How to write so everyone feels included in our experiences.
To fully be collaborative and human, we must consider everyone’s lived experiences and how our words could possibly exclude or cause harm—and then find a better, inclusive alternative.
Our identities are informed by our values and experiences, including: gender, age, class, culture, ability or disability, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, neurodiversity, and education, to name a few.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- Impact over intention
- Accessible language
- Gendered language
- Metaphors and idioms
- Racist language and appropriation
We also have advice on how to write for everyone in our accessibility guidelines.
We provide several examples for each topic. These examples aren't exhaustive. If you have a suggestion, please let us know.
Impact over intention
The impact we have on others is more important than our intention. If someone says something we did—like our word choices—caused them harm, it’s on us to apologize, make adjustments, and learn from the experience.
We can aim to reduce harmful experiences by choosing inclusive language and experiences from the start. If you’re unsure whether it’s ok to use a word or phrase, find another way to convey your message.
Here are a few questions that can help you think critically about a word or phrase:
- Is an “other” or exclusivity implied?
- What groups or identities might take offense to this?
- Is there a substitute or other option?
- What does the phrase, figure of speech, or word mean?
- Does it have a negative connotation for an identity other than your own?
- Does it make you uncomfortable, even if you’re not sure why?
Also consider your use of jargon. Jargon is “insider language”—terms that only a specific group of people understand. Corporate and tech jargon have adopted terms from marginalized groups, appropriating terms or causing unintentional harm.
Respecting names
Names are a big part of who we are. We must respect our users. That starts with respecting names and identities.
Ensure name input fields account for all names, regardless of character length or format. Never use an error message that says a name is invalid.
Accessible language
Accessible language is language that plays on one’s ability and neurodiversity. It can appear as terms that allude to ability or mental health.
By being inclusive of all abilities and neurodiversity in our language, we can build more trust in our experiences.
| Instead of... | Try... |
|---|---|
| Enable/disable | Turned on/turned off Active/inactive Activate/deactivate |
| Normal/abnormal Healthy Regular Able-bodied | Typical/atypical Person without a disability Non-disabled person Sighted person Hearing person |
| Blind Blind spot Deaf | Unaware Knowledge gap |
| Insane Crazy Bipolar | Wild Unbelievable Outrageous Intense Silly Strange Unpredictable |
| OCD | Particular Detailed |
| Handicap Handicapped | Disability |
| Wheelchair-bound | Person who uses a wheelchair Person who uses an accessibility device (or ask them!) |
| Suffers from… (Example: Suffers from vision impairment) | Experiences a… (Example: Experiences a vision impairment) |
| See | View Show Go to |
| Watch video | Play video |
Gendered language
Gendered language relies on the gender binary: male and female. It appears as words or terms that bias toward particular sex, for example: congressman.
Sex vs. gender
Sex refers to someone’s biological and physiological characteristics, assigned at birth.
Gender refers to how someone identifies and expresses their identity in a social and cultural construct. While we can be assigned sex at birth as male, female, or intersex, gender is a spectrum. Using gender-neutral language will include everyone.
Tips
- Consider if you even need to refer to gender in your message.
- Unless you know someone’s gender, use they, you, or we.
- When referring to someone and you know their pronouns, use them.
- Avoid asking for pronouns or gender unless absolutely necessary. Consider why you need this information. If they are required, offer these options:
- Woman
- Man
- Non-binary
- Prefer to self-describe
- Don’t use “Male/Female” unless you’re specifically asking about sex. And if you are, again, ask yourself why. Do you really need to ask this question?
- Use LGBTQIA+ and Queer—the preferred terms for the queer community—to refer to them, when needed.
| Instead of… | Try… |
|---|---|
| Men Women Ladies Gentlemen Guys Girls | Everyone Folks Team Friends |
| He/she | They You We |
| Moms Dads | Parents |
| Businessman | Businessperson |
| Manning an event | Working an event |
Localization: translating from English
Gender is prominent in several language, such as French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Due to grammar rules and masculine and feminine nouns, there aren’t always gender-neutral alternatives.
Avoid assigning gender to your audience. Some languages do use a gendered, singular “they,” in those instances try to use a neutral “you” or “we.”
If gender-inclusive language isn’t possible, write so you’re easily understood. Work closely with our localization team to find what best fits our needs.
Metaphors and idioms
Every language has common idioms and turns of phrase. They’re part of our culture, providing rich and diverse experiences.
For people who have a different primary language from English, idioms and turns of phrase can make it hard to communicate. These phrases can also be difficult for neurodivergent individuals to understand.
Write using clear, plain language. Avoid idioms and phrases that could skew meaning or make it unclear for others who don’t speak English as their primary language. Using plain language doesn’t dumb down your message, it makes it more easily understood by more people.
If you need to use an idiom or turn of phrase, research it first. Some conversational phrases have racist origins, use violent or harmful language, or are hard to understand literally.
| Instead of… | Try… |
|---|---|
| Gateway drug | Starting point |
| Take a stab at | Try Attempt |
| Leading the charge | Leading the way |
| Up and running | Get started |
| Set the stage | Prepare |
| Toot your own horn | Boast Share your wins |
| Groom the backlog | Refine the backlog |
| Low hanging fruit | Easy wins |
| Third world countries Developing countries | Global south |
| First world countries Developed countries | Global north |
Racist language and appropriation
Racist language is language or word choices that are inherently harmful toward marginalized communities. It can appear as assigning value to color, phrases with a harmful history, and appropriated terms.
By avoiding racist language, we can ensure everyone feels included in our work, messaging, and products.
| Instead of… | Try… |
|---|---|
| Whitelist | Approved people Allowlist |
| Blacklist | Blocklist Blocked users |
| Grandfather clause | Legacy |
| Death march | A project destined to fail |
| Master | Primary Main Source |
| Master/slave | Primary/secondary |
| Redline | Priority list Special case |
| Long time no see | Welcome back |
| No can do | Sorry, something went wrong |
| Peanut gallery | Critics |
| Open the kimono | Share important information |
| Native Native app | Built-in feature iPhone/Android app |
| Pow wow Circle the wagons | Meeting Chat Brainstorm |
| Spirit animal | Role model Kindred spirit |
| Sherpa | Guide |
| Guru Ninja | Authority Expert |
| Tribal knowledge | Collective knowledge Collective wisdom Implicit knowledge |