGiraudel
May 20th 2017 Special thanks to Chad Gowler for their inspiring “How to ask about gender” talk