No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex: Gender Bias in Form Design

Presented as a lightning talk at Women's Day hosted by Dev Bootcamp Chicago in March 2017. In this talk, I discuss how to ask about gender and sex in web forms. Spoiler alert: you shouldn't be asking about these things.

Transcript

1. NO, YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW MY SEX: GENDER BIAS IN FORM DESIGN with Stephanie Slattery
2. HOW SHOULD YOU ASK ABOUT SEX AND GENDER IN FORMS? No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
3. Spoiler alert: Don't do it. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
4. SEX != GENDER No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
5. SEX A biological (but not binary) distinction between male and female. This can be anatomical, hormonal, and/or chromosomal. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
6. GENDER How a person identifies and/or expresses themselves. It may or may not be related to their biological sex. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
7. SO, HOW SHOULD YOU ASK ABOUT THIS STUFF? No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
8. IF YOU MUST ASK, ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
9. IF YOU MUST ASK, GIVE THE RIGHT OPTIONS. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
10. IF YOU MUST ASK, EXPLAIN WHY. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
11. HOW TO ASK ABOUT A PERSON'S SEX: YOU SHOULDN'T. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
12. SEX: ▸ Female ▸ Intersex ▸ Male No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
13. HOW TO ASK ABOUT A PERSON'S GENDER: YOU (PROBABLY) SHOULDN'T. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
14. GENDER IDENTITY: ▸ an open text field No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
15. ARE YOU ACTUALLY INTERESTED IN PRONOUNS? No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
16. PRONOUNS ▸ she/her/hers ▸ they/them/theirs ▸ ze/hir/hirs ▸ he/him/his ▸ Something else No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
17. OR DO YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW THEIR FORMAL TITLE? No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
18. ▸ Sex ▸ Gender ▸ Pronouns ▸ Formal title No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
19. ALWAYS RANDOMIZE THE ORDER OF YOUR OPTIONS. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
20. TAKE ONLY THE DATA YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED. No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
21. "When a website is considered “good,” whatever that website displays as default settings... or options is considered “normal” by its users." - Sarah Dopp No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch
22. http://stephanie.slattery.website No, You Don't Need to Know My Sex | @sublimemarch