This week’s blog post I decided to research more about linting for non-inclusive language. The medium I selected is a blog post by Michael Bachand, an engineer at Airbnb. “Building an Inclusive Codebase” dives into the techniques engineers at Airbnb are taking to make their work environment more inclusive for everyone. In order to create a more inclusive platform, the development team must also be inclusive. To start, the team has increased the diversity in their teams to accommodate every demographic. Bachand emphasizes that building a diverse team will help empower both Airbnb’s hosts and guests. Inclusivity goes beyond forming a diverse team however.
The team at Airbnb discovered an issue with non-inclusive language in their codebase. After working with employees affected by these terms, the team presented a proposal to the Chief Technology Officer of Airbnb and got the approval to refactor the code to be more inclusive. Michael Bachand stresses that “acknowledgement and resourcing from the highest levels of management legitimized this effort”. The support from management and the CTO prioritizing the task produced a healthier working culture across all teams.
Airbnb’s development team broke down this problem into two key parts: preventing the use of this language and eliminating the existing language. One essential tool that was utilized was the woke linter which checked each pole request for non-inclusive terminology and suggested alternative terms to promote belonging. The team now had a proper tool to use, however, they didn’t send the tool to every developer immediately. The team took a unique approach by slowly distributing the tool to expert developers. These developers decided which directories the linter should access and which should be excluded.
Before our in-class activity on this topic, I never thought about how my sentences might unintentionally offend or upset someone. This topic has opened my eyes to how crucial having a linter tool is. Many of these non-inclusive terms sound offensive without the right context which is why every developer should utilize a linter of sort. Reflecting on the problem addressed by Airbnb, having the support from the CTO is reassuring to know that your work is valued by the company. I believe all companies should strive to create a sense of belonging in their work environment, no matter how big or small. I can confidently say that the information I learned today will stick with me for the rest of my career.
Blog Post: https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/building-an-inclusive-codebase-bbaa2315e5b8
From the blog CS@Worcester – Computer Science Through a Junior by Winston Luu and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.