Product-Design-AppleCulture-Writing inclusively: Guidance +

Product-Design-AppleCulture-

Writing inclusively

Intro to inclusive writing

The people who use Apple products reflect the diversity of the world at large.
This chapter provides guidelines and tips for how you can write consciously to include everyone.

Note: Guidance about inclusive writing may change over time, so check back for updates.
Also keep in mind that inclusive language may vary slightly in different locales,
so you may need to adapt the principles here to the unique needs of your language or region.

General guidelines

Think inclusively.

As you write, think about your potential audience, and try to imagine your content from their perspective.
Will the words and phrases you use be understood by everyone?
Do these words and phrases have any harmful or negative associations?

Keep in mind that words can sometimes carry meanings you don’t intend.
Be open to learning about the impact of language, and be respectful of those who may receive words differently from how you intended them.

Research words.

• Investigating the history and usage of a word can help you decide whether to use it.
  For example, some common expressions (like grandfathered in) arose from oppressive or exclusionary contexts.
• If you’re unsure about a word or expression,
  be sure to research both how it originated and how it’s understood by people now.

Consider the context.

• Even if a common word has one negative use that you should avoid, it may still be acceptable in other contexts.
  For example, although it’s inappropriate to use mute to refer to a person who is nonspeaking, it’s OK to use it to refer to silencing a device.
• Take context into account when making wording decisions.

Avoid terms that are violent, oppressive, or ableist.

Don’t describe technology using terms that are inherently violent—like kill or hang.
Don’t use the terms master and slave, which describe an oppressive human relationship.
Finally, don’t use terms like sanity check, which associates mental health with being functional.

In general, it’s a good idea to avoid describing software or hardware using human or biological attributes; doing so can lead to unintended hurtful implications.

Avoid idioms and colloquial expressions.

Common sayings—like fall through the cracks, on the same page, or backseat driver—can add flavor to writing, but they can also be difficult to understand for people who are learning the language.
If your content is localized, using phrases like these can also make it more difficult to translate.

Don’t use color to convey positive or negative qualities.

Avoid assigning good and bad values to colors (for example, blacklist, white hat hacker, or red team hacker) or using colors as metaphors to convey larger concepts.
Use colors only to describe actual colors (for example, black text on a white background, the white point of a display).

Err on the side of caution.

If you’re not sure about a term, but you believe it might be questionable based on your research or feedback from others,
then choose a different term.
The beauty of language is that there’s usually a term that expresses the meaning you want to convey just as well—or even more clearly.

Inclusive representation

Remember that the people who use Apple products have a broad variety of life experiences, cultures, and backgrounds. When your content depicts people—real or fictional—make sure to represent the diversity of the world.

Use diverse names as examples.

Sometimes you may use names as examples. Include names that reflect a variety of ethnicities and genders.

Given name examples: Blair, Étienne, Guillermo, Lee, Mayuri, Priyanka, Shannon, Yen

Family name examples: Kawashima, Lai, McNeil, Melnykova, Salinas, Sears, Zhao

Also keep in mind that some cultures don’t use a Western-style name structure (given name followed by a family name). In addition, some cultures may use multiple family names. Try to reflect this diversity in your examples.

Avoid biases and stereotypes.

Bias is a tendency to think and behave in ways that are favorable (or unfavorable) to certain people or communities. Be aware of ways your content may unintentionally reinforce biases, and consciously work to avoid doing so. For example:

• If your content uses text or imagery to depict people in certain occupations or settings, include a variety of ethnicities, genders, ages, body types, and abilities.

• If your content mentions examples of holidays, foods, or sports, don’t just give examples from Western culture.

• Avoid using examples that reflect primarily an affluent lifestyle.

• A stereotype is a fixed belief about people or groups based on identifying characteristics, like gender, race, physical capability, or age.

• Avoid stereotypes in how people are presented in your content.
  For example,
  don’t only represent a family as a woman, a man, and their biological children;
  remember to include a variety of family types.

Gender identity

Avoid binary representations of gender when you can reword using gender-neutral language.

Avoid: Hiring men and women of diverse backgrounds fosters a culture of innovation.
Preferable: Hiring people of diverse backgrounds fosters a culture of innovation.

It’s OK to refer to specific genders if the context requires it.

The percentage of women in the workforce has increased.
Women should earn the same as men for comparable work.

Use gender-neutral pronouns.

Don’t use gender-specific pronouns (such as he, she, he or she, and so on) to refer to people of unspecified gender. Instead, it’s OK to use they, their, or them as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun.

Correct: A subscriber can post their recipes to your shared folder.
Incorrect: A subscriber can post his or her recipes to your shared folder.

You can also avoid gender-specific pronouns by rewriting a sentence—for example, using the plural form of the noun (subscribers can post their recipes), or simply omitting the pronoun (a subscriber can post recipes).

