From the content designers at the Gender-Inclusive Language Project:
Before you start creating content for your product, ask yourself (and your team) these questions to help guide content creation that is inclusive for all types of users.
Here’s an example of using unnecessarily gendered language:
Label: Enter your name
Hint text: Mr. Manish or Ms. Priya
Always imagine a very diverse group of users for your products and work to include everyone. Think “How would they prefer to identify themselves?” Avoid excluding people.
Data-collection forms exist in almost all apps and websites, so it makes sense that we’d work extra hard to make sure our forms are gender-accommodating. Here are our recommendations.
The World Health Organization summarizes the difference between sex and gender in the following way:
Sex refers to “the different biological and physiological characteristics of males and females, such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones, etc.”
Gender refers to “the socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and relationships of and between groups of women and men. It varies from society to society and can be changed. The concept of gender includes five important elements: relational, hierarchical, historical, contextual and institutional.
While most people are born either male or female, they are taught appropriate norms and behaviors – including how they should interact with others of the same or opposite sex within households, communities and workplaces. When individuals or groups do not “fit” established gender norms they often face stigma, discriminatory practices or social exclusion – all of which adversely affect health.” Read more from the Council of Europe.
There are plenty of reasons to ask users to identify their sex or their gender. Medical apps, census apps, therapy apps, or even political apps might be justified in asking users to self-identify for the appropriate collection of data. Our guidance is to make sure that the gender-based data collection benefits the users themselves.
If you’re having trouble articulating why you need this data, consider removing the question altogether.
Accommodate all users by including at least one non-binary option in your selection list. Avoid using the term “Other” because that sounds (and probably feels) alienating.
Let your users decide how they should be addressed. If your product team supports adding custom terms, consider building the most common options into your app’s selection list.
Do you really need to know someone’s sex or gender? If not, consider making the question optional—or removing it.
When asking for family members’ details, include all forms of families
Accommodate all users by acknowledging the varied forms, shapes, roles, and unique circumstances that “families” represent.
Terms like “caregiver” or even just “primary contact” for a child’s guardian are neutral examples from English.
Next, we’ll cover techniques for writing in gender-neutral or gender-inclusive formats.
Many gendered languages already have solutions to incorporate into your writing. Here are examples.
English:
People, team members
“The user must confirm their profile details before logging in. (neutral possessive pronoun “their” in line with the neutral pronoun “they”)” instead of “The user must confirm his profile details before logging in.”
German:
Arbeiter, Kollege, Manager, Partner, Ansprechpartner
Arbeitskräfte, Team-Mitglied, Management, Gegenüber, Publikum und ganz generell Leute, Personen, Menschen
Russian:
уполномоченный(-ая), руководители
уполномоченное лицо, руководство
Hebrew:
מורות, רופאים ואחיות, משרת אם
סגל ההוראה, צוותי רפואה, משרת הורה
Hindi:
लोगों को जेंडर न्यूट्रल तरीके से संबोधित करें:
पुरुष और महिला
वह, वे, उन्हें, उनके और उनकी
Portuguese:
Nossos usuários; Mantenha-se atualizado
As pessoas usuárias; Continue se atualizando
Romanian:
persoană/persoane, lume, echipă, grup, comunitate, audiență, public sau alte substantive colective care se potrivesc în context.
Italian:
Persona, individuo, popolo, membro, contatto, team, personale, comunità, corpo, gruppo
Choose words that are written in the same way for all genders but can be read in both male and female forms. Spoken language rules might be different, so these suggestions might not work for voice interfaces (VUI/VUX/CD).
Hebrew:
רוצה, נרשמת, בשבילך, אותך, שלך, תרומתך, שכחת
German:
Student, Partner
Studierende, Mitwirkende
Russian:
ученики, учителя, читатели
учащиеся, обучающие, читающие
Hindi:
ऐप में लिंग फ़िल्टर के उदाहरण:
पुरुष, महिला, लड़के, लड़कियां
सबके लिए, सभी के लिए
Romanian:
tu, dumneavoastră, noi, voi
Portuguese:
Nossos clientes; os diretores; os funcionários
Clientes da empresa; a diretoria; as pessoas que trabalham na empresa
Italian:
partner, utente, cliente, rappresentante, presidente, docente
(as long as the grammatical gender is not marked by an article or a preposition)
Hebrew:
הצטרף, הירשם לעדכונים, התחל, אני מאשר, האם תרצה
צרפו אותי, שלחו לי עדכונים, נתחיל, קראתי ואישרתי, אשמח
English:
Write in a style that addresses users directly using the pronoun “you.” This is also called “second person.”
