Are your forms supporting diversity?
I quite often go on a journey or two with my clients. This week I was reworking a paper form into an onine version and a question sprung to mind:
Is it OK in 2020 to ask for someone’s gender on a form?
I suggested to the client that we include a ‘Prefer not to say’ box, but he took his research one stage further and found this great post.
Click here to read How to ask about gender in forms respectfully by Ruth Ng
The title is brilliant as it brings in the word respectfully, which is what it is all about. The post was so en-point I decided not to write my own but to refer to Ruth’s great research and examples, with her permission of course!
Her first golden rule is:
If you don’t need to know, don’t ask.
Male or female?
I have filled out so many forms with this binary question on it, unless I’m in a medical setting I have no idea why I am being asked. As Ruth so rightly points out we could switch this around and sometimes have female first and at the very least an ‘I prefer not to say’ option.
If you feel you do need to know, do you actually need to know someone’s sex or is it their gender that you need? Apart from male or female there are many other genders you can include such as non-binary, intersex, transgender, agender, gender non-conforming, but there are also many more.
Maybe you are just wanting to find out the appropriate pronoun when referring to that person or how to address a formal letter so you could include a type your own box. Always make these questions optional, or able to click more than one.
There’s nothing like a Dame?
I am always tempted when faced with extensive drop-down options of titles to click on Dame, there must be some theatrical blood that has trickled down from my mother. These seem quite quaint now but respect should be given where it is due, so perhaps a text box to ask if people have a title which they can fill in.
For more insights into addressing gender diversity please read Ruth Ng’s full post.
Other diversity matters too
There are many others ways that you can improve your visitor experience by either not asking for non-essential information or making the criteria broader.
The actor Warwick Davies has highlighted the many everyday difficulties of being a small person. One of the examples he gives is not being able to apply for things online such as insurance, when height is only preset drop-down options – the presets do not include an option for him to choose. Most people need car insurance and he is certainly not the only small person who drives.
Do your forms need an update? If you need help with this contact your web developer or would like some adivce please get in touch email: info@kitewebdesign.co.uk