{"id":45256,"date":"2021-03-17T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=45256"},"modified":"2021-03-18T15:24:35","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T22:24:35","slug":"salesforce-updates-technical-language-in-ongoing-effort-to-address-implicit-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/salesforce-updates-technical-language-in-ongoing-effort-to-address-implicit-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Salesforce Updates Technical Language in Ongoing Effort to Address Implicit Bias"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quick Take: Over the past six months, Salesforce has been identifying and replacing certain technical terms across its products as part of a strategy to make its technology more inclusive. While these changes are still underway, Salesforce is sharing an update and key learnings as part of its larger ethics and equality efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Language matters. The technical language companies choose to use in codebases and technical content have the power to drive inclusion or reinforce harmful biases. Given the power of language, we believe companies have a responsibility to ensure the language they use is respectful, inclusive, and free of bias, and to consider how to operationalize this in their products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way to drive positive change in products is through the intentional use of technical terms to be more inclusive. In September 2020, we published How We\u2019re Bringing Inclusive Language to Our Products<\/a> to help our teams, partners, and customers understand the value of inclusion in technical content and code. We also shared how Salesforce was beginning to put the inclusive product language process into action through engaging our Employee Resource Groups<\/a> and forming a repeatable review process in partnership with Salesforce\u2019s Office of Equality<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inclusion is like caring for your teeth. There is no finish line. No matter how well you clean your teeth today, over time they require more care. <\/p>Kat Holmes, SVP, Product Design and UX, Salesforce<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Creating inclusive technology is an ongoing journey. Today, in the spirit of transparency and accountability, we\u2019re sharing how we\u2019ve worked to put our learnings into action over the last six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we spot exclusion in our technical language<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Content warning: The following content in this article will necessarily engage with noninclusive language that can be emotionally and intellectually challenging.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exclusion can manifest in technical terms and content as cultural insensitivity or bias, and may unintentionally reinforce historical and institutional racism. Here are a few examples we\u2019ve had to assess on our journey toward more inclusive technical language, and our learnings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoid using color to make value judgments. <\/strong>Language that uses white and black or brown as metaphors for good\/positive or bad\/negative can reinforce implicit bias, anti-Blackness, and other forms of racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. We are now using \u201callowlist\u201d and \u201cblocklist\u201d instead of \u201cwhitelist\u201d and \u201cblacklist.\u201d <\/li>
  2. We are now using \u201cblockout\u201d and \u201creduced availability\u201d instead of \u201cblackout\u201d and \u201cbrownout.\u201d <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    While there are many terms that use color to convey value, we\u2019re challenging our employees and developers to think of other terms that convey the same meaning without needing to rely on color as a metaphor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For example, in machine learning, \u201cwhite box\u201d conveys an explainable model and \u201cblack box\u201d is used to express an opaque or unexplainable model. Because these terms rely on color as a metaphor and can perpetuate stereotypes, we encourage developers to replace them with more inclusive terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Avoid perpetuating bias and harm. <\/strong>Language that builds on systemic biases causes harm by reinforcing those value judgments and creating negative impacts on underrepresented populations and their allies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For example, words like “master” and “slave” had been widely used<\/a> for decades to describe server or database relationships. However, the use of \u201cslave\u201d in technical terminology normalizes the concept of chattel slavery and racial hierarchies, and perpetuates harm on Black people. While parts of the tech industry are now moving away<\/a> from this pairing, it\u2019s not always a simple process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At Salesforce, we found that the term \u201cmaster\u201d \u2014 used on its own, not accompanied by the term \u201cslave\u201d \u2014 is deeply embedded in our codebase and widely used in our technical content. And, we realized that when not coupled with \u201cslave,\u201d there are specific uses of \u201cmaster\u201d that may not be harmful, like when it is used to describe someone who has attained expert-level knowledge in a field of study (e.g., \u201cmaster’s degree\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. We have replaced customer-facing, non-API instances of \u201cslave\u201d in our core content repositories. And, we\u2019re continuing to replace customer-facing and internal instances of the term in our codebase. In alignment with our peers<\/a>, we suggest using \u201csecondary\u201d or \u201cfollower\u201d in its place.<\/li>
    2. The term \u201cmaster,\u201d when not used in relation to \u201cslave,\u201d is a bit more nuanced \u2014 a one-rule-fits-all approach is not possible given the many use cases and deeply ingrained use of the term in our codebases. So, we\u2019ve offered various replacement options based on the usage of the term.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n
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      Open Image Modal<\/span>\"The<\/a>
      These are examples of terminology decisions we have made<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n
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