If you refer to a specific person, don’t make assumptions about which pronouns to use based on the person’s name or appearance. If you’re unsure how to refer to someone, you can ask them. Individuals may go by he/him, she/her, they/them, other pronouns, or no pronouns.

Use gender-neutral titles and honorifics when appropriate.

Some people may choose to use a gender-neutral title (such as Mx.).
If you’re writing content about (or addressed to) a real person,
and your style requires you to include a title, ask the person what title they use.
If you can’t ask them, consider adopting a style that refers to people using only their name.

Writing about disability

When you write about people with disabilities, focus on each individual’s accomplishments, personality, authentic story, or message. You may not even need to mention someone’s disability unless it’s essential to the content; if you do refer to someone’s disability, follow the guidelines below.

Understand when to use identity-first or person-first language.

People who consider a disability or neurodivergence to be part of their identity may prefer identity-first language, which places an emphasis on culture: A Deaf person, an autistic person.

Others may prefer person-first language, which emphasizes the individual first, then their disability: A person who is deaf or hard of hearing, a person on the autism spectrum.

Preferences for identity-first and person-first language vary; when writing about specific individuals or groups, always ask them how they prefer to be identified.

For advice about specific terms, see A guide to terms about disability, below.

Acknowledge a wide range of disability.

It’s helpful to think about disability on a spectrum. For example, with blindness, there’s a wide range of vision differences—from people who are born blind, to those with low vision, to others with loss of vision in certain areas, such as peripheral vision. In addition, some people may have multiple disabilities.

Avoid ableist language.

Don’t use language that presents people without disabilities as the norm. For example, don’t describe nondisabled people as normal, healthy, regular, or able-bodied. Instead, you can use a person without a disability, a nondisabled person, a neurotypical person, a hearing person, and similar terms.

Avoid treating disability as something to overcome, and don’t describe people with disabilities as brave, courageous, or inspiring, which can come across as condescending.

Avoid language that refers to using specific senses.

When writing instructions (such as in training manuals or user guides), avoid using phrases that refer to the use of specific senses, like you see a message, you see a flashing light, or you hear an alert sound. Instead, simply describe what happens: A message appears, a light flashes, an alert sound plays.

Also avoid using idioms that send negative messages about disability—for example, that’s crazy, fell on deaf ears, or turned a blind eye to.

Some phrases and idioms are OK.

It’s OK to use commonly understood phrases such as the ones below:

I see your point.
You can watch your favorite movies on the Apple TV app.
Hear about the latest news right when it happens.
Don’t hesitate to speak your mind.

Even if people in your audience can’t see, hear, or speak, they’ll typically understand the intent of the words.

It’s also OK to use the common cross-reference See when linking to other material (for example, See the Apple Support article “Set up Family Sharing”).

A guide to terms about disability

Use the table below as a general guide when writing about disability.

In most cases, use identity-first language for people who consider a disability to be part of their identity; otherwise, you can use person-first language. When you’re writing about specific people with disabilities, be sure to find out how they prefer to be identified.

Identity first	Person first	Avoid
A disabled person Disabled people	A person with a disability People with disabilities	Differently abled Special needs Special abilities Handicapped Handicapable
A blind person	A person who is blind A person who has low vision	Note: Some people may use the term visually impaired. If you’re writing about someone specific, ask them what they prefer.
A deaf person Note: Use Deaf (with a capital D) to refer to those who identify culturally as Deaf—for example, a member of the Deaf community.	A person who is deaf A person who is hard of hearing People who are deaf or hard of hearing	Hearing impaired Deaf and dumb Deaf-mute
A deafblind person Note: Some communities capitalize the D, or both the D and B—for example, a DeafBlind person, the DeafBlind community. If you’re writing about someone specific, ask them what they prefer.	A person who is deaf and blind
A limb-different person An amputee	A person with limb differences A person who had an amputation
A wheelchair user	A person who uses a wheelchair A person in a wheelchair	Wheelchair-bound Confined to a wheelchair
An autistic person Autistic people Note: Some people who identify culturally as autistic capitalize the A—for example, an Autistic person. If youʼre writing about someone specific, ask them how they prefer to be identified.	A person on the autism spectrum People on the spectrum Note: Many autistic people prefer identity-first language to person-first language. However, if you’re writing about someone specific, ask them what they prefer.	A person with autism, people with autism Autism spectrum disorder (use only to refer to a medical diagnosis; otherwise, use on the spectrum) High-functioning, low-functioning (instead, describe the type of support the person needs) Asperger’s Note: Some people may identify with the term Asperger’s (or Aspie). If youʼre writing about someone specific, ask them what they prefer.
A neurodivergent person	A person with a neurodivergence	A neurodiverse person (individuals are neurodivergent or neurotypical; a group is neurodiverse)
A nonspeaking person A nonverbal person Note: The terms above have distinct meanings; if you’re writing about someone specific, ask them how they prefer to be identified.	A person who is nonspeaking A person who is nonverbal