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ventaFollowing on from my last post, TfL have agreed to let me take part in their trial of a "please offer me a seat" badge scheme for use on public transport.
Thus far (having only filled in a questionnaire), I'm quite impressed with their attitude. The survey came with a variety of accessibility options to make it easier to read/respond to (I can't comment on their quality, because I didn't elect to use any of them). When explaining the concept behind the scheme, it went out of its way to point out that there are all kinds of reasons you might feel you need a seat when travelling, including things like hearing impairments and mental health conditions.
It wanted my gender and ethnicity (which, when the trial is going to be all about the attitudes of other travellers, may well be relevant factors so I didn't mind them asking). I was offered six choices for my gender (female, male, trans. female, trans. male, other and prefer-not-to-say). I don't know if that list could be easily improved, but feel it's way better than the usual binary (with a possible "no comment" if you're lucky). And I got a freeform text field for "name and title" rather than a restrictive title dropdown - as it was, I elected not to have a title at all. The name'll do for posting.
So, the actual badge and card scheme may turn out to be rubbish, but I feel fairly well-disposed towards them so far.
Thus far (having only filled in a questionnaire), I'm quite impressed with their attitude. The survey came with a variety of accessibility options to make it easier to read/respond to (I can't comment on their quality, because I didn't elect to use any of them). When explaining the concept behind the scheme, it went out of its way to point out that there are all kinds of reasons you might feel you need a seat when travelling, including things like hearing impairments and mental health conditions.
It wanted my gender and ethnicity (which, when the trial is going to be all about the attitudes of other travellers, may well be relevant factors so I didn't mind them asking). I was offered six choices for my gender (female, male, trans. female, trans. male, other and prefer-not-to-say). I don't know if that list could be easily improved, but feel it's way better than the usual binary (with a possible "no comment" if you're lucky). And I got a freeform text field for "name and title" rather than a restrictive title dropdown - as it was, I elected not to have a title at all. The name'll do for posting.
So, the actual badge and card scheme may turn out to be rubbish, but I feel fairly well-disposed towards them so far.
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no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 08:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 06:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-06 07:46 pm (UTC)Ah, I wrestled with the question of how to define gender for my PhD questionnaire, in the end, I left it as a freeform text field so people could define themselves. It's all too complicated, as (for example) I have trans-chums happy to declare themselves as trans.female or trans.man and others not, and putting the option in a check box is sort of like compelling people to declare as trans when they might prefer to just tick male or female.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-07 09:15 am (UTC)Agreed. A freeform text box will always ensure your chosen option is available. It does put an extra load/cost on processing the results, though.