”The user must confirm his profile details before logging in.”
“Please confirm your profile details before logging in.”
German:
“Mit Absenden des Formulars, bestätigt der Nutzer die Richtigkeit seiner Profilinformationen.”
“Bitte bestätigen Sie Ihre Profilinformationen.”
Russian:
Первое, что видит пользователь, когда он заходит на сайт…
Первое, что видно при входе на сайт…
Hindi:
लेंगिक भाषा से परहेज़ करें:
दूसरों को दिखाएँ कि आप कितने हैंडसम दिखते हैं|
चित्र जोड़ें और दिखाएँ कि आप कैसे दिखते हैं|
Romanian:
“Contul tău” în loc de “Contul tău de utilizator”
“Creează un cont nou” în loc de “Devino clientul nostru”
“Profil profesional” în loc de “Profil de candidat”
Portuguese:
“O usuário precisa confirmar os dados do perfil antes de se conectar”
“Por favor, confirme seus dados de perfil antes de se conectar.”
Italian:
Il cliente deve confermare i propri dati di fatturazione per proseguire.
Per proseguire è necessario confermare i propri dati di fatturazione.
Conferma i tuoi dati di fatturazione per proseguire.
English:
“The user must confirm his profile details before logging in.”
“Users must confirm their profile details before logging in.”
“Every user must confirm their profile details before logging in.”
Hindi:
एरर संदेश के लिये लिंग वाले उदाहरण ना दे:
अपना नाम दर्ज करें (उदाहरण: सुश्री प्रिया/श्रीमान मनीष)
कृपया अपना नाम यहां दर्ज करें
German:
“Der Angeklagte hat das letzte Wort.”
“Angeklagte haben das letzte Wort.”
Hebrew
היכנס/הירשם, הזמן תור, ערוך, סגור, אשר, הוסף כרטיס, שנה סכום
כניסה/הרשמה, זימון תור, עריכה, סגירה, אישור, הוספת כרטיס, שינוי סכום
Russian:
Удалить сообщение? [Нет, я передумал]
Удалить сообщение? [Нет, оставить]
When you reconsider your word choice, you can often come up with a gender-neutral phrase.
Hebrew
משתמש חדש
פעם ראשונה באתר?
German:
“Arzttermin”, “Autofahrer”, “Öffentlichkeit” statt “Bürger”
“Behandlungstermin”, “Personen am Steuer”, “Bevölkerung” oder “Öffentlichkeit”
Russian:
Ты получил(а) сообщение
Тебе пришло сообщение
Romanian:
“Căutăm o persoană cu experiență” în loc de “Căutăm un profesionist”
“Echipa noastră” în loc de “Colegii/ angajații noștri”
“Oferte speciale pentru afacerea ta” în loc de “Oferte speciale pentru antreprenori”
“Lumea prezentă la concert” în loc de “Fanii prezenți la concert”,
Portuguese:
Você está pronto?; Ficou interessado?; Mantenha-se atualizado
Você é uma pessoa pronta para?; Tem interesse? / Interessou-se?; Continue se atualizando
Italian:
Grazie per esserti registrato alla newsletter
Grazie! Presto inizierai a ricevere la nostra newsletter
Benvenuto
Ti diamo il benvenuto
German:
“Benutzer”, “Bewerber”, “Die Demonstranten”, “Der Gewinner ist Kim.”
“Diejenigen, die die App nutzen”, “Wer sich bewirbt…”, “Alle, die hier demonstrieren”, “Gewonnen hat Kim”, oder “Den ersten Platz macht Kim”
Russian:
пользователи приложения; {число} читателей
те, кто пользуется приложением; {число} читающих / Читают: {число}
Romanian:
“X a câștigat” în loc de “X este câștigător”
“Persoanele care folosesc aplicația” în loc de “Utilizatorii”
German:
“Hallo Herr Müller”
“Hallo Kim”; “Guten Tag Maxi Müller”
Russian:
Уважаемый(-ая) Мария!
Здравствуйте, Мария!
Hindi:
नमस्ते! मनीष, नमस्ते! प्रिया
Romanian:
“Dragă Ana” în loc de “Dragă abonat”
Italian:
Gentile abbonato
Gentile sig. [name]
Gentile [name]
Ciao, [name]
Hebrew
איקס שיתף/שיתפה את המצגת
המצגת שותפה על ידי איקס
English:
“Confirmation of your profile details is required before login.”
