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Honeycomb

Inclusivity

Write in ways that allow more people to feel that they belong in the user experience. When people feel excluded, they’re far less likely to return to the experience—or they’ll dread it every step of the way, an outcome that the entire field of UX seeks to prevent!

https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/inclusive-ux-writing/

Proposed guidelines

General guidelines

  1. Write in plain English (check the readability of your text with tools like Hemingwayapp)
  2. Don't use any metaphors or references that can be only be understood by people with specific background.
  3. Choose active voice instead of passive when possible.
  4. Avoid stereotypes or writing as if something is a given to everyone. For example, " for just 20 euros, you can travel to Italy". 20 euros are not "just" money for a lot of people out there, so be considerate.
  5. Try to have as few assumptions as possible about our customers when writing content - we run in a large amount of countries and the economic, educational, social background of our customers is incredibly diverse.
  6. Never put disability before a person. Don't write "disabled person" → "a person with disability".

When referring to people and using pronouns

  1. Speak to customers in the second person (you).
  2. When referring to other people, use third person and keep the language gender neutral, including pronouns.
  3. "If you find yourself in the awkward spot where the subject’s gender is unknown, write your way around it. Don’t use she/he, s/he, they or them, or one. If you absolutely can’t write your way around it, then it’s OK to use they, them, or their". Intuit design system
  4. In cases when the subject in the sentence is a pronoun that you're trying to rephrase, you can also rewrite the sentence from active to passive voice.
  5. Knowing customer's name can be the easiest way to be inclusive in communication.

Yes

  • "distinguished guests"
  • "everyone"
  • "customers"
  • "developers (more specific)"

No

  • "ladies and gentlemen"

Yes

  • "everyone"
  • "folks"

No

  • "women"
  • "men"

Yes

  • "the person in the green shirt"

No

  • "the lady in the green shirt"

Yes

  • "folks"
  • "friends"
  • "team"
  • "everyone"

No

  • "guys"

Yes

  • "children"

No

  • "boys and girls"

Yes

  • "siblings"

No

  • "brothers and sisters"

List of ethnic slurs to be aware of and avoid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs

Content design system that provides guidance for content designers, copywriters, marketers ,and developers.
https://contentdesign.intuit.com/

Inclusive UX Writing:
https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/inclusive-ux-writing/

Inclusive language:
https://content-guide.18f.gov/our-style/inclusive-language/
https://www.gsma.com/aboutus/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GSMA-Inclusive-Language-Guide_2020.pdf
https://buffer.com/resources/inclusive-language-tech/

Gender-Inclusive Language:
https://uxcontent.com/gender-inclusive-language-project/
https://www.un.org/en/gender-inclusive-language/guidelines.shtml