FindmyPast offers custom gender options

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Genealogy should be accessible for all – it's one of our core values as a company. We work hard to make sure everyone feels seen, no matter what their identity. That’s why, when we discussed our diversity and inclusion practices internally, we saw that we were falling short and we acted. In collaboration with an external panel of LGBTQ+ expert genealogists, our tech teams have developed and released custom gender options. Now live on Findmypast, our customers can build a family tree as unique as they are.

It's something that had been on the to-do list for a while, but to be able to come onto LinkedIn and post about #DiversityAndInclusion, we had to see some actionable change in places we hadn't previously ventured into. Our colleagues were absolutely right to flag this with us - which is how we know we're hiring the right people.

From there, our #product and #engineering teams discussed how we could move this forward and ensure our gender non-conforming friends can use the site without boxing themselves into a binary. Below, you'll find a before and after of our gender options - now, rather than just 'Male' or 'Female', we offer a custom gender option. This will allow customers to type their own gender identity, choose from a range of pronouns and neopronouns, and choose the avatar that they feel suits them best. We are the first in the industry to release this feature, and we're so proud of that.

The full post is accessible at https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6988519156467777536/

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.