“The user must confirm his profile details before logging in.”
German:
“Der Antragsteller muss den Antrag doppelt einreichen.”, “Teilnehmergebühr“
“Der Antrag ist in zweifacher Ausfertigung einzureichen”, “Teilnahmegebühr“
Russian:
Ты обновил(а) способ оплаты
Способ оплаты обновлен
Italian:
I candidati devono presentare la domanda tramite questo modulo
La domanda deve essere presentata tramite questo modulo
Russian:
[Мария] начал(а) отслеживать ваши обновления
[Мария] теперь отслеживает ваши обновления
If possible, avoid these forms unless it’s your only option because they are long and heavy, and they reinforce binary thinking.
Hebrew
נהג, מנהל, מורות, רופאים
נהג או נהגת, מנהל או מנהלת, מורים ומורות, רופאים ורופאות
German:
“Schüler”
“Schülerinnen und Schüler”
Please note: this version is not inclusive as it highlights a binary gender system. Other options are preferred.
Romanian:
Pacienți și paciente, candidați și candidate, studenți și studente, cetățeni și cetățene
Italian:
L’aggiornamento interessa tutti gli abbonati al piano Premium
L’aggiornamento interessa tutti gli abbonati e le abbonate al piano Prem
These are not tools used within the language, nor are they technological solutions. For this approach, it’s all about changing the language at the source.
Write using the gendering letters of both feminine and masculine forms and separate them with a period (.), asterisk (*), slash (/), colon (:), parentheses () or pipe character (|).
Hebrew
מטפלים, משתמש, תורם
מטפלים.ות, משתמש/ת, תורם-ת
German:
“Schüler”
“Schüler/innen”; “SchülerInnen” (Please note: the notation with a slash (/) or a medial capital “I” are not inclusive as they highlight a binary gender system.)
“Schüler*innen”; “Schüler_innen”; “Schüler:innen”
The asterisk (*), underscore (_), and colon (:) are used to visibly include all genders within the spectrum. Read more on Wikipedia.
Russian:
блогер, дизайнер, студент, друзья, читатель, актер
блогер_ка, дизайнер_ка, студент_ка, по_дру_зья, читатель*ница, актр*иса (these forms are not generally accepted in Russian)
Romanian:
client(ă), candidat(ă), student(ă)
Portuguese:
Usuário, Produtor; Você está preparado?
Usuário(a); Produtor(a); Você está preparado(a)?
Italian:
Amico, Abbonato, Socio
Amico/a, Abbonato/a, Socio/a
Consider writing the feminine and masculine suffixes one after the other, with no separation.
Hebrew
כולם יודעים, שווים
כולםן יודעיםות, שוויםות
Portuguese:
Usuário; :canditado.
Usuário ou usuária; candidato ou candidata.
These new words can be read both in masculine and feminine form, leaving it up to the readers to decide.
English:
Italian:
Hebrew:
Portuguese:
Consider shortening the word at its gendered ending to omit the ending completely.
German:
“Schüler und Lehrer”
“Schülis und Lehris” (Read more about the “Gender-i”)
Russian:
Насколько вы грамотный?
Насколько вы грамотны?
Portuguese:
The ə letter (schwa) is not accessible to screen readers, so the solution is less than ideal.
Usuárie; Elx; Elxs, Amigue; Você está preparadə?
Italian:
Bentornato
Bentornatə
The ə is not officially accepted—it’s just a proposal in a very harsh debate since Italian language has no neutral.
Also, like Portuguese, the ə letter (schwa) is not accessible to screen readers, so the solution is less than ideal.
Russian:
Я не получил(а); [Имя] поделился(-лась) публикацией
Я не получили; [Имя] поделились публикацией*
*Please note: these forms aren’t generally accepted, but can be used as a non-binary option when users select a gender different from male or female.
Ask your users at sign up or at the beginning of the session how they would like to be addressed.
Use variables to split the interface into two (or more) user views, in the male or female form (and in a neutral form, if you have one in your language). Then display all gender-related terms using the applicable user gender.
A rewrite is generally always better than trying to force a word replacement fit.
We hope this guide has led to some insights about how to design gender-inclusive experiences in your language. This guide is a work-in-progress open to contributions from you. If you’d like to contribute, please reach out to Kinneret Yifrah (kinnerety@gmail.com) or Bobbie Wood (bobbie@uxcontent.com). Thanks for reading!
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